June
Echinopsis macrogona
Bolivia?
This cactus is somewhat shrubby with multiple erect stems. The flowers are large, white flaring tubes.
Most cacti require fast draining soil, full sun and warmth.
Echinopsis macrogona has few ribs (usually 6 to 9) and small spines. The stems are slightly glaucous giving the plant a bluish or grayish green color.
In the cactus garden.
Pseudobombax ellipticum
Mexico to Guatemala
This is a small tree – to 20 feet in cultivation with thick stems and sometimes even forming a swollen base or caudex. It is deciduous in winter and flowers before the large, green leaves are produced in early summer.
Somewhat tolerant of light frosts, the shaving brush tree does best in subtropical or tropical zones. It can be grown as a potted specimen where it will be more likely to form a caudex.
large – 4 inches or more – flowers have sturdy greenish brown petals that curl below the showy cluster of many stamens. There are both pink and white forms.
Cycad garden behind the planting of Dioon sonorense.
Aechmea nudicaulis var. albomarginata
Brazil
The vase-like rosette of leaves of this bromeliad is pale yellow striped with apple green. The leaves have a row of black spines along the margins. The bright red-bracted flower spikes produce lemon yellow flowers in summer. While the original plant will die after flowering, it will produce several offsets that may be removed and replanted. It is usually epiphytic in its native range, but adapts well to containers or raised beds outdoors.
Grow Aechmea nudicaulis var. albomarginata in bright shade either in a pot or in the ground with lots or organic material incorporated into the soil mix. Soil may be allowed to dry out between waterings, but maintain the central cup – made by the tightly overlapping leaves – full of water at all times. Fertilize every month or two with half-strength liquid fertilizer in the central cup.
The colorful flower spikes and brightly variegated leaves make this one of the most handsome bromeliads to grow.
The upper bromeliad garden at the edge of the lawn.
Rosa floribunda ‘Hot Cocoa’
Garden origin
Compact shrubs to 3 feet with glossy green leaves.
Full sun and regular water. Mulch to maintain even moisture. Prune in dormant season as for any rose. Deadhead regularly to encourage more blooms.
This floribunda rose was an All-American Rose Selection in 2003. Smoky orange blossoms tinged with purple as they age are showy and unique.
In the rose garden on the parterre.
Bowiea volubilis
Southern Africa.
A perennial bulb with leafless branching stems up to 15 feet long. The stems can be trained to grow upward with support or they will spread along the ground.
Grows best in sun to partial shade in well-drained soil. The plant should be watered very little during its deciduous dormant season. Begin regular watering when new stems start to grow from the top of the bulb. This plant is not frost-tolerant.
Bowiea volubilis is not related to onions (the Alliaceae family), but is in the Hyacinth family (Hyacinthaceae). Its onion-like appearance comes from its fleshy bulbs which grow partly exposed above the soil. These can reach up to 10 inches in diameter and are bright green and scaly. They spread by offsets which cluster around the main bulb. The plant produces small green star-shaped flowers twined along the stems.
The Climbing Onion is found in the Succulent Garden.
Dracaena draco
Canary Islands, Madeira Island and the Cape Verde Islands
A very slow growing tree. The plant may take up to ten or fifteen years to flower, at which point it will branch for the first time. It will eventually form a large multi-stemmed tree up to 20 feet tall and wide.
Dracaenas are succulent plants, and will grow in full sun or light shade, with moderate water, preferably in well-drained soil. They need a climate where winters stay mainly above freezing, as the leaves are frost-sensitive and the plants die at around 25 degrees. They grow well on the coast.
The leaves are sword-shaped and have a sharp tip. Small, creamy-white flowers are borne in branched spikes. The small, round fruit are fleshy and bright orange. Old specimens have scaly brown bark. The name “dragon’s blood tree” comes from the plant’s red sap, which was used in ancient Egypt as part of the embalming process and has been used in making paint and varnishes.
Over 60 Dragon Trees are planted in front of the Main House.
Brachychiton acerifolius
Eastern Australia
A tree to 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide.
Full sun, needs little to moderate water once established. Grows best in well-drained soil.
B. acerifolius has unusual deeply-lobed foliage, which goes deciduous for a time in late winter, and a swollen, bottle-shaped trunk. Its most striking feature is a spectacular display of bright red flowers in late spring/early summer. The flowers are followed by large brown seed pods which may hang on the tree for months.
Seven B. acerifolius are planted in the Australian Garden, the area around the Visitors’ Center.
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Ganna Walska died March 2, 1984, at Lotusland, leaving her garden and her entire estate to the Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation, to insure that her legacy would remain in her gardens.