Design trends

The Best Bulbs to Plant this Fall

Tulips grow in sun or light shade.

I read the bulb catalogs same as you do. They show oh so many bulbs that do well in the shade. As we know all too well, there are many degrees of shade in our gardens here in the Santa Cruz Mountains and their definition is not always what happens here. But hope springs eternal and every year I want to try something new. I have to admit however that fresh daffodil bulbs and tulips are reliable even if I have to plant the old ones like a Johnny Appleseed in sunny spots not on my property but for others to enjoy. This year I ordered late flowering daffodils bulbs as the early ones get beaten down by spring rain in my shady garden. I’ll let you know how this method worked out or if I’ll regret not having early ones when spring fever rolls around. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll get some early ones, too, so if springs rains aren’t too heavy I won’t regret my decision.

I’m told that the small spring bulbs such as Snowdrops, Crocus, Scilla siberia, Chionodoxa are ideal for planting in shady areas at the base of shrubs or beneath large trees. Also I’m looking at Grape hyacinths and Leucojum for my shade but I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket as the saying goes.

There are a lot of squirrels here in my garden. I’ll have to outsmart them. Squirrels, mice and moles are observant and crafty. Once they discover newly planted bulbs, they’ll assume it’s food. Just disturbing the earth is a tip off for them. Daffodils and narcissus bulbs are toxic but if they dig them up then leave them exposed with just a nibble taken – so much for any spring flower display. Protect your bulbs with wire baskets or spray them with foul tasting repellent, letting the spray dry before planting. You can also bury the bulbs with ground up egg shells. Another way to foil squirrels is to plant the bulbs deeply, This only works if you have good drainage, however. Next year, if the squirrels start nibbling the foliage as it emerges try spraying it with a repellent like Squirrel Stopper.

The ground temperature is perfect to plant your bulbs. Most bulbs are pre-chilled before they are shipped. To make sure they have 12 to 16 weeks of chilling you can store your bulbs in the refrigerator set to around 40 degrees. Just be sure not to store them near any fruit as the released ethylene gas reduces bloom.

And in case you forget about them until after Christmas go ahead and plant them anyway. The stems will be shorter but that’s all. The flowers will still be beautiful.

Who doesn’t love daffodils? I got a collection of more shade tolerant daffodils. I’m thinking they have might shorter stems which help them recover after a spring rain without having to be staked up. Fragrant miniature Hawera narcissus falls into this category. They are animal proof like all daffodils and naturalizes easily, too.

There are so many types of tulips now. I’m always torn between classic Darwin tulips, parrot tulips and double flowering. They are all spectacular.There are the early blooming Fosteriana tulips and Lily flowering tulips which are elegant with graceful stems and goblet-shaped flowers with pointed reflexed petals. These are late bloomers and excellent for bouquets as are all tulips.
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Whatever you bulbs you choose to try this fall, you will be happy you planted some bulbs come spring. And to help them bloom again the following year fertilize them at the time of planting with bulb food or bone meal worked into the soil a couple inches at the bottom of the hole. Mature bulbs respond to an early spring feeding with the same fertilizer.

Design trends

Halloween Fun in the Garden

This scene on your porch would scare any trick-or-treater.

If I were looking for cool Halloween decorations or inspiration for breathtaking combinations of plants that shout “Fall is here”, I couldn’t have gone to a better place than Scarborough Gardens, the Scotts Valley nursery extraordinaire. Every vignette of plants along with the Halloween garden decor was more stunning than the last. I was mesmerized and wanted it take it all home. Jet showed me all the new perennials and shrubs arriving for fall planting. Lots of fun stuff including that classic of Halloween flowers, tall-stemmed marigolds.

I was in Central Mexico in the highlands of Chiapas many years ago during this celebration and was able to experience this tradition and enjoy the hundreds of marigolds growing around cottages, small business and churches.

The village of San Juan Chamula had dozens of greenhouses all growing marigolds. The Indian people use lots of these flowers as traditional decorations in religious ceremonies. They are also used extensively on the Day of the Dead which follows Halloween. Every small house grows marigolds as well as maize, squash, fava beans and other edible greens.

It’s beginning to look like Halloween in my neighborhood with chrysanthemums and pumpkins on porches, skeletons and ghouls decorating front doors and posts on Facebook about tarantula sightings as the spiders go about their fall mating ritual. It’s the plants that get my attention though.

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.

If you’re thinking of growing your own pumpkins next year, I see many varieties in the seed catalog of Renee’s Garden including heirlooms, carving and pie pumpkins and mini’s. She even carries the heirloom French ‘Cinderella’s Carriage’. This French heirloom pumpkin was very popular during the 1880’s and is tasty in pies and savory dishes.

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 nor 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

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.

Design trends

Everything You Didn’t Know About Mums

You probably think of mums as boring. They’re everywhere at this time of year. Many consider them a bit of color on the front porch that you compost after they’ve finished flowering. But mums have a lot more to offer than that.

Mums are in their prime as early as September. We tend to think of chrysanthemums at Thanksgiving as temporary filler plants for fall containers and borders but mums are perennials and can play a bigger role in your garden if you let them. Established mums can tolerate quite a bit of neglect and still keep blooming every year.

Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in China as far back as the 15th century. Over 500 cultivars had been recorded by the year 1630. In Japan records go back all the way back to the 8th century relating to mums.

The botanical name for the garden chrysanthemum has been changed to dendranthemum grandiflorum but I never hear anyone use this name. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers of the species. C. morifolium are boiled to make tea in some parts of Asia. In Korea, a rice wine is flavored with chrysanthemum flowers. Chrysanthemum leaves are steamed or boiled and used as greens in Chinese cuisine.

Another variety of chrysanthemum- cinerariaefolium- is important as a natural source of insecticide. The pyrethrins extracted attack the nervous system of all insects. Harmful to fish it should be used with caution but it’s not persistent in the environment and is biodegradable.

Grown for years to flower only in late summer and fall, they are short day plants, setting buds when they receive light for 10 hours and darkness for the other 14 hours of the day. This is why mums bloom in the spring on leggy stems if they are not cut back. And this is how growers manipulate their blooming, adjusting the dark and light periods with shades in the greenhouse so buds will form in any month. They’re nearly constantly available in grocery stores in every season. Mums grown for florists in greenhouses, however, produce few underground runners which mums need to survive the winter so they won’t come back.

At this time of year when garden mums abound, pick a plant with lots of buds. They bloom only once and won’t set more flowers until next year. Those buds, though, last a long time if you don’t let them dry out. They’ll revive if they do dry out but the flower buds won’t last as long or look as bright. Although mums are somewhat drought tolerant once established you should water deeply once or twice a week depending on the weather.

The specific type of plant doesn’t matter since they all have long term growth potential. If you particularly like one color or form of chrysanthemum, plant it now to enjoy again next year. You never know what the growers might decide to grow next season. Newly transplanted mums should get a high phosphorus fertilizer to stimulate root growth.

Choose a well-drained, sunny spot to plant them. Like many members of the aster family, mums won’t tolerate soggy ground. After blooming, trim off the old flowers and cut back plants to within a 4 or 5 inches of the ground. If you started with 4 inch pots, trim back by half.

Next spring pinch them back when they are 8 inches tall- around Memorial Day. Pinch again in July, then allow plants to start forming buds for the traditional fall show.

A word of caution: all parts of chrysanthemum plants are potentially toxic to dogs, cats, humans and other mammals and a skin irritant for some people. They aren’t generally eaten by deer but a really hungry deer will eat anything. Spray with a deer repellent to make them even less likely to be munched on.

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