Goodbye Japanese Maple 1.0 - Welcome Japanese Maple 2.0

 this is exerpted from the last entry for Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) 'Monrovia 1.0 & the first entry for Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) 'Monrovia' 2.0

Throughout May-June, the Acer continued the up-down cycle of leafing-out & then leaf-loss, showing signs of recovery & then regressing. Pruning back seemed to stimulate new growth, but then the damaged roots were just not capable of sustaining the new growth. One side of the "V" seemed dominant, the taller branch & so I reduced the tree to a single trunk, eliminating the competition..it didn't help..

By July, it became obvious to me that he had been exhibiting this cycle over & over during the last year & that it would probably end with the tree slowly withering away, or staging periodic recoveries that failed. The situation called for drastic means & in the case of a deciduous tree, there is no more drastic remedy than to "chop" it. 

A "chop" is a measure of last resort, but is not the same as 'chopping it down'..yes, we're killing the old, diseased or damaged above-ground structure, but giving the roots a chance to recover & because of the miracle of plant regeneration, possibly, grow an entirely new tree.

Aug 1, 2026 

This specimen was saw-cut prox 6" above ground-level; the cut was treated with rooting powder, which helps protect the tree until it heals over. However, I did not expect the tree would survive. Imagine my surprise, a couple of days ago, when I discovered this: 

Whether this"last resort" will be successful, we'll have to wait a couple of years to judge, but for now, the tree survives, in a new incarnation, with our best wishes.

Aug 5, 2026

I am surprised at the speed of re-population & the appearance of foliage..the 'old' plant never generated leaves like these, this quickly.

Aug 7, 2026

The new foliage will soon hide the legacy trunk & at this rate, I think I'm going to have to start thinking about thinning it out. One of the problems with the previous incarnation was that it would initially produce foliage, but could not sustain it; my theory is that the damaged roots could not deliver enough nutrition to feed the foliage.

One of the justifications for "the chop" was to reduce height & span that the root system had to service. All we can do now is to continue to monitor the plant.

Just for Fun - Retrospect/EOL

 If we were counting, this would have been about 15 weeks into our 'Just for Fun' series of articles about an experiment to show 'proof of concept' for the contention that one can successfully grow tomatoes in a container, in limited space (like a patio), without trellises or staking.. & we threw-in a chili pepper plant, just for fun.

Since we wanted to grow full-size tomatoes, not cherry tomatoes, we chose a dwarf tomato named Snakebite. In order to make it more interesting, we decided to grow this demonstration crop in 1 gal. containers. This photo shows the tomatoes, easily taking-up no more than 12" in front of a shelving unit & still allowing for easy access for a person to pass by.

By limiting container size, I hoped to restrict overall height & width, yet provide adequate water/nutrients for the plants. Another consideration was that these plants need to be able to take care of themselves most of the time, allowing for folks that need to go to an office job or away from home, so 1 watering/day except during exceptionally severe (hot)weather.

And, as this photo shows, we did grow tomatoes..but not enough of them. The seed company says that the unseasonable hot spell shut-down the plants, but that they will resume production as soon as the weather cools..we'll see.

The Hatch chili peppers have also produced limited quantities, but what they have produced is good quality, just not as large as commercially grown Hatch's. Is this due to the container sizes or did the "hot spell" slow down the chili's? My opinion is neither of those factors was the contributor, but that they were simply started later that they probably ought to be started..I will propagate chili's heretofore in Jan, rather than March. 

I will continue experimenting with tomato/chili cultivars to find those that fit our criteria for growth in small containers, moderate water requirements & produce good taste & size fruit, but this will be the last installment of our series. I will report on this small diversion from my tree collection, but not on a weekly or regular basis. Happy Gardening!

Hibiscus (Rosa sinensis) 'Brilliant' - UPDATE

 excerpt from Hibiscus (Rosa sinensis) Photo/History where you can access the full history of this plant.

Potted the Hibiscus today,in what I hope will be his semi-permanent home, going forward. This marks the 6th repot this year, including root pruning for this specimen. I am very pleased with how root reduction has progressed, for this plant; the gnarly, woody, tangled mass of old root structure is 80% gone, replaced with new, white, feeder-roots, well distributed around the perimeter.

Now it's time to grow a new canopy & time for me to see what I can do with it. The Hibiscus has taken everything I've thrown at it & come back, seemingly, unfazed & ready for more. He readily started back-budding, as you can see from the photos, after the "chop"..I have been pruning the new growth until I see where he's going & to encourage more back-budding & foliage over letting shoots become too long & leggy.

I've chosen 3 shoots which could become the major lower branches & seem to follow the contours of the older branches that have been removed. It will tax my beginner skills to choose what stays & what goes, but part of the learning curve, I guess.

But for right now, this specimen deserves some time to acclimate to his new home & resume his long, strange trip.

Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum) - UPDATE

 excerpt from latest entry to the Desert Rose Photo/History or access the full history of this plant from the menu on every page. 

July 30, 2026

1st bloom opened today..he has multiple buds, so I expect we will see more over the next few days.

I've never seen one in bloom before & I understand more now why people talk about this plant & regard it so highly. I posted one of the photos (above) to a bulletin board (do they still call them that?) that I frequent & an individual from New Zealand commented that he still remembered seeing his first Desert Rose 35 years ago & never forgot it.

I will post more photos as the blooms progress, over the next few days, I expect. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a vibrant red...

     

2nd bloom: Aug 5, 2026

                      

Fremont Cottonwood (Populis Fremontii) - UPDATE

 this excerpt taken from most recent entry on the Fremont Cottonwood Photo/History page.

Sometimes it's the most basic things that matter..I've had 'the Fremont' for almost 18 months & his development has not been particularly noteworthy. About the time of the last update,in June, looking for a place to get him out of the wind, I found a spot that seems to agree with him.

This photo was taken today after I pruned the 'leggy' shoots & evened-out the two sides, as best I could. In his new spot, he gets morning-sun instead of afternoon & has protection from the hot, dry W winds we get every afternoon, this time of year.

I'm feeling really positive about this little tree, right now & if he starts showing us growth similar to the past month, all the better.