PERENNIAL: Sedum: ‘Autumn Joy' (Hylotelephium telephium 'Herbstfreude') is a popular upright sedum. It is a hybrid plant created by crossing a species of sedum (Sedum telephium) with a species of ice plant (Hylotelephium spectabile). The plant features gray-green, rounded, succulent-like leaves. It ranges in height from 20 to 24 inches (18-24 inches wide) and blooms in late summer to fall with blooms of tiny, pink, star-shaped flowers that grow in clusters 3 to 6 inches across on top of the plant's stems. After bloom, the flowers gradually change in color to a deep rose and then rust color before they die when cold fall temperatures arrive. ‘Autumn Joy' is best planted in the spring after the threat of frost has passed but before the hot summer temperatures kick in. Full sun is best and water sparingly allowing soil to dry between watering. It is an easy-care plant that can be planted in borders, the rock garden, or in containers. It is pest, deer and rabbit resistant and does attract butterflies.
SHRUB OR TREE: Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia Indica, comes in tree sizes and in smaller shrub or bush sizes. It is a plant that has been bred into a variety of sizes and flower colors: white, pink to deep red and purple. Standard single and multi-trunk trees can grow to 20 to 30 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet wide. There are also smaller varieties at 6 to 12 feet tall, semi-dwarf varieties ranging from 3 to 6 feet tall, and dwarf shrubs 2 to 5 feet tall. They are widely planted in California as they handle our hot climate well and are drought tolerant. They can be grown with a single trunk or multi-trunks. They need full sun with a minimum of 6 hours per day. They bloom from July to October.
They are best planted in the fall, but also can be planted at any time of year. Crape Myrtles do require pruning. There are often small shoots around the base that need removal and the centers should be open with no crossing branches. Also blooms occur on new wood, so if you want lots of blooms it is advised to prune back last year's growth to two bud spurs for this year's new growth and blooms. Beware of over-pruning; a common mistake is pollard pruning which lops the tops back severely creating stubby plants; frequently referred to as “Crape murder.” It is a common mistake which is commonly done in our area; often by undereducated landscapers and homeowners.
VINE: Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa). Kiwifruit is a large, frost-sensitive, temperate zone vine that requires plenty of heat to mature the fruit properly. Kiwifruit do well when grown in warm sites on a trellis or arbor protected from the wind. Soil must be well drained but kept moist at all times. Kiwis can tolerate temperatures as low as 10°F in January but only if hardened off properly. Late spring frosts and especially early fall frosts in November will kill vines. Overhead frost protection is desirable. As noted below, fuzzy varieties are not as cold hardy as smooth skin varieties. Plant kiwis about 15 to 20 ft. apart. Kiwis are functionally dioecious. Successful fruit production requires a female cultivar and a male with viable pollen when the female is receptive. Vines leaf out in March, bloom occurs in May, and fruits are harvested in October and November. I was fortunate to have two female plants and one male at my previous home and one fall I harvested 3.5 lugs of fruit and the fruit stored well in my cellar providing me with lots of breakfast fruit on my cereal.
