cut flowers

Bouquets from Your own Garden

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A gardener’s life:  water, prune, plant, rake, weed, stake. Repeat as necessary. Then smell the roses, harvest the vegetables and It’s great to be out in the garden among your beautiful plants. Reward yourself and bring the outside in.

Have you ever seen the spectacular arrangements made weekly for the mansion at Filoli Gardens in Woodside? They are truly breathtaking, composed of whatever plants and flowers happen to catch the eye of the harvester. You can have this too for your own dining room table, kitchen, bedroom or bath.

Until about 100 years ago, one of the most important areas of any large garden was the cutting garden, where flowers were harvested like a crop and taken inside for display. Today our lifestyles and tastes are reflected in bouquets that are more casual. The bouquets you make from garden grown flowers, interesting foliage branches, grasses, vines and even herbs always seem to have more personality and cottage garden softness than ones bought from the store.

While just about any plant material that strikes your fancy will work in a mixed bouquet there are four types of plant forms that naturally look good together:  Spires for height and architectural properties ( liatris, snapdragon,gladiola, salvia, Bells-of-Ireland),  Round for focus ( roses, dahlias, long-stemmed marigolds, peonies), lacy for fillers ( ferns, baby’s breath, dill ) , foliage ( abelia, breath of heaven, Calif. bay ), and ornamental grasses.

Here are some unsung beauties to grow and add to your arrangements.
* Love-lies-bleeding ( Amaranthus caudatus ) Long, to 18", pendulous ropes of red flower clusters. Handsome mixed with bold companions like zinnias and sunflowers. Good dried flower.
* Bells-of-Ireland ( Moluccela laevis ) Showy, apple-green flower spikes, long lasting in either fresh or dried arrangements.
* Transvaal daisy ( Gebera jamesonii) Perennial, long-stemmed varieties bloom nearly year round with peaks in early summer and late fall. Prized cut flower. Split stem end, dip in boiling water and stand in deep water with sugar for long vase life.
* Lisianthus. Perennial grown as an annual. Flowers resemble roses in shade of purplish-blue, pink, and white. Blooms all summer on strong stalks.
*Pink muhly grass ( Muhlenbergia capillaris) airy plumes of feathery, deep rosy-pink flowers on tall stems. Drought tolerant.

There are so many plants to use in bouquets. Don’t forget grapes and other vines, herbs, woody trees branches and shrub foliage look great, too

The best time to cut is early in the morning. Cut non-woody stems on a slant for maximum water absorption. Cut woody stems straight across and smash the ends. Plunge immediately in a bucket of tepid water. Indoors, fill the kitchen sink with cool water and recut each stem under water so an air bubble doesn’t keep the water from being absorbed.

Then pull off any foliage or flowers that will be below the water level in the vase. Fill the vase with lukewarm water. You can add cut flower food but I find that changing the water every two days and making sure no foliage is under water works just as well.

If a plant isn’t working our or is spent in your arrangement just remove it. The main thing is to have a garden that you love both inside and out.
 

color in the garden, vegetables

Marigolds, Vegetable Gardens and Variegated Foliage

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Raindrops on roses and clusters of cherries.
Bright copper grasses and ripe, juicy berries.
The fragrance of jasmine on warm summer evenings.
These are a few of my favorite things.

Ruffled begonias to light up the shade.
Orange and pink sunsets just before they fade.
The sight and sound of hummingbird wings. 
These are a few of my favorite things.

Some of my other favorite things include plants with variegated foliage like Abelia Kaleidescope or Confetti. The first sports gold and green leaves as a pretty backdrop for the white bell-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds with their nearly year-round nectar. Confetti has creamy white variegated leaves that turn maroon in cold weather. Both are showy, compact plants 2-3 ft tall by about 4 ft wide.

Hebe Tricolor is another of my favorite variegated shrubs. This 3 ft beauty has colorful leaves of burgundy, creamy white and green. As an added bonus it blooms with violet flower spikes in summer. Easy to grow in full or half day sun with good drainage and regular water. This evergreen shrub is perfect as an accent or in the mixed border.

I like all Abutilons.You may know them as Flowering Maple or Chinese Lantern. Pink, red, yellow, orange or white flowers-I like them all. Those with variegated foliage always catch my eye, though. Some are strikingly variegated with creamy yellow or white patterns in the leaves. Others look like taxi-cab yellow paint was splattered on their leaves. They bloom continuously throughout the season and are a favorite of hummingbirds.

Out  in the vegetable garden , don’t slack off picking your ripening produce. it’s an easy thing to do with the distraction of summer heat and vacations. Your veggies, on the other hand, want nothing more than to reproduce.
The summer solstice signaled to plants that days are getting shorter and to stop concentrating on new stems and leaves. Instead, shortening days say better get to flowering and fruiting for the season will be ending all too soon.

Pick veggies everyday if need be. Even one zucchini allowed to grow too big and ripe can tell the plant its job is done and seeds are mature enough to ensure next year’s crop.

Your goal as a gardener and picker is never to let that seed form so the plant is tricked into producing  more flowers and fruit in its never-ending quest to reproduce. This is the secret to keeping your plant hard at work for as long as possible. Even if you don’t eat it, pick it anyway and give it away.

Also in the garden the question pops up frequently about marigolds. Do they help with pest control and which type is the best?

Like other members of the daisy family, marigolds provide nectar to beneficial insects, such as syrphid flies, who prey on aphids and other insects that attack garden plants. Parsley and dill flowers are even better but daisy family flowers keep the nectar flowing longer.

Marigold have been shown to have some slight effect in repelling cabbage worms. A variety called Stinking Roger repels flies that bother cows and other domestic animals but I’ve never seen this marigold available around here.

It’s the common that has been shown to control nematodes. You need to plant them thickly as a cover crop and allow them to grow for many weeks to be truly effective.
Gem marigolds are a favorite food of slugs and Japanese beetles and can act as trap plants. On the other hand, they may just attract more of these pests than there would have been otherwise.

So now you have the rest of the story. The bottom line, plant marigolds as they do have some beneficial effects but mostly because they’re pretty.

fruit trees, shrubs, vegetables

Progating Heirloom Veggies, Fruit Trees & Christmas trees

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‘Tis the season. No, not that season but the time to propagate and increase the number or your plants. Maybe you want to save seed from your heirloom vegetables or start more shrubs inexpensively. How about getting more fruit trees or even trying your hand at starting your own Christmas tree?

Let’s start with saving seed. When your vegetables start to produce this summer, you may want to save some of the seed of plants that produced the best-tasting, earliest ripening fruits. These will be strains that are particularly adapted to our climate.

You can only save seed from open-pollinated varieties– those vegetables that are bee or wind pollinated. All . You cannot save seed from F1 hybrids as their unique traits, such as specific disease resistance and early maturity, are uniform only in the first generation of seed. Seed saved from hybrids they will not come true when replanted.

Hybrids have their place in the garden especially if you have a very short or cool season, not many hours of sunlight as you’d like or a serious nematode problem.

If you enjoy saving seed, it’s fun to identify your best plants to save and use every season. Become a backyard breeder and develop your own unique cultivars for your garden.

Propagating fruit trees involves more than saving seed because 99% of all seedling trees bear fruit inferior to that produced by the parent. It may be the same species but it is unlike that of the parent in flavor, color and date of ripening. To obtain a true-to-type fruit tree that is a clone of the parent tree, it is necessary to graft or bud on a desired rootstock. The graft wood, called a scion, should be collected in January so you have lots of time to ask the neighbor for a small, pencil-thin branch of their peach tree to add to yours or to get a branch grafted onto your tree that would pollinate your cherry, apple or whatever you might need. You can even graft different trees together if they are compatible such as an apricot on plum rootstock or almond on peach.

Mid-July to early September is the best time to propagate broadleaf evergreen shrubs. The growth flush is complete, the wood is firm and the leaves have matured. Using cuttings 3-6" long and rooting hormone they will root in 4-6 weeks. Ceanothus, manzanita and camellia are just a few of the shrubs that can be rooted this way.

And what about those visions of starting your own Christmas tree? It’s difficult to start a tree from a cuttings unless it’s a very fresh cut tree and the cutting is taken from currents seasons growth near the base of the plant. Most evergreen trees used for cut Christmas trees start their lives from seeds. These seedlings grow 1-2 ft in a year or two. After transplanting, they become 6 footers in 5-8 years. So if you are patient you can grow your own from one of those started seedlings. Doug fir, Scotch pine and Noble fir are popular varieties.

There are so many types of plants and methods to increase your collection. Perennials, houseplants, berries and grapes all lend themselves to propagation. I f you have a favorite plant or just want to increase your plants inexpensively there’s a way to do it. 
 

pests, poisonous plants

Rhododendrons and other Poisonous Plants

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My fascination with poisonous plants was piqued recently while researching organic methods for eliminating rhododendron root weevils. You’ve probably seen their damage-scalloped or notched leaf margins starting in May or June. The adult weevils feed at night but usually do not seriously injure the plant. It’s the larvae feeding unseen on roots that will cause severe damage and death of the plant if weevils are left uncontrolled.

Because rhododendrons contain toxic resins that are more concentrated in the foliage, to pesticides along with a tolerance for the toxins in the leaves. Organic or even chemical sprays have little effect anymore according to a study funded by the Rhododendron Society of America and end up killing hundreds more predatory beetles and other beneficial insects in the process.

Applying parasitic nematodes to your soil is one way to control weevils. Other tactics include placing a shallow pan of water under the plant or a soup can filled with soapy water buried up to the to attract and drown the adults . You can also try banding the trunks with tape or waterproof paper and smearing the bands with a sticky barrier like Tanglefoot. Spreading some coffee grounds under the plants also helps to discourage them from crawling up the trunk after they spend the night at the base of the plant. And if you’re really determined you can hand pick them after dark- effective but not much fun.

Rhododendrons are just one or our beautiful plants that are poisonous. Children are more susceptible to the effects of plant toxins and should be taught not to eat seeds, berries or leaves from any plant. Do not assume a plant is nontoxic because birds or wildlife can consume it without harmful effects. Be prepared for an emergency by keeping syrup of ipecac on hand and the number of the Poison Control Center. ( 1-800-222-1222 )

Small pets can also be at risk if they ingest parts of poisonous plants out in the yard. Know what plants you have and keep a list. Oleander and foxglove are notorious deadly plants. Here are just some others you might not know.

Hydrangea leaves, flowers and branches contain cyanide. Lantana foliage and especially unripe berries also contain dangerous toxins while delphinium leaves and seeds contain toxic alkaloids which decrease as the plant ages. Sweet peas, lobelia, impatiens, carnations, calla lily, mums and bleeding hearts also have plant parts with come degree of negative effect if ingested.

Surprisingly, even some vegetables contain natural toxins. Diseased celery and green potatoes as well as potato leaves and sprouts produce a very strong toxin. Raw, green, young asparagus shoots can cause dermatitis and the red berries that form on their feathery branches are poisonous. Large quantities of tomato leaves and stems contain alkaloid poisons. Livestock have died from eating the foliage. I guess the deer that browse your tomato vines aren’t ingesting enough to cause them harm as they seem to know just when you have another set of buds for them to nibble.

Trees are not the most common cause of accidental poisonings around the home but a few species may present a hazard.
 
The black seed inside apples contain cyanide although you have to eat large quantities for them to be deadly. Peach kernals, bark and twigs contain cyanide also as do apricot, cherry and plum pits.

You don’t have to eliminate plants around the home that have natural toxins. Humans have lived for centuries around gardens and orchards. Just be prepared by knowing what plants grow on your property.

shrubs

Great Shrubs-not the ‘usual suspects’

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Everybody has them. Some are burgundy, while some are variegated with fragrant flowers. I’m talking about shrubs that provide reliable good looks without a lot of work. Plants that have high impact, are low maintenance and contribute year-round interest should be the stars of your garden. Perennials are pretty but shrubs provide long term beauty without all the work. Here are some shrubs that I use often in designs. Shrubs I couldn’t live without.

Shrubs can be problem solvers. Let’s say you have a bare spot between you and the neighbor next door. The neighbor is nice and all but still you’d rather they didn’t look right into your kitchen window. You want a shrub with some pizazz as you will see it daily when you’re doing dishes. You’d like something different than the usual suspects for screening.

A wonderful plant for this spot would be Lophomyrtus Sundae. This evergreen, myrtle relative grows in full sun or partial shade and requires only moderate watering. Showy, creamy variegated leaves on burgundy stems make this narrow 8-12 ft tall by 4-8 ft wide shrub really stand out in the border. Small white summer flowers are an added bonus.

Need a fast growing, deer resistant, drought tolerant evergreen shrub for a sunny spot? Luma apiculata reaches 6-8 ft tall in no time and can even be trained as a small tree. Dense, deep green leaves, beautiful smooth bark and white to pinkish late summer flowers all make this plant valuable in the landscape. Birds will like the blue-black, half inch fruits although they are not especially tasty to us.

What tolerates considerable shade, blooms with fluffy yellow flowers that smell like chocolate or vanilla and is dense enough to make a good screen or informal hedge?  Azare dentata grows to 15 ft tall, 12 feet wide and can also be trained as a small tree if you want. It would combine well with other tall shrubs in the shady border like Lily-of-the-Valley shrub, podocarpus Maki, hydrangea, Japanese aucuba, mahonia and rhododendron.

Another shrub to ignite a border with smoldering shades of burgundy and purple is the Royal Purple smoke bush. Their stems grow straight up which makes them a useful addition to any border in need of diverse forms. Growing up to 15 ft tall and wide, you can keep this drought tolerant plant in check by cutting back hard each spring after the first leaves break out. They will send up new growth year after year. If left unpruned, wispy, smoky flower clusters appear in spring. Even the youngest specimens turn a striking burnished orange-red in fall. They grow in full sun or partial shade.

There are so many  interesting, easy to grow shrubs. Any one of these will earn its keep with good foliage, interesting form and low maintenance.

watering

Watering tips for Santa Cruz Mountain Gardens

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Summer is in full swing now and you may be torn between reading a book on the chaise lounge or pruning the wisteria. Actually, it’s important to do both. Watering is crucial also as plants are vigorously growing and the warmer weather evaporates available soil moisture quickly.

Ignore generalities such as "provide one inch of water each week" or "don’t water at midday,the leaves will burn". Instead, become aware of your garden’s moisture needs. Hot, sunny, windy slopes or shady beds with clay soil and new plantings all require a different watering strategy.

When is the best time to water? Is it true that water droplets will scorch leaves in the sun? According to a study published in New Phytologist, a journal of research in plant science, there is a slight risk of leaf burn on fuzzy leaved plants like ferns. The hairs can hold the water droplets above the leaf surface and act as a magnifying glass to the light beaming through them. The study also reported that water droplets on smooth leaves, such as maples, cannot cause leaf burn, regardless of the time of day.

However, in my thirty years of gardening , my own observation is that the leaf burn on a fuzzy leaf must be very small, indeed, as I’ve never observed any damage. If you find a plant needs water midday, by all means go ahead and water it. Containers even benefit from the cooling effect that watering provides.

That being said, watering in the morning is the most efficient whether you water by sprinkler, drip system, soaker hose or by hand. The water soaks deep in the soil without risk of evaporation. It bolster the plant for the day and has dried from leaves by evening reducing the risk for foliar diseases like mildew. Plant roots are also more receptive to watering in the morning.

Water makes up 90-98% of every plant we grow. It’s needed for photosynthesis, as well as reproduction and defense against pests. Checking soil moisture and improving a soils ability to absorb and hold water should be a priority when you’re out in the garden. Don’t wait for plants to wilt and burn before correcting watering problems.

Most plants need 18" depth of well-drained soil to thrive although trees and many vegetables roots grow several feet deep. More than an inch of water per week may be needed for their success and in the case of many trees and native plants, deeper but more infrequent watering is required.

You can easily measure how much water you are applying. If you have a sprinkler system, place a straight-sided container like a tuna can on the outside edge of the area being watered. Let the sprinkler run until one inch of water has accumulated in the can. When using a drip system or soaker hose, irrigate until a 3" deep test hole dug 1 ft out from the emitter or end of the soaker is moist. Moisture at that level indicates than an inch of water has been applied. The best way to determine how many inches of water your soil needs for a good soak is by digging down after the water has had a chance to settle. When watered well, the soil should feel cool and damp at the bottom of the hole. If the soil feels warm and dry you haven’t watered long enough. You need to do this test just once to get a feeling for how much water your soil can hold and how deeply it’s soaking in.

Be kind to your plants this summer. It only take a few minutes for a drop of water suspended form a soil particle to be drawn upward from a root tip to the farthest leaf blade and then released from leaf stomata as air cooling vapor. How cool it that?

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