I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.
John Muir
In darkest February I have no trouble taking my cue from Scottish American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914). Walking in the cold and snowy winter landscape near my house I think back to a trip I took to California in the fall of 2016.
I was able to see some of John Muir’s beloved redwoods but only those that were close to the coast because of the risk of fire inland. California has had a serious drought for several years now as I was to see everywhere I went. After dealing with the very dry summer of 2016 at home, I was very interested in seeing drought resistant plants in California. Friends I stayed with in Santa Barbara told me that they hadn’t had rain for the past two years.
They had replaced perennials like daylilies with more drought-resistant salvias, succulents and cacti. Perennial beds that needed a lot of water were taken out and replaced by container gardens that needed a lot less water. Cacti and succulents look great in containers and can go weeks between waterings. My favourite drought resistant large plant that I saw everywhere was the giant agave. They looked like Dr Seuss plants to these northern eyes.
I was fortunate to have taken a tour of Lotusland while I was in Santa Barbara. This is one of the world’s stranger gardens and I had always wanted to go there. It has been described as surreal and eccentric and I had never seen anything like it. Lotusland is thirty seven acres of tropical and subtropical plants including palms, cycads, bromeliads and cacti.
Ganna Walska (1887-1984) spent forty three years collecting plants from all over the world and designing Lotusland’s unusual display gardens. She was not afraid to be bold and dramatic. If ten golden barrel cacti looked good next to her house, then a hundred would obviously be better.
My favourite garden at Lotusland was the cactus garden. It was mulched with chips of black slate to raise the temperature to about 110•F. It wasn’t very comfortable but the towering cacti were amazing. I’m afraid I was a bad tourist in the cactus garden since myself and a woman from Texas lingered to take pictures. The tour guide was trying to move us on to the yawn inducing floral clock.
Among the most interesting cacti I saw there were the Opuntias or Prickly pear. Seeds for the Lotusland Opuntias came from the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos where they grow wild.
I learned a lot from my trip to a different climate zone. I would now be a lot more willing to use water sparing succulents in containers rather than conventional annuals. I’m sure these will get a lot more popular if we continue to have dry summers.
And there are design lessons from Ganna Walska’s eccentric vision: don’t be afraid to make a big statement if that’s what appeals to you. Masses of the same plant create a strong visual effect.
For those of you who are intrepid and want something dramatic, there is a species of Opuntia that is native to Ontario that grows well here. Opuntia humifusa or Eastern prickly pear cactus is the most northerly cactus species and is endangered in the wild. Check out Anna’s Perennials at the Peterborough Garden Show (April 7,8 and 9) for Opuntia hybrids as well as many different succulents.
Finally, if winter is too much for you and you can’t face another philosophical walk in the snow, you can always grow your own exotic bromeliad right in your own kitchen. The most common bromeliad I recently learned is the common pineapple. If you’re lucky, it will flower in two years. There’s lots of information online about how to do this.
By Jill Williams
