Begonia (Begonia x tuberhybrida pendula 'Illumination Apricot') This shade-loving annual grows to 8 inches tall and 24 inches long. This cultivar produces apricot-shaded orange flowers that bloom until frost. Pictured behind the bromeliad. (Courtesy of Tom Curwin)
This column features book reviews that have sparked comments about garden photography.
The photo gallery includes plants that are growing in my garden and are now blooming, which are well suited to our dry summer climate, but may not be included in the book being reviewed.
• Rosaceae
• Mandevilla rakisa (Chilean jasmine)
• Phlomis purpurea (purple phlomis)
• Begonia x tuberculida pendula 'Illuminated Apricot'
• Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' (Pink Cigar Planter Plant)
Book Review
We start with the 1921 book Gardening in Dry Summer Climates: Plants for a Lush, Water-Respecting Landscape by Nora Harlow (author) and Saxon Holt (photographer).
Recent reports have described the book as “a guide to native and adapted plants for the dry-summer, wet-winter climate of the Pacific coast of North America” – in other words, it focuses on Mediterranean-climate plants that thrive along the California coast.
Mediterranean climate plants are plants that are native to five regions: the Mediterranean coast, South Africa, southeastern Australia, central Chile, and coastal California. A newer, better term for this category is “dry-summer, wet-winter climate plants.” This term is clearer and more descriptive, but wordier.
This book will be useful to gardeners along the California coast, including those in the Monterey Bay area, but many gardening books appeal to a broader audience by featuring a variety of growing regions. California gardeners, who may be interested in plants native to England, Japan, or other exotic regions, will be most successful by researching plants that are appropriate for their own gardens.
The book focuses on “native plants” that have adapted to this climate, a category of plants that pertains to horticultural standards. In this column, I regularly recommend focusing on plants native to the Monterey Bay region because these plants meet horticultural standards and support local wildlife.
Many gardeners want to achieve both goals while also incorporating exotic plants into their gardens. In my garden, I have dedicated sections to five areas that experience dry summers and wet winters.
The book begins with a section on change in our dry summer climate, and the following sections briefly discuss garden design topics such as climate change, water supply, invasive plants and garden villains, fire-resistant landscaping, carbon capture, soil structure, wildness, and change.
The largest section in the book, “Plants for Dry Summer Climates,” contains an extensive list of plants worth having in your garden. The entries are listed alphabetically by botanical name, then by common name. Each entry includes a short description of the plant, and many entries are accompanied by excellent photographs.
The next section, “Plants for Special Places,” lists plants by category that are suitable for various landscape situations. For example, the list of plants suitable for “dry shade” includes shrubs, perennials, annuals, grasses, succulents, and climbers.
This section is a practical support to the overview. Together, these sections provide practical help in planning the garden and selecting plants. Botanical names are provided so that gardeners can find more information about specific plants by searching on the Internet or by referring to the section at the end of the book, “References and Resources.”
The index provides page references for every plant featured in the book, making it easy to search for a particular plant.
This book has an advantage over many other plant directories and mail-order catalogs because of its photographs, which require gardening enthusiasts to visualize the plants that interest them rather than just seeing the printed names.
Featuring plants suited to our dry summer climate, complete with photographs and lists of special locations, this book will be a valuable resource for gardening enthusiasts along the Pacific Coast.
Garden Photos
Mobile phone cameras are useful for recording various events and situations, making them an essential tool for gardening. As they are small portable devices, they are easy to carry in your pocket when you are working in the garden. They are useful for taking photos of flowers, plants, and landscapes to store in a file or share their beauty with others. They can also depict areas of the garden that need redesigning. Such photos can be helpful when choosing plants.
Although these cameras are easy to use, they can enhance a simple snapshot by applying more advanced skills than this column can cover.
The photographer in the book reviewed above, Saxon Holt, is an accomplished creator of garden and landscape photographic images. His work appears in a number of books available on Amazon.com. Search his name on that site.
Not only is Holt a master of garden photography, he also generously shares his ideas and techniques. When I asked him, “How can I photograph plants and gardens like you?”, Holt replied, “The No. 1 tip for good garden photography is… to find a good garden and always shoot in good light.”
That's good advice, but you can learn more about garden photography through the publications available on his website, photobotanic.com.[ストアと書籍]Click here to find downloads of traditional books and lessons from his excellent “Think Like a Camera” series, and his site also features his photography.
Calflora's 10th annual photography contest invites many garden photos to be shared, enjoyed, and evaluated. The event is organized by Calflora, a nonprofit organization that maintains an online database of “California Native Plants.”
Photos are submitted each May in five categories:
• Calochortus (Liliaceae)
• Grasses + grass-like plants (grasses, sedges, rushes)
• Other flowering plants (big category)
• Gymnosperms (The gymnosperm group consists of conifers, cycads, ginkgo trees, and gymnosperms. Gymnosperm comes from the Greek word meaning “naked seed”).
• Ferns + Bryophytes (non-vascular land plants: liverworts, hornworts, mosses)
To see photos of plants in these categories, go to tinyurl.com/4x6u2cpz. You can also vote for photos in the contest. Click on the video tutorial link on the webpage.
Entries for this annual photography competition open in May, so aspiring garden photographers can save their best photos to enter next May.
Emil Pakarklis offers a wide range of photography ideas and techniques. To watch his short online presentations, browse youtube.com and search for “emil pakarklis.” You can also sign up for his iPhone photography school. There's a lot more to learn than just pressing buttons.
Enjoy your garden and your photoshoot!
Tom Kerwin is past president of the UC Santa Cruz Botanical Garden and Monterey Bay Iris Society, past president and life member of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus and Succulent Society, and a UC Lifetime Master Gardener (certified 1999-2009). He currently serves on the Santa Cruz Hostel Association Board and is active in the Pacific Horticultural Society. Photos of his gardens can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ongardeningcom-566511763375123/. For gardening instructional information and archives of On Gardening columns, visit ongardening.com to view previous columns and www.santacruzsentinel.com/ to search “Karwin” for recent articles. Please email your comments and questions to gardening@karwin.com.
