Graden Activities: July 1, 2025

Welcome to the beginning of the 3rd quarter of the year! Tuesday we had on hand: Steve Davis, Bill Dobner, Wesley Hare, Beverly Kemmerling, Katie Shank, Daryl Stutley, Nancy Taylor Walker, and me. It was fortunate that we started at 8 am; by 8:30 it was already hot working in the sun.

We started out heading up the hill and tackled the first row of the bulbine on the right about half way up to the turn at Entrance B of the Nature Trail. We opted to only work on the first row as the spent bloom stalks were overhanging the path. We figured we could tackle the up-hill rows over the next week or two. The following images are of the “before” state, and the ones following are of some of us doing the deadheading:

"Before"

Beverly, me, and Daryl.

Beverly and Katie.

Next, we headed for the 2nd 4-corners where we removed the now brown foliage of the summer-dormant chasmanthe.

Nancy

Daryl, Katie and Wesley.

Meanwhile, Bill was working the compost, and Steve was replacing a bunch of plant labels that had deteriorated and adding some new ones. While on his rounds, Steve took me to see a very unusual shrub located (if I’m remembering correctly) to the right on the trail (heading up hill) between the S.African section and the Tranquility Garden — just up from the turn off over the red bridge.

From the flower structure you might guess it is related to the familiar shrimp plant, and you’d be correct. It is a native of Asia, and called a Malabar nut or Justicia  adhatoda.  

Two trees I want to point out are the chitalpa tree and the primrose tree. Both are located in (chitalpa) or visible from (primrose tree) the service area. The latter is about 30-feet tall and located in the SW corner of the first 4-corners. The chitalpa I have commented on before, but because its story is so interesting, I felt it was worth another go.  

The chitalpa is a cross between a desert wllow (Chilopsis) and a catalpa (Catalpa). The cross was originated in Uzbekistan, thus the formal name "x Chitalpa tashkentensis" (Tashkent being the capital of Uzbekistan).  The “x” in front indicates the cross is between 2 genera. If the “x" was behind the genus name, it would indicate a cross berween 2 species within a genus. Because the chitalpa has no viable seed, it must be propagated from cuttings or other asexual means. Thus, according to Wikipedia all living specimens in N. America are considered to have originated from a single root stock introduced into the US in 1977.

Chitalpa

There primrose tree (Lagunaria patersonia) is also interesting for its size and flower.  From a distance its flower doesn’t stand out especially when on the wane;

However, up close it is charming:

The primrose tree is an Australian native and is very happy in our garden.

Enjoy the garden!    KMM