A visit to Chile - Santa Cruz Sentinel

ON GARDENING

A visit to Chile

Flower of the Inca (Cantua buxifolia). This upright shrub grows about 6 feet high with erect stems and arching branches holding small semi-succulent gray-green leaves. In spring, a profusion of orange to magenta-pink flowers appear with a long tube and a flaring mouth held on thin pedicels so the flowers dangle beneath. It is pollinated by hummingbirds. It can be outrageous in bloom but is a somewhat untidy garden plant with a sprawling form. It is the national flower of Peru and one of two national flowers of Bolivia. PHOTOS COURTESY TOM KARWIN

Red Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sanguinea). This mid-sized shrub grows to 10-15 feet tall and produces 12-16 inches of trumpet-shaped red/yellow flowers. This photo shows a plant shaded by taller plants and not flowering well, so we removed it and replaced it with Sunset Variegated Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia ‘Sunset’). The new plant is doing well.

Shining Pink Rock Purslane (Calandrinia spectabilis). This plant’s brilliant magenta flowers are striking. Appearing in spring, these 2-inch, cup-shaped flowers rise 2 feet above the rosette of leaves, waving in the breeze. Each stem typically produces at least 10 flowers, which stay open only a day or two. An endless succession of flowering spikes is produced over a long season, often into the fall. Calandrinia spectabilis is part of the Portulacaceae plant family, commonly known as purslanes.

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We often refer to the world’s five “Mediterranean Climate” regions: the Mediterranean Basin, South Africa, Chile’s central western coast, Australia’s southwestern coast and the California Floristic Province (i.e, the coastal area).

These five regions, also called “summer-dry” regions, have similar climates.

The practical effect of this similarity is that people living in one of the regions could garden readily and easily with plants from the other summer-dry regions.

Each of these five regions has numerous unique plants that have evolved naturally within the region, creating opportunities for gardeners to introduce climate-compatible exotic plants into their gardens, and to grow them successfully.

Gardeners interested in exotic plants could explore plants from areas other than the summer-dry regions. Gardening in mild-climate environments, such as the Monterey Bay region, could grow plants from any of the summer-dry regions. Some exotic introductions might require special care during periods of higher or lower temperatures for which the plants are unaccustomed. We have recently focused on California’s native plants, so we should also look closely at the plants of the four other regions.

In a previous column, we focused on the plants of the Mediterranean Basin. That column has been archived and can be accessed at tinyurl.com/mry87mv2. Today’s column presents a brief overview of the plants of Chile’s western coast. The photo gallery features my garden’s plants often identified as Chilean, although they might also be associated with Peru, Argentina or Brazil.

The region’s features

The Republic of Chile, in western South America, is the world’s southernmost country and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast and Argentina to the east.

Chile stretches over 2,670 miles north to south, but only 217 miles at its widest point east to west, and 40 miles at its narrowest point east to west, with an average width of 109 miles.

This encompasses a remarkable variety of climates and landscapes. Chile’s northern region is characterized by the Atacama Desert, the most arid in the world.

In the southern region, heavy precipitation has produced dense forests of laurels, magnolias and various species of conifers and beeches, which become smaller and more stunted to the south.

Botanically, Chile’s central coast most closely resembles coastal California and is the most populated.

Biodiversity Hotspot

Chile’s flora has a high degree of endemism due to its particular geography, which results in a wide range of climates and environments: the desert provinces of the north, central Chile and the humid regions of the south.

The central valley is characterized by several species of cacti, the hardy espinos, the Chilean pine, the southern beeches and the copihue, a red bell-shaped flower that is Chile’s national flower.

Much of the Chilean flora is distinct from that of neighboring Argentina, indicating that the Andean barrier existed during its formation. Some species are native to both Chile and Argentina.

An artificial intelligence search (ChatGPT.com) for “herbaceous plants endemic to Chile’s Mediterranean climate region” yielded the following list of garden plants.

• Lily of the Incas (Alstroemeria spp.)

• Blue Pasithea (Pasithea caerulea)

• Garra de León or Lion’s Paw (Leontochir ovallei)

• Poor Man’s orchid (Schizanthus spp.)

• Perennial Haplopappus (Haplopappus foliosus)

• Chilean bellflower (Nolana spp.)

• Giant Oxalis (Oxalis gigantea)

• Placea amoena (No common English name)

• Cristaria spp (No common English name)

Except for the Alstroemeria, a popular garden plant, this list includes plants unfamiliar to me and unlikely to be discovered in a garden center or mail-order plant catalog.

Google searches of the botanical names provide brief descriptions for most of these plants.

Some gardeners of the Mediterranean Bay area might already know and enjoy the less familiar species.

Plants from Chile’s central region grow readily in Monterey Bay area gardens and can bring a touch of exotic horticulture.

Enjoy your garden!

Tom Karwin is a past president of Friends of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and the Monterey Bay Iris Society, a past president and Lifetime Member of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society, and a Lifetime UC Master Gardener (Certified 1999—2009). He is now a board member of the Santa Cruz Hostel Society, and active with the Pacific Horticultural Society. To view photos from his garden, facebook.com/ongardeningcom- 566511763375123. For garden coaching info and an archive of On Gardening columns, visit ongardening.com for earlier columns or visit santacruzsentinel.com and search for “Karwin” for more recent columns. Email comments or questions to gardening@karwin.com.