Greens

This bed under my living-room window has long been a trouble spot, being very narrow and sandwiched between the foundation of the house and a concrete path, both of which are apparently notorious for leeching acid into the soil.  These three plants are almost completely trouble-free and are attractive year-round.  The Sanseveria is so slow-growing that I have not yet had to cut it back.  The aspidistra needs some dead leaves cut away now and then, but the fern is the only rampant grower of the bunch and needs regular (every few months or so) cutting back or it tends to flop over the path.

At left, Sansevieria trifasciata.  This is a common house and garden plant in Southern California.  It has thick, almost plastic-like leaves that grow in sharp, unrelenting blades -- hence the unkind common name of "mother-in-law tongue".  It grows upright from 1 to 4 ft. (0.3 to 1.2 m), in various patterns of green and cream shades.  I chose this one because it did not have the usual cream edges; I tend not to like variegated leaves much.

At right, sword fern, probably Polystichum munitum.  This easy-to-grow fern is native to the western United States.  Its yellow-green fronds grow from 2 to 4 ft. (0.6 to 1.2 m), depending on soil and moisture conditions. 

At the bottom can be seen a single leaf of Aspidistra eliator, or cast-iron plant.  This evergreen perennial certainly lives up to its name: it can apparently survive in some of the worst planting conditions possible, indoors or out.  Glossy dark-green leaves are 1 to 2 1/2 feet long and 3 to 4 inches wide on a 6 to 8-inch leafstalk. The aspidistra has been very popular as a house-plant for decades -- almost every Victorian parlor had one.

Stinging nettle

A seedling (about 3 in./8 cm) of stinging nettle.

Stinging nettle, or Urtica dioica, bears on its leaves and stems a haze of tiny hair-like trichomes which act like hypodermic needles to inject histamines into the skin of humans and animals that touch it, producing a stinging sensation.  It has for centuries been used as a medicinal plant and a food source.

Stinging nettle can grow up to 3 to 7 ft. tall (1 to 2 m) in summer, and dies back in winter.  It grows in shady, damp areas -- it seems to come up more quickly here after a period of rain -- and spreads through rhizomes

The sting doesn't seem to be as intense when the plant is still small, so pull it up early if you can; otherwise, be sure to wear gloves!

Fox squirrel

We have for a number of years had a colony of fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) living in this pine tree.

Fox squirrels range in size from 17.5 to 27.5 inches (45 to 70 cm) -- nearly half of that tail -- and weigh 1 to 2 lbs. (500 to 1,000 g), although apparently here in the western United States they are on the smaller end of the scale. Females can live up to 12 years, and males 8. Their nests, called dreys, are either platforms of sticks up in the tree branches in summer, or dens hollowed out from tree trunks in the winter.

I don't see them in the camphor trees much, despite the generous number of berries there at times, so it seems that they prefer the pines in the neighborhood, and possibly the magnolias.  The ground under this tree is littered at the moment with eaten cones and the hard scales that the squirrels have torn off to get at the seeds.

They are very playful, and sometimes three or four can be seen chasing each other up and down the trunk of the tree.  They also dash easily from tree to tree around the neighborhood, and use the phone and electricity wires as a kind of squirrely highway.

Rosa "Duchess de Brabant"

The tea rose "Duchess de Brabant" was introduced in 1857 by H.B. Bernède of Bordeaux.  It is nearly continuously in bloom, covered with flowers even now in mid-November.

The flowers are light pink, small and round with a light tea-rose scent, on a compact bush growing to about 6 ft tall x 4ft.  It is generally very healthy and trouble-free in my garden.

This rose is said to have been one of Theodore Roosevelt's favorites, often chosen by him for a buttonhole.  In my garden, it is very droopy, and probably not suitable for that use at least, but it has a very pretty scent.

November sky