All posts by Jan Nelson

I am a landscape designer and consultant in the Santa Cruz mountains in California. I write a weekly gardening column for the Press Banner newspaper. I am also a Calif. Advanced Certified Nursery Professional and managed The Plantworks Nursery in Ben Lomond, Ca. for 20 years.
Classroom plants, houseplants, Life lab, succulents, tillandsia

Cool Ideas for Back-to-School Gifts

With the first day of school fast approaching parents are busy getting colored pencils, highlighters and markers for the new school year. Students need backpacks, clothes and other supplies too. Teachers are hard at work also getting their classrooms ready in addition to lesson plans. If you are thinking of getting your teacher and classroom a little back-to-school gift here are some suggestions that will do double duty as teaching moments and a thank you.

tillandsia
Tillandsia mounted on driftwood

Plants are the perfect choice for a small gift. One easy-to-care plant is the tillandsia or ?air plant?. A small one can be placed in a small shell or attached to a piece of driftwood and if given some light near a window and sprayed or dunked in water each week they will flower and reproduce by growing offshoots or ?pups?. Turn this gift into a teaching moment to share with the rest of the class by writing out an explanation of their interesting ways.

Tillandsia like their relatives, Spanish moss and pineapple, have tiny scales on their leaves called trichomes which serve as very efficient absorption systems to gather water. They are very tolerant of drought conditions and will grow with just a spritzing of water although I like to run mine under lukewarm water to mimic the showers they might get where they normally grow on tropical tree limbs. They prefer the light from a bright window but not direct sunlight and are among the easiest of indoor plants to grow and maintain.

succulents
Small succulents for the window sill

Another plant that would make a nice addition to the classroom is the succulent.? Succulents are easy to grow. They are very forgiving plants given different watering and light conditions. I?ve seen small ones planted in recycled boxes, old tins and hand decorated or painted clay pots. Succulents have an interesting life history that can be shared with the class, too.

A quick check of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, provides this information. In botany, succulent plants are plants that have some parts that are more thickened and fleshy in order to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ?succulent? comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning juice or sap. Succulent plants may store water in leaves, stems or roots and have the ability to thrive on limited water sources, such as mist and dew, which makes them equipped to survive in an ecosystem which contains scarce water sources. They can survive on sea coasts and dry lakes, which are exposed to high levels of dissolved salts that are deadly to many other plant species. If they can survive there they will flourish in the classroom.

spathiphyllum
Spathiphyllum or Peace Lily

Another gift idea for the classroom is a small houseplant that can clean the air. The first list of air-filtering plants was compiled by NASA as part of a clean air study published in 1989 which researched ways to clean the air in space stations. As well as absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, as all plants do, these plants also eliminated significant amounts of benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. Other studies added to the list of chemical pollutants and the best plants to remove them.

NASA researchers suggest that the most efficient air cleaning occurs with at least one plant per 100 square feet. Even the microorganisms in potting soil remove some toxins. Some of the easiest houseplants to grow are some of the best to have in the classroom. Just about all the potted palms are good. Also rubber plant, dracaena ?Janet Craig?, philodendron, Boston fern, ficus, peace lily, Chinese evergreen, spider plant, snake plant, pathos, English ivy and phalaenopsis orchids are high on the list.

Other gift ideas that would do double duty outside the classroom in life lab would be a packet of quick maturing seeds such as lettuce, spinach or other greens. Sow the seeds thickly into nice prepared soil on the first possible school day and begin harvesting the baby greens ?cut and come again? style about six weeks later.

The outdoor garden boxes always need new plants to attract polinizers and 4? pots are readily available. Choose from California native plants such as salvia and yarrow. Common garden plants that attract bees and other insect pollinizers are rosemary, lavender, sweet alyssum, glorious daisy and coneflower.

cherry tomatoes, edibles, organic gardening, organic vegetables, raised vegetable gardens, vegetables

Growing your own Food for Health & Happiness

I don?t grow enough of my own healthy organic food so I rely on the kindness of strangers and several friends. I do manage to harvest a few handfuls of my own strawberries and cherry tomatoes but that?s about it due to lack of sunlight. Fortunately I have the farmer?s market for other fruits and vegetables and friends that keep me supplied with their overabundance of delicacies like plums, guavas and persimmons.

veggie_boxes_july2016
Veggie boxes- July 2016 All photos courtesy of Gaylon Morris

I enjoy reading about the gardening exploits of a Facebook friend as she keeps me posted on the progress of her garden. She?s an inventive cook so there?s no shortage of recipes and pictures of the meals she creates from her daily harvest.

Being involved with the food we eat is a sure way to the road to health. My friend Chandra Morris raises chickens in a coop she affectionately calls Fort Clux and includes eggs in many of her recipes. She and her husband Gaylon designed the coop to exclude any raccoons or other predators and it?s state of the art as far as chicken coops go. Then there?s the raised veggie boxes designed and built in an odd-shaped triangular section of their yard. Utilizing every possible square foot for edibles it?s downright inspirational.

blueberry_Pink_Lemonade
Pink Lemonade blueberry

This is the second season for these raised veggie boxes. Healthy plants need good soil to grow. With this in mind the boxes were originally filled with an organic veggie mix from a local supplier in Aptos that included organic dairy and chicken manure, organic one earth compost, grape pumice, gypsum, organic 4-4-2 fertilizer and humic acid from molasses, seaweed and yucca extract and bentonite clay. The strong healthy plants that Chandra grows attest to the richness of this soil mix.

The progress of Chandra?s vegetables has been remarkable and I?ve been able to track it since May 15th when she posted a picture of the garden at 95% planted. After a couple weeks a picture showed up depicting an afternoon snack of 4 kinds of radish, cherry plums from her tree and a pea pod that ?wasn?t ready but I couldn?t resist.? Then came the late June posts showing pea pods ready for harvest on a trellis, then in a colander on the kitchen counter for dinner that night.

tomato_Indigo_Rose
Indigo Rose tomato

I asked Chandra what some of her favorite vegetable varieties are. She said she grows Pink Lemonade blueberry because it?s supposed to be more resistant to birds as it isn?t blue. Blue lake pole beans are a classic she likes but she also grows Royalty purple pod bush beans. Her very favorite tomato is Green Zebra. Runners up are Pink Berkeley Tie Die, a psychedelic-colored beefsteak-type. Chandra describes Chocolate Cherry as ?the best cherry tomato I have ever had with a silky texture.? She also grows Indigo Rose so there?s no shortage of tomatoes on the Morris family dinner table.

corn_Calico_July
Calico corn- a gourmet popcorn variety

I commented on the vigorously growing corn and was told it?s Calico Popcorn, a gourmet heirloom variety. In the middle of each corn circle she plants Christmas lima beans, a speckled butter bean with a rich, mellow chestnut flavor, winter squash and a ?4th sister?- Bright Bandolier sunflowers. Growing three different crops in one space is a Native American tradition. The Iroquois coined the term The Three Sisters although they weren?t the only tribe to use the method. It?s a circle of interdependence based on giving and receiving.

Four_Sisters
Four Sisters

The three plants work together. Sister Bean fixes, or makes available in plant form, nitrogen from the air. Sister corn provides the support for Sister Bean?s trailing vine. Sister Squash provides ground cover to hold moisture and maintain a healthy soil environments as well as deterring animals invaders with it?s spiny stems. The fourth sister can be Sister Sunflower or Sister Bee Balm. This sister supports the beans, lures birds from the son with her seeds and attracts insect pollinators.

Besides eating fresh from the garden, Chandra is also a good cook and posts lots of good recipes to go along with her harvest. From sauces, to peppers to pickles to soup the list is endless on all the ways she utilizes her harvest of organic fruit, vegetables and eggs in a healthy diet.

atmosphere in the garden, decks and patios, Design trends, fragrant plants, garden rooms

Ways to Make a Garden Interesting

Where?s your favorite place to hang out when you?re at home? For many of us relaxing on the patio or reading under a tree is our go-to place. Grilling on the barbecue or sitting around a fire pit is another favorite outdoor activity. For kids and adults who enjoy sports or games it?s the play area that gets all the attention. And for veggie gardeners it?s harvesting and cooking up a delicious meal from produce you?ve grown yourself that?s high on the list. Whatever you like to do in your yard there are simple ways to give your garden a makeover and make your outdoor area more inviting.

Recently I got lost in Boulder Creek looking for a client?s house on the river. I peeked through an arbor and into a small garden surrounded by shade trees and flowers. A couple sitting at a bistro table were enjoying a late lunch. They were kind enough to direct me to their neighbors house which was right next-door. Seems I wasn?t lost after all. I?ll never forget the lovely table this couple had set on their small patio. With a bright tablecloth, colorful stemware and what appeared from a distance to be a luscious fruit salad the scene would have looked right at home in Sunset magazine. These people knew the importance of extending their living space into the outdoors. They told me they enjoy this every weekend.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Pocket size sitting area

Create atmosphere in your garden. Make sure the entire garden can?t be seen in one glance. A garden room is defined by borders and enclosure. That?s what made the secret garden I discovered by accident in Boulder Creek so effective. It was partly shielded by the canopy of a tree. I?m not sure what the vine-covered arbor at the entry was made of but you could make a rustic arbor yourself from downed branches. Short fences with a gate can enclose your garden room also. Even just a gate between shrubs will blur the garden?s boundaries as will a curved path that leads behind tall shrubs or sheer perennials.

Creating an outdoor room with vines will make your yard feel cozy. They readily provide the walls to enclose a space. Views from one part of the garden may be partially open, framed by vines or blocked entirely. Shrubs can also be used to create garden rooms but vines form a thin living wall that is quickly established. Creating boundaries with vines also adds vertical design elements to an otherwise flat landscape. By adding walls and a ceiling to your garden, you?ll be able to enjoy another dimension in addition to more color and fragrance.

Garden lighting is another easy way to add atmosphere to your garden. As inviting a space a garden might be during the day it becomes magical at night when lit. Solar lighting has come a long way. Walk your property and decide the most effective spots for lighting. Pathway lighting can illuminate the driveway, walkways and steps and mark the edges of areas like ponds and patios. Accent lighting can define a space and show off plantings, benches or illuminate a pergola. Spotlights direct the eye up into trees, show off garden art or accent a focal point.

Each of the senses comes into play in a successful garden. The sense of sight is an easy way to create atmosphere. Use the colors and textures you most admire and repeat them. A green framework holds the garden together but color creates the mood. Whether you like vivid saturated colors or soft pastels broad sweeps of color are more effective than dabs and patches.

urn_fountain
Urn fountain

Sound is important too. In my own garden I have several wind chimes. Ornamental grasses rustle in the wind and adding a fountain with running water is high on my wish list. An urn fountain with pebbles and plants at the base would be a simple choice. A drilled basalt column fountain or basalt dish fountain would look natural in the forest here. But until Santa comes I?ll be content with adding another rustling grass to my garden.

Your sense of smell is important also to create atmosphere in the garden. In the spring the smell of ceanothus fills the air. Then the stargazer lilies start to bloom followed by lily-of-the-valley, daphne, flowering crabapple, carnation, iris, heliotrope, lavender, alyssum and a couple of roses. By enjoying the fragrance of both flowers and the foliage of salvia, lavender and breath of heaven as I walk the garden I?m able to add another dimension to the garden.

Home is where the heart is. There?s no place like home so make yours even more inviting.