Design trends

Our Horticultural Heritage

Wisteria are long lived and yours might just have been planted by early settlers.

The CZU Fire destroyed more than 86,000 acres and 1490 buildings including 911 homes. It destroyed a lot of our horticultural history, too. I have driven up Jamison Creek Road and Alba Road many times since the fire. Empire Grade through Bonny Doon was a magnificent drive past huge redwoods, oaks and Crest Ranch Christmas Tree Farm. Much of that is gone now.

This area is rich in history. I love to look at old photos and try to identify what the early settlers planted around their homes in the Santa Cruz mountains.

I’ve spent hours reading through the history of the Alba Schoolhouse on the website
https://rebuildalbaschoolhouse.org/learn-more-2/. Besides the history of the actual schoolhouse, which dates back to 1895, there are many first person accounts of who grew what crops and how the land along Alba Road was used and is part of our local horticultural history.

Did you know that vineyards stretched along the west side of Empire Grade opposite the eventual route of Alba Road? In 1884, as many as 2000 gallons of wine was produced? The Burns family also had cattle on their ranch. A 1915 photo of their house show palms and hollyhocks, too. Ben Lomond became known for fruit other than grapes. Orchards of prize winning apples, peaches and plums were planted as well as strawberry plants. These crops thrived in the sunshine created by the clear cutting of timber.

Out on Bear Creek Road, the Ercoli villa featured yucca which I saw in many early photographs. Most likely they originated from the deserts in the southern California and Mexico and were brought north by the missionaries.

California fan palms and canna lilies appear in many early landscapes. The Middleton house in Boulder Creek was heavily planted with native western sword ferns. Black locust trees planted for their fragrance and flowers and are still seen here today where they have naturalized. Originally planted for erosion control, particularly on strip mined areas, their durable timber was used for homes.

Hollyhock seeds were probably brought to California by early settlers.

Many settlers arrived from the east coast, the Midwest and Europe and brought with them seeds and starts of plants. As early as 1871, nurseries in San Francisco were importing plants such as pittosporum tenuifolium and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco allowed many more plants to become available to homeowners. Hebe from New Zealand was all the rage. The brochure for this World Fair describes a Palace of Horticulture and Tower of Jewels as …” a great garden, itself, a marvel of landscape engineering skill… one side of a magic carpet on which these beautiful palaces are set with its floricultural splendors for a wondrous beauty, has never been equaled.”

The 1915 Panama Pacific Expo introduced more than plants to the public. In 1916, construction of a home in Brookdale featured timber, flooring and doors shipped from the Expo to this area by Southern Pacific railroad. When the house was finished in 1926, photographs show a beautiful home surrounded by hollyhocks, roses and wisteria.

My interest in early local horticulture started after looking at a friends family photographs from the early 1900’s. His family had a resort with a natural spring and rock-lined forest paths close to Highway 9 in South Felton. This was very near the Big Tree Grove resort ( now Toll House ) that opened in 1867. I remember looking at the photos and marveling at all the flowers surrounding the dwelling. The redwood trees have now grown back but at that time there was lots of sunshine, a by-product of clear cutting. I could see roses, lilacs and Shasta daisies in the photo surrounding a wrap around porch.

I wasn’t able to find out much about the early horticulture history of Scotts Valley. I see from the Chamber of Commerce webpage that “beginning in the 1930’s, peat moss was removed from Scotts Valley and taken to San Francisco to supply soil for difficult indoor plants such as gardenias. When the peat ran out, sand and gravel were quarried and sold.

I’d love to hear from those whose families lived in our valleys in the early 1900’s and what they know about the plants and crops that were grown back then. You can tell a lot about landscape plants from old photographs. It’s a fun trip down memory lane and part of our horticultural heritage. You might even plant a historical garden for the fun of it.

Design trends

Halloween Ideas from the Garden

Carved pumpkins will last a long time if they are carved from
a hole in the bottom, leaving the stem intact.

My little neighborhood goes all out decorating for Halloween. It’s fun to see what the kids have created with some simple supplies. I only have a small display with a pumpkin, colorful winter squash and mums along with some DIY ghosts made from dinner napkins. I do have lots of orange and rust perennials in my little garden. Here are some other tips for this time of year from the garden.

If you want to decorate for Halloween there is plenty of plant material you can harvest from your own garden or nearby woods. Manzanita branches can often be found on the ground and make great arrangements combined with nandina or other berries. Some of the trees have started to turn color and their leaves can also be used for wreaths. The leaves of New Zealand flax last a long time and add fall color in bouquets.

it’s time to bring in any plants that you plan to overwinter in the house. Whether they’re the houseplants that you put out on the patio for the summer or frost tender plants that you want to save, this is the time to bring them in and here’s why.

Although our nights are still above freezing, plants need to acclimate to the indoor environment before you start turning on the heater regularly. Be sure to wash them thoroughly and inspect them for any insects that may have taken up residence while they were vacationing outside. Usually you can dislodge any hitchhikers with a strong spray of water but if that doesn’t do the trick, spray them with a mild insecticidal soap or one of the other mild organic herbal sprays like oil of thyme.

Another tip: Fall is not a good time to prune. Wounds heal slowly, leaving them more susceptible to disease. As a general rule, don’t prune when leaves are falling or forming. Wait to prune most trees until late in the dormant season or late spring after leaves and needles form. To avoid sap flow on birches and maples, prune after leaves mature.

A Blue Hokkaido along with traditional carving pumpkin

Several years ago a friend gave me a Blue Hokkaido winter squash to decorate my front entry and eat afterwards. It was delicious. Another year, I received a Cinderella pumpkin (Rouge viv d’Etampes) to decorate my front entry. It is said to have been the inspiration for Cinderella’s carriage. This French heirloom pumpkin was very popular during the 1880’s and will be tasty in pies and savory dishes later this fall. For now, the glowing orange-red color contrasts magically with the very pronounced lobes and flattened top.

Many gardeners feel the Cinderella pumpkin is the very best pumpkin to grow in your garden. It’s the first to set fruit, first to ripen and is mildew resistant. Their bright orange creamy flesh is perfect for baking. Oven roasted they produce a pumpkin puree that is neither watery or bitter. Delicious in pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin soup, or with vegetables and sausage. I even found aa recipe for pumpkin mac n’ cheese baked in a pumpkin. I’m so excited.

Pumpkin was a staple food for the early pioneers. It was easy to grow as a few seeds dropped into a shallow hole grew into a mature fruit. Yes, technically they are a fruit not a vegetable along with summer and winter squash and gourds. Their thick rind would allow them to be kept almost indefinitely.

If you decide to grow the Cinderella pumpkin next year, you can start inside in pots or wait to plant in the ground when night temps are 55 degrees or over. In the garden, group them with other deep rooted plants that grow rapidly and need lots of water such as corn, cucumbers, melons and tomatoes.

Design trends

Fun Facts about Fall Color

Eastern Dogwood showing off fall foliage

The weather has been perfect for us to have great fall color this year. Because it’s been warm during the day and chilly at night I’m looking forward to the show. Many trees and shrubs are already showing color because they are stressed from lack of water. Others will wait their turn and baring a wind storm which would dry out leaves before their time we’re in for a beautiful fall.

The vivid colors in a leaf are always there. They are just masked by the green chlorophyll which is busy making food by photosynthesis while the sun shines.

Come autumn, shorter days and cooler temperatures cause the trees to switch to energy-storage mode and their leaves stop producing chlorophyll. The leaves actually develop a corky later of cells between the leaf stalk and the woody part of the tree. This slows the transport of water and carbohydrates. The manufacture of chlorophyll is slowed and the green color of the leaves begins to fade, allowing the other pigments to show through. For the few weeks before the leaves fall to the ground, they are colored only by their natural pigments that have built up in the sap. Depending on the acidity of the sap – red and purple anthocyanins, yellow and orange carotenoids – fall foliage can be glorious, sometimes anyway.

I read that the fall color in the eastern U.S. is not quite as great this year due to their exceptionally hot and dry summer. The Rockies are rockin’ it this autumn because of the summer’s monsoon rains. And our own Eastern Sierra Quaking aspen show is in full swing.

Quaking Aspen

Quaking aspen (Populua tremuloides) is the most widespread tree species in North America. They generally grow in high altitude areas but also exist at sea level in high places along the Pacific coast where climate conditions are ideal. Quaking aspen provide food for foraging animals and habitat for wildlife. They also act as a fuel break retaining much more water in the environment than do most conifer species.

High mountain systems, such as the Sierra Nevada, are uniquely sensitive to global climate changes and act as “canaries in the coal mine” providing early signals of significant climate-driven changes. Research in the Sierra Nevada by Pacific Southwest Research Station, a USDA Forest Service research organization, shows how vegetation has responded to climate in the past and indicates changes that might be coming in the future over the next decade.

Climate has a profound influence in shaping our environment and natural resources. By looking at tree ring records of living and ancient wood and pollen lake sediments present, climate can be compared to historic patterns to show climate changes.

Research indicates a complex, unpredictable future for aspen in the West, where increased drought, ozone and insect outbreaks will compete with carbon dioxide fertilization and warmer soils with unknown cumulative effects. Aspen are vulnerable in the face of climate change. Hopefully, we will not lose this wonderful tree in California.

Lagerstroemia in fall color

Which plants put on the best show in our area? Here are some of my favorites.

California native Western redbud turns yellow or red in the fall if conditions allow. This plant is truly a four-season plant starting in spring with magenta flowers, then leafing out with apple green heart shaped leaves. Colorful seed pods give way to fall color. This small native tree or large shrub does well as a patio tree in gardens with good drainage.

Other California native plants like Western dogwood, Spicebush and Western azalea turn yellow, red or gold in the fall. A native vine that lights up with the onset of autumn is Rogers Red California grape. If you have an arbor, wall or fence that needs covering quickly this is your plant. The green and gray leaves are transformed in autumn into great draperies of rich, scarlet red leaves with clusters of summer fruit turning all shades of purple.

Trees and shrubs that also provide fall color include Eastern dogwood, Chinese flame tree, Ginkgo, Idaho locust, Chinese Tallow, Chinese pistache, crape myrtle, smokebush, witch hazel, all maples, liquidambar, katsura, Eastern redbud, sumac, crabapple, goldenrain, locust. oak leaf hydrangea and barberries.

Edibles that turn color in the fall include blueberries, pomegranate and persimmons.

Light up your garden as the light fades and the days shorten. Now through late fall is a good time to shop for plants that change colors because you can see in person just what shade of crimson, orange, scarlet or gold they will be.

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