1. You can encourage your containerized ivy geraniums – and other ground covers for that matter – to climb their way up to two meters tall, with the help of PVC-coated flexible wire fencing. You can easily bend this fencing into a circle for placement in a 10-inch diameter, or larger, container. Distribute ivy geraniums acquired in four-inch pots around the outside edge of the container or root cuttings from an established ivy geranium plant directly into the container’s soil at the base of the fencing. Other decorative ground covers that lend themselves to this sort of vertical growth include glacier ivy, with variegated cream and green foliage; trailing purple or white lantana (Lantana montevidensis); periwinkle, with bluish-violet pinwheel flowers, both large leaf Vinca major and small leaf Vinca minor; climbing nasturtium varieties such as Amazon Jewel and Spitfire; petunias of every description; and, in the edible category, the normally supine squash and cantaloupe too.
2. Cattail (Typha latifolia), a California native, is a multi-purpose plant like no other. Of course, it makes a fine specimen for a water garden but is also among the most nutritious ornamental species. Its rhizomes have a sweet taste and may be eaten raw or cooked; they grow up to two feet long and three inches in diameter and may be baked like potatoes. Young shoots, up to one and a half feet long, can also be consumed raw or cooked; their taste is similar to that of cucumbers and their consistency will remind you of asparagus. Immature cattail flower spikes may also be eaten raw or cooked; their flavor resembles that of sweet corn. Eat the seeds raw or cook them for their nutty flavor. Mix cattail pollen with flour and your pancakes and muffins turn out an inviting yellow color. Practical uses for cattails abound, from stuffing pillows with their soft fruit hairs to utilizing their stems for caulking, thatching, and other construction purposes. Cattail is easily propagated by division or separation of young shoots from the mother plant, as long as a few roots are attached to the base of the shoots. Cattail is invasive so it will fill your pond quite rapidly, whereupon it provides a nesting ground for waterfowl that may be flying in the vicinity. Cattail is also highly medicinal with too many curative properties to list here.
3. Certain pollinator plants grow in winter. Honeybees become active whenever temperatures rise above 55 degrees, whereas solitary bees and bumblebees,which are probably the most efficient pollinators, start buzzing again in February. Polinator-attracting California native coyote brush (Baccharis spp.) grows to eight feet but Twin Peaks and Pigeon Point are ground cover species that are more manageable. A plant for full sun, coyote brush is as drought tolerant as any other selection for erosion control on slopes. Sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans) flowers, nearly obscured by the plant’s foliage, have a unique and powerful fruity fragrance that entices pollinators and addition of this species to a garden of sweet scented plants is a must. Oregon grape (Mahonia spp.) with saffron yellow flowers followed by cobalt blue fruit, Australian grevilleas with their intriguing spidery flowers, chaparral current (Ribes malvaceum) and finally California lilacs (Ceanothus spp.) are also included in the list of winter bloomers in Southern California that attract bees and/or hummingbirds in this season.
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4. Ornamental cabbage and kale make a stunning color statement when mass planted at this time of year. Unlike pansies (prone to fungi that may kill them almost overnight) and snapdragons (susceptible to leaf rust and flower bud worms), ornamental cabbage and kale are virtually pest free. In addition, while pansies and snapdragons require continual deadheading of spent flowers to keep blooming, ornamental cabbage and kale are decorative through omnipresent foliage alone. Ornamental cabbage looks like ordinary cabbage except that its interior leaves are white, pink, lavender or red. Ornamental kale is similarly available in these colors, except that its foliage is fluffily frilled. The beauty displayed by ornamental cabbage and kale is temperature dependent. For the colors of these plants to be fully expressed, temperatures must drop below 50 degrees during several consecutive nights. The colder the winter, the more brilliantly the plants shine.
5. Start a garden notebook. You can become a horticultural scholar simply by noting when your plants leaf out, bloom, and form flowers and fruit from one year to the next. You mark the dates when these life-cylce events occur and associate them with the temperature, precipitation, and other prevailing weather conditions before these events occur. Elizabeth Lawrence based much of her acclaimed garden writing on the meticulous records kept of her plants’ behavior. She had a humorous streak as well: “In my garden everything grows on top of everything else, and I let them fight it out,” she once wrote. Lawrence is considered one of the pre-eminent gardeners in the horticultural history of this country, ranked alongside Thomas Jefferson for her contributions to the art and science of growing plants. Lawrence’s most famous book, a collection of her articles, is titled “Through the Garden Gate” and pulls us in with this introduction: “This is the gate of my garden. I invite you to enter in: not only into my garden, but into the world of gardens – a world as old as the history of man, and as new as the latest contribution of science; a world of mystery, adventure and romance; a world of poetry and philosophy; a world of beauty; and a world of work.”
Please send questions, comments, and photos to joshua@perfectplants.com.