It all started back in 2005 when my first column was published in the newly combined San Lorenzo Valley Press and the Scotts Valley Banner which was re-named the Press Banner. This is how it all began.

My father wanted me to be a writer and researcher for National Geographic, encouraging me to take writing and science classes. My interest in nature and photography was the easy part. It was the 60’s, though, and if you grew up then you know that one didn’t always do what was expected of you. I did study science at Humboldt State and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and aced the plant taxonomy and science classes.

After I moved here, I started working at a local nursery which really wasn’t work at all. Then one day I had an idea. I typed up a sample column and marched into the editor’s office for the Press Banner. Little did I know that he had taken horticulture classes himself and so had a soft spot for my idea to write a weekly gardening column. Next thing I know he’s saying he wants 5 columns, 400 words each, excluding prepositions, on his desk by Friday and the column would be called ‘The Mountain Gardener’ and not ‘Ask Jan’ which I had suggested. I knew my father would be proud. I was a newspaper columnist.

I don’t consider myself a horticultural expert but If I don’t know something I’ll surely find out. I know a little bit about a whole lot of subjects and if I could remember everything I’ve researched I’d be one happy camper. But when I reflect on the prior column over the years, it’s the funny stories I remember the most and I’ve got a lot of ‘em.

File this under “I should have known better.” After a large shade tree had to be cut down near my place I saw an opportunity to stage some pots of perennials on the cut stump. Well, nature had ideas of its own. Fungal decomposition of dead trees is a crucial process in our ecosystem and is driven by fungi that breakdown the wood’s cellulose and lignin. What I forgot was that the potting soil in the pots also has a woody component and the white fungus infiltrated the entire pot killing the plant in the process. Bottom line: you can’t fool Mother Nature.

I’ve written about my friend Robby’s exploits in his garden in 10 different columns going back to 2011. I’ve affectionately called him “The Serial Mole Killer” and he recently told me that this year the moles are the worst he’s had in several years. He’s also very good at trapping and relocating critters so it’s not always light out for everybody. Robby’s garden was featured in the Valley Churches Scotts Valley Garden tour in 2022 where he shared his irrigation, erosion, dry creek bed and succulent expertise. I’m lucky to have a knowledgable friend like Robby who always keeps me laughing when I visit him and his garden.

Funny stories I can’t forget include the trip I took to Guatemala, Honduras and Utila, an island off the coast of Honduras. It was on Utila that I saw plants growing in washing machine baskets. I thought it was a clever way to re-use old appliances but wondered why there were so many old washing machines on a tiny island. A local laughed at me for asking about them and told me the baskets protect their plants from the big blue crabs that come out at night. Seems they’ll sever the stems right at ground level and drag the whole plant into their hole. Also the baskets protect the plants from iguanas who will eat anything within two feet of the ground. And you thought deer and bunnies were a problem?

And don’t get me started on the time my dog Sherman licked all the moss/buttermilk concoction I was painting on a retaining wall to disguise it. Nor the client who dug up all the “dead” plants in his garden not realizing they were deciduous.

So that’s all folks. Thanks for reading.

The wisteria blooming now are spectacular. I almost forget about them during the dormant season as I’m not fortunate to have one in my garden but once they start to flower they seem to be everywhere, even growing up into the redwoods in many places. Who hasn’t longed for their fence, arbor or pergola to be covered with fragrant wisteria? Bees and hummingbirds love them, too.

Those you see most often are probably Cooke’s Purple with clusters of fragrant blue-purple flowers 20 inches long.It blooms twice per season which is a plus but there are many other varieties available now.
Chinese wisteria like Cooke’s Purple can take up to 20 years to mature enough to produce flowers, but once it has matured, the plant is very long lived and can live up to 100 years.

Amethyst Falls American Wisteria has become very popular because it’s perfect for smaller spaces. Growing to only about a third of the rate of Asian wisteria, it blooms at an early age with lightly fragrant purple racemes. Grow in a container for your porch or patio, train up an arbor or trellis or train as a small free-standing tree.

Another smaller variety to try is Shiro-Beni Silky Wisteria with its highly scented dark pink smaller flowers that open all at once. Consider also Iko Yama Fuji Silky wisteria with long violet buds that open to highly fragrant pale lilac blooms in late spring. Also beautiful is Kaptain Fuji a white silky variety.

Japanese wisteria like Texas Purple, White and Pink Japanese wisteria are most effective when grown on pergolas so their long flower cluster can hang freely.

Kentucky Blue Moon is one of the hardiest wisteria. It blooms up the three times in a growing season once established producing beautiful foot-long racemes of fragrant, pea-like lavender-blue flowers.

Wisteria are one of nature’s most resilient survivors. They are able to withstand and recover quickly from difficult conditions. To some they are a little too tough for their own good with a growth rate rivaling bamboo during the summer. If you dream of a wisteria-covered pergola shading your patio here are some maintenance tips that are sure to keep both gardener and vine happy.

Wisteria are so vigorous they can be pruned at any time, keeping them in bounds and clearing out unwanted or dead growth. Prune out any stems you see extending into eaves, windows or shingles. If yours has gotten away from you, you can even prune it down to the ground and start over with training although you’ll have to wait a few years for your vine to bloom again.

To their control size major pruning is done during the dormant season. Start by trimming the long tendrils that grew over the summer back to about 6 inches from the main trunk. Cutting the tendrils back in this way will initiate flower bud development, neaten the plant up, and show off the attractive trusty, gnarly character of the vines.

Whatever time you do renovation pruning remember the response of the wisteria to aggressive pruning is to literally explode with new runners. They put energy into new vegetative growth at the expense of flowering. Make sure you keep up on ongoing maintenance pruning by removing all unwanted runners right to their point of origin. Then prune back the others to 3 buds or sets of leaves. Repeated pruning of these runners is what will eventually give you spurs of wood, short laterals that in turn will provide you with flower clusters. You need to prune these runners all season long which ends up being every 3-4 weeks.

Do not fertilize your wisteria. They do not flower well if there is an over abundance of luxuriant growth. Over feeding also ends up giving them the means to become un unmanageable monster. If you have trouble getting your vine to flower an application of a high phosphorus fertilizer may promote blooming.

Maintaining a wisteria requires some diligence but the reward is worth the effort. Remember this especially during winter pruning season to make summer maintenance easier. If you find that the wisteria vine has invaded a nearby bed, cut roots with a shovel below the soil line to control any that have wandered.

All parts of the wisteria vine contain a toxin known as wisterin which can cause stomach upset. Growers should also be wary of pets and children eating the flowers or seed pods.