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FLOWERING HEIRLOOMS Darrell G.H University of California Cooperative Extension Online Edition Rush Ranch: Photo by Melinda Nestlerode UCCE Master Gardeners-Solano Co. Winter 2020 Vol. 15 Issue 1 FLOWERING HEIRLOOMS Darrell g.h. Schramm, U.C. Master Gardener, Solano County Not every gardener desires that list were seeds of 140 flowers, such as aconites, amaranth, flowerbeds splashed with the anemones, Canterbury bells, columbine, foxgloves, French modern, bold, garish, or neon- honeysuckle, gilliflowers, impatiens, larkspur, lilies, lychnis, colored flora commonly sold in nasturtium, poppies, scabious, snapdragon, and wallflowers. big-box stores today. Not every I mention all these to indicate how old some of the non- gardener hungers for giant hybridized flowers in our gardens are. carnations that bloom almost non -stop. Not every gardener wants In the American colonies by 1655, the Dutch, who had founded the latest unscented sweet peas or New Amsterdam and New Holland, were growing tulips, freesias. Granted, the newest crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis), certain lilies, violets, hybrid flowers may be wilt- or Crown Imperial in John Edwards ’The anemones, and both red and white roses. By 1760 Britain could rust-resistant, but does the form, British Herbal’ 1769 boast home to over a hundred plant and seed nurseries while the size, the color complement the other plants in the garden? the colonies could claim at least two, John Bartram’s Botanic Does the new, larger or more floriferous flower compensate for Garden nursery outside Philadelphia (c. 1730) and William lack of fragrance? These questions the devoted gardener may Prince’s nursery in Flushing, New York (c. 1750). Pelargoniums, well ask. for instance, were sent to our first nurseryman and botanist John Bartram in 1760. While the wealthier colonists ordered and Many an American gardener, no doubt still in the minority, exchanged seeds and plants from England and Scotland, the prefers at least some heirloom garden blossoms. What are other colonists, understandably, exchanged seeds and cuttings heirloom flowering plants? By heirloom I mean those grown mostly with each other. before 1900 or so, whose traits—with some exceptions—are pastel or soft colors, single blooms rather than double or many- Lady Jane Skipwith (1748-1826) petaled blooms, and fragrance. of Virginia, who lived through the American Revolution, kept Most long-stemmed flowers of today have lost their scent. For lists of the plants she grew in her instance, the old, floppy yellow and white freesias are various garden beds. Some of magnificently scented, whereas the modern, taller and more her flowers still available today thickly stemmed freesias have no fragrance at all. Florist roses are Anemone quinquefolia and are another example. And double flowers are more likely to be possibly two imported from sterile, whereas single flowers (four to eight petals) produce France at that time, A. coronaria seed. It is easy to save seed, and thus money, from most and A. hortensis; Trillium sessile, heirloom plants. Nonetheless, some single flowers readily Anemone quinqefolia the native Viola pedata, the Photo by Alan Cressler mutate into doubleness, such as marigolds, peonies, poppies, original Hibiscus Syriacus, the primroses, stocks, and zinnias. Nature retains its own laws. Virginia cowslip (Mertensia virginica), Phlox divoricata, and various other now-antique crocus, pansies, portulaca, verbena, In 1677 London, William Lucas of The Naked Boy nursery violets, bulbs, and wildflowers too numerous to mention. published what is probably the first list of seeds for sale. Among (Continued on Page 2) Flowering Heirlooms............................................................. 1 UCCE Master Gardeners’ Dunnell Demonstration Garden: Preservation Pointers: Unexpected Edibles ..................... 3 Fairfield, CA................................................................................................ 8 Spotlight on Common Beneficial Insects vs Pests ................ 4 Plants Do Talk ........................................................................ 9 Pearl Eddy, A Lifelong Learner and Adventurer ................... 6 Magnolia Pilgrimage .............................................................. 10 Worm Composting Basics .................................................... 7 Winter Gardening Guide ...................................................... 11 SEEDS FOR THOUGHT—ONLINE EDITION WINTER 2020 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1 (Continued from Page 1 - Flowering Heirlooms) Old lilies grown in the colonies includes an occasional lavender or dove grey flower, as though were Lilium candidum (alias an elegant bouquet by design. Madonna lily or Belladonna), which Thomas Jefferson also But, being a rosarian, I must close with a few among hundreds grew in 1767 along with L. upon hundreds of heritage roses. Like the other flowers superbum, the native American mentioned, many of these roses bloom but once a year, in spring Turk’s-cap lily. In colonial or summer. The red ‘Apothecary’s Rose’ (Rosa gallica officinalis) gardens could also be found the dates back to the misty shadows of time. As early as 1633 it was scarlet Turk’s cap (L. growing in Virginia, and both Lady Skipwith and Thomas Lilium philadelphicum: Photo by Jason Hollinger chalcedonicum), the little Turk’s- Jefferson grew it. cap (L. pomponium), the tiger lily (L. tigrium) and L. philadelphicum, a native called wood lily or ‘Rosa Mundi’, a red rose with white wild red lily, sold at Bartram’s nursery in 1730. stripes (R. gallica versicolor) is a sport (mutant) of ‘Apothecary’s Rose’. Jefferson also planted Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) and Jefferson placed an order for it in Viola tricolor on his estate. In fact, violets go back to ancient 1791 from the Prince Nursery. The Athens about 400 BCE. Romans used Viola odorata to make wine. bright pink, deliciously scented But Parma violets, my favorites, are not so old. ‘Marie Louise’ is ‘Autumn Damask’ (R. damascena) from 1865 and ‘Duchess of Parma’ from 1870, both named for may date back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife. ‘Swanly White’ (also called Alexander the Great. As its name ‘Comte Brazza’) is from 1880. Today Parma violets are usually Rosa Mundi: Photo by Darrell g.h. implies, after a springtime bloom, it available only from specialty nurseries. Schramm displays its flowers again in autumn. ‘Great Maiden’s Blush’ (R. alba) is a thickly petaled, Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium or media) dates at least to pale pink rose dating to about 1400. A deeper pink, very 1597. A white form of Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum fragrant variety is called ‘Cuisse de Numphe Emué’, translated ‘Album’) from the 18th century is still in commerce. A white as Thigh of the Passionate Nymph. variety of Monkshood (Aconitum napellus ‘Alba’), grown in England since the 1500s, was also grown in colonial gardens. A Moss rose, ‘Nuits de Young’, one of the darkest of all roses, a (Monkshood can be propagated by division, but wash your blackish-purple velvet, is a small and slender plant about two hands after handling the poisonous roots.) feet high. It does tend to sucker but can be grown in a large pot. The moss is most noticeable in the buds, and while the stems Of heirloom coleus, a decorative annual prized for its leaves, have no thorns or prickles, they are covered with a bristly, only one has survived, the Victorian variety ‘Pineapple Queen’. purplish-brown moss. The flowers, which bloom in summer, are Though most coleus prefer semi-shade, ‘Pineapple Queen’ is fragrant. especially resentful of sun. Why plant flowering heirlooms? Because they display a subtle Gilliflowers—we Americans prefer to call them pinks or elegance, because they are usually fragrant, because they carnations—date to the 17th century. ‘Bridal Veil’ scented connect us to our history, because they are survivors. ¤ cottage gardens in the 1600s. By 1667, at least 23 varieties could be grown. ‘Pink Inchmery’ has been gardened since the 1700s, ‘Batt’s Double Red’ since 1707, ‘Cockenzie Pink’ since 1720, ‘Mrs. Sinkins’ since 1868. Other heirloom pinks are available. Writer and garden columnist Vita Sackville-West considered ‘Chabaud’, introduced in 1870, superior to all annual carnations. I almost close with poppies, those wispy, crepe-textured beauties. Rather than Icelandic or Oriental poppies, I suggest growing Shirley poppies (Papaver rhoeas), developed in 1880: ’Sir Cedric Morris’, for example, or the 1910 ‘Mother of Pearl’. These old strains will usually contain a pastel variation of the main Nuits de Young: Photo by Darrell g.h. Schramm color; thus, ‘Mother of Pearl’ among its silvery white blossoms PAGE 2 SEEDS FOR THOUGHT– ONLINE EDITION WINTER 2020 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1 UNEXPECTED EDIBLES Pearl Eddy, U.C. Master Gardener and U.C. Master Food Preserver, Solano County Surprises are always a lot of fun, especially when you in mid-summer. are wandering around in the woods. It’s fun to look for Chicory leaves can be wild berries, mushrooms and other special edibles. In used in salads, and the summer you can look for the wild grapevines where the dried roots can be clumps of muscadine grapes hang, ready to pick to be ground and used as a made into jelly. Wild blackberries can be eaten “as is” or coffee substitute. frozen or made into jam or pies. Elderberries make tasty Ground chicory was jams, jellies and syrups. Ripe rose hips make a lovely often added to the jelly. Bay leaves can be found on shrubs or small trees cans of coffee which I growing in the nearby foothills. bought while living in the “deep south.” You do not have to leave home to find Some of the edible many unexpected plants are excellent edibles. In the early sources of nutrients, spring, look into your such as the miner’s lettuce which is loaded with vitamin back yard or nearby C and helped to prevent scurvy in the miners of the gold vacant lots and you rush. Mustard greens are high in vitamins A, B, C, and Photo by Cowcornerman www.flickr.com may find miner’s antioxidants. The lower, young leaves are best, but more lettuce, purslane, mustard greens, dandelion, lamb’s mature leaves can be used although they are stronger in quarters, and many other greens which are tasty and flavor.
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