1. This is a serendipitous time of year when holiday decorations are concerned since so many plants are conveniently full of clusters of red, orange, or yellow berries. Unlike cut flowers, berry-bearing leafy shoots or branches placed in water can last for weeks. One of the most outstanding plants in this category is heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica). It’s a stout shrub that can grow up to eight feet tall but may be kept at a much lower height with regular pruning. At this time of year, not only is it burgeoning with arching panicles of berries, but its foliage has begun to turn orange and red. Its attractive pinnate foliage is superficially similar to that of true bamboo, but it has no botanical relationship to that plant, even though its stems might also be mistaken for bamboo stems or culms and, like bamboo, it expands horizontally due to underground structures known as rhizomes.
It is also native to China and Japan, as are many bamboo species. Yet true bamboos are grasses and their flowers are nothing special, whereas heavenly bamboo has plumes of creamy white flowers in late spring. If we are talking about drought tolerance, no plant surpasses that of heavenly bamboo. When we moved into our house in 1984, there was a healthy clump of heavenly bamboo at the entrance and it has been there ever since. It barely needs to be watered, even during summer heat waves. The reason for this is its dense foliage which goes all the way down to the ground, effectively eliminating the possibility of water evaporation from the soil surface. Additionally, although my heavenly bamboo faces west, the hot afternoon sun associated with that exposure is blunted by the plant’s location, as it abuts the facade of the house. When a plant grows next to a wall, its sensitivity to heat and cold is mitigated. It should be noted that heavenly bamboo can take full sun on the coast but will do better with half-day sun further inland where it can also thrive in partial shade exposures. Other berry-laden plants in fall and winter include holly (Ilex spp.) firethorn (Pyracantha spp.), Cotoneaster species (from large shrubs to ground covers), and hawthorns (Crataegus spp.). All of these genera of woody plants may have red, orange, or yellow berries, depending on the species, although the berries seen on species in Southern California are generally red.
2. Parsley is tolerant of extreme cold and may be grown year-round anywhere in California. You can harvest it several times a week, 52 weeks a year. While not overly fussy where soil requirements are concerned, parsley grows best in rich, heavily composted soil. One of the reasons for parsley’s persistence is its biennial growth habit. A biennial is a plant that requires a minimum of two growing seasons to flower and complete its life cycle. It may take longer to bloom, depending on the climate, but it will do so no later than its second year of growth. It has been my impression that in Southern California, where temperatures permit plant growth non-stop for many species, biennial plants, whether hollyhock, sweet William (Dianthus), or parsley will show nothing but leaves for just a few months before they flower. In the case of parsley, you can continue to harvest its leaves even after flowers appear. Moreover, where the soil is to its liking, seeds forming in those flowers will drop and germinate in place.
Another advantage of parsley is that its flowers attract a wide variety of beneficial insects – those that prey on insect pests. You can also grow parsley on your kitchen windowsill, and more easily than certain herbs since it can thrive in somewhat shady exposures. There are many varieties of parsley but the two most commonly seen are flat leaf, growing up to three feet tall, and curly leaf, which reaches about one foot in height. Flat leaf parsley is more desirable from a culinary point of view since it is more powerfully flavorful and easier to chop than curly-leaf parsley. Curly leaf’s advantage is its more ornate look, whether growing in the garden or when used as a garnish.
3. You can propagate a variety of plants from hardwood cuttings at this time of year. Take a spade, plunge it into the soil, and rock it back and forth creating a narrow opening in the ground. Then take 12-inch cuttings, at least pencil diameter size, from the base portions of the stems of deciduous trees, shrubs, and vines such as sycamore, willow, poplar, crepe myrtle, mulberry, rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), rose, fig, pomegranate, and grape. The plants in question must be completely devoid of leaves when you cut their stems for propagation. Dip the lower two inches of these cuttings in root hormone and insert them into the narrow trench you made with your shovel. Two-thirds of the cutting should be buried in the soil with the top one-third exposed. When spring arrives, the cuttings should begin to leaf out as they form roots below.
4. Make sure your bird feeders are well-stocked to encourage visits by avian creatures. They will reward your largesse when, being accustomed visitors to your garden, they come to you in the spring and dine on insect pests that start to proliferate as the weather warms. Grasshoppers, crickets, aphids, larvae of all kinds, moths, beetles and ants, as well as spiders, are all part of a bird’s diet.
5. There is no greater joy than seeing a plant utilized in a way that you never considered and see it blooming heavily in December to boot. I refer to a natal plum (Carissa sp.) that I saw trained to grow up vertically on a chain link fence on LeConte Avenue in Westwood. This appeared to be one of the dwarf or ground cover natal plums since the leaves were diminutive as were the pink fruit. Best of all, its wedding white pinwheel flowers were abundant. This spectacle is the essence or horticulture which, at its best, manipulates growing conditions so that a plant can perform at its highest potential, often by being treated or trained in an unconventional way. Do you have a winter bloomer whose story you would like to share? If so, please write to me about it.
Please send questions, comments, and photos to joshua@perfectplants.com