UC Gardening Blogs

A Butterfly Ballet: Gulf Fritillary in Action

Sometimes there's a method to our madness, or madness to our method. Take the silver-spangled,...

A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Gulf Fritillary, a silver-spangled, orangish-red butterfly, heads for its host plant, Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Gulf Fritillary, a silver-spangled, orangish-red butterfly, heads for its host plant, Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dip here, a dive there and you have a butterfly ballet (Gulf Fritillary). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dip here, a dive there and you have a butterfly ballet (Gulf Fritillary). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary checking out the passionflower vine (Passiflora). She then laid her eggs on the tendrils and leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary checking out the passionflower vine (Passiflora). She then laid her eggs on the tendrils and leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Gulf Fritillary stops for some flight fuel--nectar from lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Gulf Fritillary stops for some flight fuel--nectar from lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at 3:30 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

May Miku

May Brings

Sunshine, Flowers and a New MG Graduating Class

Welcome to All

photo by Jennifer Baumbach

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at 1:32 PM

Author: Mike Gunther

Melittologist Laurence Packer: 'Extreme Bees in Extreme Environments'

"Extreme Bees in Extreme Environments: Bee Biogeography in the Atacama Desert." That's the title...

Professor Laurence Packer on location in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Professor Laurence Packer on location in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 3:46 PM

Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey

Two weeks ago, I was thrilled to discover my Bottle Brush plant, Callistemon citrinus, had finally flowered. There was one full blossom and a few small wispy ones. Now, I know what you are thinking at this point, why are you getting so excited about a bottlebrush? It's pretty common and your specimen is on the spindly side. You would be correct and I'd have to explain that this plant and I go way, way back.

In 2001 my husband and I went to Australia. We fell in love with interesting plants and animals there. We had been inspired by the incredible Royal Botanical Gardens at Sydney and Melbourne. While there I picked up a seed sampler of iconic Australian plants. I can't remember all of them, but I do remember Paperbark Tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia; Heath Banksia, Banksia ericifolia; Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthas; Grevillea; Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha; Waratah, Telopea speciosissima; and Bottle Brush, Callistemon citrinus.

When we were returning to the United States, I dutifully presented myself to the US Agricultural Station at the airport with my hermetically sealed seed sampler. The inspector slowly looked them over and then condescendingly asked me if I really thought I'd be able to grow anything from the sampler?

I carefully thought over possible responses. Not a chance in hell but I'm eager for an exercise in futility or I am secretly a masochist and failure will give me great pleasure sprang to mind. But, given that this man could throw my seeds away I decided on a cheery, “Well, I certainly hope so.”

Once home I carefully sowed representatives from the seed sampler. Some germinated and a few Kangaroo Paw even made it to the four-inch pot stage before dying. My Bottle Brush survived. It never quite thrived though and I moved its container from place to place in my yard over the years. I finally put it in a half wine barrel and it even made it through the drought years. I had read that it needed full sun and should bloom “freely”. I brooded.

Finally, after eighteen years, it has bloomed. I don't know if it had to age into blooming (I kind of doubt it) or if all the winter and spring rain helped; who knows? I am just glad I hadn't given up and thrown the plant away. Was it patience I had exhibited or stubbornness? I suspect the latter. Meanwhile, I am hoping for more blossoms.

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 10:15 AM

Author: Karen Metz

Aloe karasbergensis

Perusing plants at a Santa Barbara nursery while on vacation a few years back, I was drawn to an unusual looking aloe. Soft to the touch with dark green lines running vertically down the inside of its smooth fleshy greenish grey leaves, this plant was not just attractive but so adorable being only 2"x2" in size, I had to take it home. (I mean, that's what real gardeners do on vacation, isn't it — shop for plants, then stuff the car full?)

What fun I've had watching this plant slowly grow — and I do mean “slowly.” Finally, this January I noticed a spike emerging from its swirling center of leaves. By the time rusty orange-red tubular shaped flowers emerged in late February, I realized the leaves were not only thicker but longer in length and larger in width. The aloe was also taller. By mid-March, the flower spike by itself topped out at 30" in height.

I'm glad I took a chance on the once-tiny aloe, which I've since learned is one of the two lesser subspecies of Aloe striata. I'm also quite thrilled it survived since I had no knowledge of its habitat until now.

Aloe karasbergensis, named after the Karasberg Mountains in southern Namibia, was discovered by botanist Neville Stuart Pillans who added it to his Rosebank garden in Cape Town in the mid-1920s. While Aloe striata is commonly cultivated as an herbaceous garden plant, the subsp. karasbergensisand subsp. kommagasensis are considered harder to grow.

Research shows that this species can tolerate several seasons without water in addition to conditions with moderate rainfall. Ideally, Aloe karasbergensis prefers a desert to semi-desert environment such as rugged mountainous areas and rocky slopes, along with dry river beds sheltered by boulders and overhangs. This plant propagates through wind-dispersed seeds pollinated by birds and insects.

I've noticed that my plant is quite happy in a large shallow ceramic pot that drains well. During Vacaville's scorching summer days, it looks best in dappled shade from a tree or nearby umbrella. When spring approaches and the days length and temperatures warm, this aloe's leaves exude a tinge of pink.

A word to the wise: Plant in a pot or spot large enough to accommodate its growth over several years. The edges of the plant damage easily.

For an intriguing look at botanist/native plant enthusiast Neville Stuart Pillans (son of an agricultural father who collected succulents and a horticulturalist mother), check out this website:https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000006543

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