Daily Archives: November 5, 2009

fall foliage, flowering shrubs

Fall Blooming Plants

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Just because the sun goes down early now, don’t put your garden to sleep yet. Make sure you have as well as fiery foliage to perk up the view outside your windows.

Some of my favorite shrubs for the fall garden have orange flowers. If you have a spot at the back of the garden for a showy 4-6 ft shrub that requires little or no water, add a Lion’s Tail and enjoy whorls of tubular, 2" deep orange flowers that bloom from summer right through fall.

For a shorter orange-flowering shrub, consider a dwarf pomegranate. This ornamental reached 3 ft high and 6 ft wide. Blooming when only a foot tall or less, their showy orange-red single flowers are followed by small, dry red fruit that is also decorative. You can use this little shrub in borders, edging or even containers. When established in the ground they require only moderate watering.

The vibrant orange flowers of these shrubs absolutely glow when planted near purple flowers. Blooming now are Purple Pastel salvia greggii. Also called Autumn Sage, this evergreen shrub typically grows 3-4 ft high and as wide. Remember to shorten and shape plants before new growth begins in spring o keep tidy. Hummingbirds love salvias as do bees so planting them near the vegetable garden can help increase your harvest.

A groundcover for sun or partial shade that is striking in early to late autumn is dwarf plumbago. At this time of year the intense, dark blue flower clusters contrast with its red fall foliage. This 6-12" high groundcover tolerates inconsistent watering and is good for growing under oak trees.

Another drought tolerant groundcover blooming now is Huntington Carpet rosemary. Unlike some of the older varieties of creeping rosemary, this one spreads quickly yet maintains a dense center. Growing to 18" high it’s covered with pale blue flowers through the winter and into next spring. Good drainage is essential for rosemary. Lighten dense soil with plenty of organic matter. Heavy feeding and too much water result in leggy growth.  Rosemary responds to frequent pinching.  Prune older plants frequently but lightly. Don’t cut into bare wood.

This last fall blooming show stopping combination is not orange but red, purple and white. You may have Mexican bush sage, Hot Lips salvia greggii and Santa Barbara daisy in your garden already. They are popular, easy-to-grow, low water use plants. Combine them and step back.  You’ll love the way the white of the daisy brings out the intense red and purple hues of the other two.  This vignette really pops.

If you garden cries out for more fall flowers consider adding some of these plants to your garden.

garden design, soggy soil

How to Handle Excess Water in the Landscape

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We had enough rain to bring those soggy areas of the garden you’ve been vowing for years to do something about to the top of the to-do list. Whether they’re caused by excess rain on your property, from the neighbor or from poor soil drainage, they can be a challenge or an opportunity when designing the garden.

One way to handle runoff is to intercept the water and drain it way with an open ditch, French drain or underground pispe. Better still- develop an on-site collection system. Dry river beds can be designed to aid in rain water harvesting. Above ground water tanks and submerged collection tanks are becoming common to save excess water flowing off the impervious surfaces of your roof, patio, walkways and driveway. Another method of retaining water on your own property is to channel it into a dry-well, a hole filled with drain rock. From here, the water can disperse slowly into the surrounding soil.

Soggy spots can also . Sometimes the same property can have a complex pattern of soils that vary sharply from one area to another. Or soil can become compacted from heavy equipment and need to be broken up with a backhoe, excavator or by hand with a pick.

In some cases, natural topsoil may have been scraped away as is sometimes the case after septic work leaving the hardpan underneath exposed. This can be broken up and lots of compost dug in to keep it loose. New topsoil may need to be added to increase fertility and drainage.

If you still have a naturally wet area, you may choose to live with it and select plants that thrive in damp conditions. A rain garden, one type of on-site collection system, is a depression made in the soil and planted with wet tolerant plants. It can be as small as 100 square feet. To create one, dig a shallow bowl or build a berm to hold the water. Run-off water diverted to a rain garden is slowed so is can seep into the soil. They also filter out pollutants than run off from buildings and driveways.

Choose plants that will thrive in in wet winter and dry summer conditions. Native plants that will do well include trees like alder, sycamore and Calif. fan palm. 

Native shrubs that tolerate these conditions are spicebush, pacific wax myrtle, western mock orange and sambucus.  While native perennials to try are western columbine, wild ginger, carex pansa, deergrass, red fescue and wild grape.

Ornamentals that don’t mind having their feet wet include bee balm, New England aster, ligularia, lobelia cardinalis, hosta, calla lily, lysimachia and Japanese iris. Grasses and grass-like plants that work in this situation are acorus, chondropetalum, fiber optic grass, cyperus and equisetum.

Think of all that rain and moisture as an opportunity in your garden.

fall foliage, gardening tips, houseplants, plant care

Fall Gardening Tips

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Someone asked me the other day  " What’s good to plant this time of year "?  It’s a good question.  I often receive emails asking for advice or ideas for solving all sorts of gardening problems and landscaping situations.  You may be wondering about some of these yourself.  Hopefully, they will solve your problem, too.

What is good to plant at this time of year ?
Fall is a good time to plant just about anything in this area. If you want an ornamental tree with spring flowers or a shade tree to keep the house cool in the summer, now is the time to plant.  The ground is moist now so digging is much easier and the warm soil will encourage root growth.  Shrubs of all types as well as perennials settle in nicely when planted in October and November.  Don’t have color in your garden from fall foliage like you see in other yards when driving around?  Take advantage of fall sales at local nurseries.  There are tons of plants now in fall color to choose from.

Why do trees turn colors in the fall?
The shorter days and cooler temperatures of autumn cause trees to switch into energy-storage mode, at which point their leaves stop producing chlorophyll.  For the few weeks before the leave fall to the ground, they are colored only by their natural pigments.  It’s these colors – red and purple anthocyanins,  yellow  and orange carotenoids –  that make fall foliage  so glorious. Some years the show is more dramatic than others.  The best conditions for intense leaf color to develop are dry sunny days followed by cool ( but not freezing ) nights. 
A warm, wet autumn will almost surely result in less-than-spectacular foliage because the process of chlorophyll loss will be less consistent.   Freezing temperature, meanwhile can cause leaves to drop suddenly, denying the opportunity to enter their slow, colorful dormancy. 
 

 

When do we usually get the first frost here? 
I have kept a weather calendar since 1992 and based on my records there was a light frost on Oct. 29, 2002.  I’ve seen an early hard frost as early as November 7th but more commonly, frost comes later in November.   In "97-’99 frost didn’t occur until the first week of December.  Be prepared.

How long can I leave my houseplants outside? 
Halloween is a good time to bring them in.  We don’t have the heater on full blast usually this early so they don’t suffer  shock going from a cold environment to a heated one.  Be sure to inspect them for insect pests and wash them off before bringing them inside. I have to confess, I roll the dice and leave spider plants, wandering jew, Hawaiian shefflera and creeping charleys outside under the overhang. I’ve been pretty lucky most winters.

Some winters my tree ferns and bananas suffer.  How can I protect them if we have a really cold spell?  
Many subtropical plants benefit from extra mulch to help them survive a hard frost.  People from the east coast know all about this.  Just be sure to take it away from the stem or trunk come spring or the mulch can cause rotting.