Tag Archives: gardening tips

California Native Plants, drought tolerant groundcovers, drought tolerant plants, heat resistant plants

Plants that Hold up in the Heat

What happens to a plant when the thermometer tops 100 degrees like it did a couple weeks ago? Planning for more hot weather this summer is a requirement for a successful garden. Are there some plants that can survive tough times more easily?

Bees Bliss salvia

Photosynthesis is one of the most remarkable biochemical processes on earth and allows plants to use sunlight to make food from water and carbon dioxide. But at temperatures about 104 degrees the enzymes that carry out photosynthesis lose their shape and functionality. A garden that provides optimum light and water but gets too hot will be less vigorous. Tomatoes, for example, will drop blossoms and not set fruit if temperatures are over 90 degrees. Plants that endure hight heat can be stunted, weakened and attract pests and diseases even if water is available.

Plants do have natural systems that respond to heat problems. Some plants are better at this than others. Plants can cool themselves by pumping water out through the leaves for a kind of swamp cooler effect. They can also make ?heat-shock? proteins which reduces problems from over heating. All these strategies do take resources away from a plants other needs like growth, flowering and fruiting.

It?s no surprise that many California natives are adapted to high temperatures. In my own garden I grow several plants that are doing quite well without irrigation and handled the heat wave just fine. One is Bees Bliss Sage, a low groundcover that can reach 6-8 ft wide draping over rocks and walls. It has an extended bloom time from mid-spring to early fall with whorls of lavender-blue flower spikes. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all find it attractive.

salvia clevelandii

Another plant that can handle high temps is salvia clevelandii. Right now it has just started its blooming cycle of electric blue-purple flowers. They will last through the summer. This salvia survives without any supplemental irrigation but if I give it an occasional deep watering and wash off the foliage every so often its much happier.

mimulus arantiacus

Who doesn?t like color in their garden? Mimulus or Sticky Monkey Flower blooms are showy and the hummingbirds love them. The Jelly Bean series has added bright pink colors in addition to white, orange, red and yellow but the traditional aurantiacus types are the most tolerant of drought.

As summer comes along the California fuchsia will provide the color in the garden. I like it that they spread by underground rhizomes and self sow. Free plants are always welcome. I have them planted on a slight slope where they tumble over a rock wall. My bees and hummingbirds find this plant irresistible.

penstemon heterophyllus

Other California native plants that can handle the heat with little water include eriogonum, manzanita, artemisia, California milkweed, ceanothus, mountain mahogany, bush poppy, bush lupine, native penstemon, monardella, mahonia nevinii , fremontodendron and holly-leafed cherry.

Other well adapted plants that are known to be more tolerant of heat include butterfly bush, germander, rosemary, smoke tree, rudbeckia, coreopsis, lantana, plumbago, gaillardia, lilac, sedums, oregano and verbena.

These plants can be the rock stars of your garden. Some natives can survive with no water after 2 years many look more attractive with a few deep waterings per summer. And don?t forget the organic soil amendments and wood chip mulch to encourage the soil microbes and keep the soil cool.

gardening tips, planting tips, right plant-right spot

Tips for Planting Success

With our gardens coming to life at this time of year we are hopeful that each plant will achieve its full potential during this growing season. But that doesn?t always turn out to be the case and sometimes it?s hard to figure out what exactly is the problem. Growing plants isn?t an exact science. What works over at the neighbors yard doesn?t always apply to ours. What are the different factors that makes a plant thrive or just mope along? And how can you plan when one source shows the plant?s size at 6 feet tall while another has that same plant as 8-12 ft tall and just as wide? What?s a gardener to do?

Callistemon ‘Little John’

When designing a garden, whether it?s for a client or my own garden, I take into account the growing conditions such as soil type and fertility, winter low temperature, space and light. All plants need water to carry moisture and nutrients back and forth between the roots and leaves. Some need more water than others to do this but all have their own levels of tolerance. Too little or too much water can be harmful to your plant?s health.

Choosing the right plant for the right spot is another important factor. How do you determine if your garden has the right amount of sun or shade? In our area a good rule of thumb in deciding if your plant is getting enough or too much sun is to note how many hours of full sun, part sun or bright shade your area is receiving during the middle of the day. Too little light can make plants weak and leggy looking with few flowers or fruit.

Most plants enjoy morning or late afternoon sun. Winter conditions are not always as important as those of the summer. Then again if your area gets no winter sun and your soil is heavy clay that sun-loving native plant might not survive. Sometimes it?s complicated.

Grevillea lanigera ‘Mt Tamboritha’

Allow enough space for your plant to grow. Plants can become stunted without enough room to grow and overcrowded plants often get diseased when air doesn?t freely flow between them. There?s a difference in a plant that just needs a little time to kick in and really start growing and one that is not thriving. Be patient.

Plant your new addition correctly. Dig the planting hole at least twice as wide as the container but no deeper than the depth of the root ball unless the soil is deeply compacted. Leaving the bottom of the hole undisturbed helps prevent the plant from settling below its root crown. In soil containing a high percentage of clay, score the sides of the planting hole with a shovel to aid root growth outward from the hole.

It?s best not to add soil amendments or fertilizers directly to the planting hole, although it may be beneficial to spread some well composted manure to the surface before digging the hole. Wait until new growth is several inches long before applying fertilizer.

Planting a bit higher than the surrounding soil allows for a 2 inch thick layer of mulch around the plant but don?t bury the crown. After planting don?t till the soil again allowing the beneficial organisms to re-establish.

If you have a steep hillside, a super sunny or deep shade location or problem soil the above tips are even more important for your planting success.

camellias and azalea, late winter garden tasks, pruning fruit trees, pruning grasses, pruning hydrangeas, pruning rhododendrons

Garden Tasks-Rain or Shine

Those of you who lived in the Santa Cruz mountains during the winter of 1982 remember it well. Following two days or torrential rains, a large section of hillside above Love Creek gave way. Thirty homes were destroyed and ten people were killed by the slide. The rainfall totaled 111 inches that year.

Rain gauge on 2/8/17 showing 99.99″ +10″ more as of 2/18/2017

During the winter of 1997 the San Lorenzo Water Department recorded 90 inches of rain. The department?s historical rainfall data goes back to 1888 and shows that during the winter of 1889 a whopping 124 inches of rain fell. This winter is one to rival the books with about 70-110 inches of rain falling so far depending where you live. We don?t aspire to break any records.

How does this much rainfall affect our gardens? If you have addressed drainage issues and are slowing, spreading and sinking all this water, congratulations. But what about the plants? Fortunately most plants are dormant or semi-dormant at this time of year. Even plants that don?t lose their leaves aren?t in growth mode yet. When a plant is actively growing either roots or new foliage it will suffer if the roots are soggy day after day. Fungal problems and root rot will take its toll on a plant. An extremely wet March or April is not a good thing.

We gardeners are the eternal optimists and hope that only gentle rains will fall through May. And during those lulls in the weather this is what I?m going to be doing over the next month.

California fuchsia – zauchneria californica

Prune fruit, nut, shade trees and deciduous vines like clematis. Cut back woody shrubs like Mexican bush sage, artemisia and butterfly bush to stimulate lush new growth. You can cut back these plants close to the ground. Don’t use this approach on lavender or ceanothus, though. Prune them lightly after blooming without cutting into bare wood.

Prune fuchsias back by a third and remove dead, crossing branches and interior twiggy growth. Container fuchsias can be cut back to the pot rim.

mophead hydrangeas in June

Cut back hydrangeas stems that bloomed last year and apply a soil acidifier if you want the flowers blue. Although sulfur is the traditional favorite for quickly acidifying soil it is not as kind to many beneficial soil microorganisms. Coffee grounds, pine needles, peat moss and cottonseed meal are better for your soil.

I?ll wait to prune back perennials that may have their new foliage damaged in a late frost. Already damaged foliage can protect a plant from further frost damage. Mid-March is the estimated date of last hard frost in our area. Or at least it used to be.

Don’t cut back grasses yet if you get frost in the area where they grow. Wait until mid-March. If you live where you rarely get frost go ahead and prune these plants back now. I?m going ahead and pruning California fuchsia, salvia ?Bee?s Bliss? and hummingbird sage now. They look terrible.

camellia sasanqua

Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs and trees like lilacs, flowering cherries, plums and crabapples, rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, weigela or spirea until after they flower. You can cut some branches during flowering to bring in cuttings for bouquets.

I can tell that spring will soon be here as the flowering plum buds are showing color. Can?t tell from the weather report, though.