He also cultivates his new finds, plus some exotics, in his nursery at the 5000-foot elevation near Pico de Orizaba, the third-highest peak and the tallest volcano in North America.

Hammer provided marvelous vistas of mountainous cloud forest, his lush mid-elevation nursery landscape beneath snowcapped Orizaba, as well as the rain-shadowed desert terrain in the Valley of Tehuacán nearby in the state of Puebla, where Echinocactus, red Jatropha, blue-striated Agave marmorata, red-and-chartreuse succulent Hechtia bromeliads, ocotillo cousins in the genus Fouquieria, and Bursera trees thrive. So, unfortunately, does “mala mujer,” a ferocious stinging member of the Euphorbiaceae with lovely maple- or mallow-like leaves that inconveniently also occupies moist forest zones in a leafier form, the better to lose sight of amidst the verdant ambiance.

Even at the moderate elevation of 5000 feet, Hammer's nursery experiences light frosts about every five years, but otherwise offers perfect conditions for growing on elephant-ear plants in the genera Xanthosoma (New World), Alocasia metallica and Colocasia illustris (Old World) for export to his Southern California nursery. The moist, warm, windward location also allows for cultivation of colorful Cordyline terminalis and Hibiscus selections, new pendent red Trigridia, heat-loving Hymenocallis eucharydifolia, Crinum hybrids, and tree ferns like Cyathea princeps and Cibotium schiedei. Among the ferns he recommended for Bay Area gardens is a low-growing cloud-forest Blechnum with red new fronds 

Especially exciting for California gardeners are the Heliconias Hammer has introduced. The epitome of tropical flowering perennials with their strong colors and lobster-claw forms, many of the higher-altitude species – H. spissa, H. aurantiaca – grow well and flower in Southern California, and have proven themselves in Cal Hort member David Feix’s Berkeley garden, thus boding well for their use in other favored mild-climate Bay Area locales.

Other Mexican subtropicals adaptable for mild Bay Area gardens that Hammer presented were the epiphytic orchid, Brassia verrucosa, the terrestrial Sobralia macrantha, bromeliads in the genus Tillandsia and Pitcairnea, broad-leaved Begonia nelumbifolia, a carmine-red Salvia, the shade-loving Justicia coccinea, and a spectacular Lobelia with silvery-red leaves, specimens of which a few lucky audience members received in the drawing. Hammer also donated to the drawing plants of Begonia nelumbifolia, two Heliconias, the ideal small tree palm Chamaedorea plumosa, Agaves and other choice selections from his nursery stock.

Valiantly fighting a cold, Gary Hammer gave plenty of inspiration for testing the diverse flora of southern Mexico in our Northern California gardens. By choosing selections from higher altitudes, and species proven in Los Angeles to prefer cooler, more humid conditions, we Bay Area gardeners can bring a Mesoamerican ambiance into our environs with minimal winter disappointment.

Return to 2004 Programs