- Author: Betsy Buxton
Has anyone beside me noticed that the sun isn't at hot anymore? Actually, truth be known, it's been more than nippy outside lately. It seems as though it was just last week when the temperature was in the 80's and the sweat was dripping into my eyes; today it's under 60 and I wishing I had another sweater on! Will I ever be happy with temperature outside?
Like a lot of you, I ordered my bulbs and new perennials some time ago and now it the time to plant! So far I planted 6 dozen daffodils and grape hyacinths, 3 azaleas, 4 camellias, 12 liriopes, and 12 sword ferns – and that's all that just went into the ground. Another 6 camellias are waiting patiently in their 1-gallon pots, and along them, are 4 pint-sized roses.
However, the 4 5-gallon roses from last year are also still patiently waiting for their “forever” homes in the big rose bed along the side of the house. I haven't gotten to them YET, but the clematis plants are in their intended raised bed and 2 hydrangeas are finally planted under the pergola! (At least those cans are empty!)
Tomorrow is supposed to be pie making day along with the rest of the pre-prep for the holiday, but I still have visions of making to the front yard to clean up the irises, roses, and pink coneflower plant which the harbinger of fall – that plant grow so tall and bloomed so profusely this year and always (!) dies back to a dried up plant when the cold weather comes, so cut it to the ground I will. Also the replacement Dusty Miller from Annie's Annuals took over the front bed, leaving the Geums to try to raise their flowers where they could be seen, so it's time for a lot of judicious pruning there too. The buds of the ‘Star magnolia' are starting to plump now although it put out a branch of new GREEN leaves giving the effect of a mostly dead/dying bush still trying to live. It's kind of fun to give the branches little taps and see the leaves fall to the ground.
At this time I'd like to thanks the wonderful people who manned the Vallejo Farmers' Market booth! It was both fun and informative to work with each and every one of you! A big shout out to Patty for keeping us on track with her weekly reminders AND keeping the schedule up to date! More thanks are due the wonderful “customers” we see every week who keep us on our toes with questions and suggestions to each other during our Saturday visits. People who garden are some of the most generous and thoughtful folks and it does our little hearts glad to speak with you! We have left the market for the year but will return in mid-January. For those Master Gardeners who haven't joined us, please do this next year; for those “customers” and friends who seek us out, please come back – we enjoy talking and discussing with you. For those people who have passed us by in the past, please stop by – we love meeting friends we haven't known before!
Happy Thanksgiving and: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or any other way of enjoying the season!! Happy New Year!!
- Author: Betty Victor
I have three camellia plants, in my yard. The first one of the three shrubs blooms mid-January. The other two usually late February and March. The early bloomer is Camellia japonica 'Night Rider' just as the name suggests it is a very dark maroon almost black with semi double blossoms. The blossoms are almost 2 to 3 inches across and yet most information classifies the blossom size as miniature to small. This is a very slow growing camellia . It was planted in 2007 and I think it maybe 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, with shiny green foliage. The blossoms look like they have a light cover of way on them making them look artificial. The stamens are purple with yellow tips.
The book 100 Flowers And How They Got Their Names by Diana Wells says that the camellia was named after a Jesuit missionary who study plants and animals in the Philippines.
Because it is the first camellia to bloom in winter, I watch and cut them and bring them into the house to brighten up a winter day.
- Author: Michelle Davis
I recently visited family in Escondido. Just a few days before I arrived, the area was deluged with 4 inches of rain in a single day. The result was spectacular – many cacti and succulents were blooming. My brother and sister-in-law's home overlooks a nature preserve near Lake Hodges, and the canyon was alive with not just the color, but all kinds of birds: woodpeckers, finches, hummingbirds, roadrunners, raptors, pelicans, to name a few, and mammals. I heard coyotes calling to each other at night and noticed their scat on the hiking/biking trail behind his home the next morning. I am surprised that I didn't see any snakes as warm as it was (90 degrees one afternoon), while I was out walking their dog.
What really caught my eye, though, was a garden easily seen from my brother's backyard. I last visited my brother about 2 ½ years ago and hadn't noticed it then, but this garden has been being built slowly ever since the Witch Fire totally blackened the area in October, 2007. I was told that the homeowner's gardener had asked the homeowner if he could take the prunings from the succulents in the front garden, propagate them and plant them in the backyard on the slope running down to the hiking trail. The homeowner had no problem with the idea. The gardener continues to fill in the slope with the propagated plants from the front and now from prunings from the back yard, too.
All of you propagating plants for the next plant exchange, here is what one person's effort can reap.
- Author: Debbie Gordon
So long story short.....we lost our neighbors to cancer. First the wife, and then the husband within a year. Sad...I know. The houses and yards on our court are huge, 1/3 acres and not elderly friendly. When they moved in 10 years ago, I offered my help and give advice on a water wise low maintenance yard, which they declined. They had family coming to help and had a plan. They never came.
Adding to the problem was their health rapidly declined, and with her being self-employed, and he retired, funding suddenly vanished. Sadly, they only were able to landscape their front yard about 1/3 the way into their plan before money ran out and so did her health. Forget the back yard....just a field of weeds. He, in his grief, decided to bring in some cheap labor and finish the front yard with 25 yards of rock. Ugly rock. With those huge pampas ornamental grasses in the middle of it. He found a willow tree at a garage sale and put it right next our property line. Actually, when we looked harder, it was 3 feet over onto my property. We did not have the heart to tell him to move the rocks or that horrible grass, which I HATED, but luckily that willow mysteriously died (I'm not talking) and I offered to fund a more appropriate tree. He just decided to turn his water off and let everything die. Everything. The last of the lawn, the large ornamental grasses he had and shrubs. The driveway he had started and never finished to the back yard now was the only thing green, because of the weeds. Some of the weeds were like 2 feet tall! Going to seed. You get my drift here. My husband begged me to let him go buy some Round-up. I held my ground but it was not easy. The rocks baked the soil and it was pretty bad. It was a tough year for our block watching it all unfold. Then he passed, and we prayed for a new neighbor that liked green.
So....the house sold "as is" in less than 2 weeks. 30 day escrow. We found out 15 days into the escrow it was a go. My husband and I decided to reclaim our property before the new people arrived. We had to come up with a plan we could afford and do fast. We decided to cement part of it to widen our driveway, and then make a small bed that would accent the other side of the driveway with the same plantings I had on the other side. Luckily, I had been propagating my little heart out with these same plants, saving them for the next plant sale.
It almost killed us but we did it. We had our neighbors watching us from their warm living rooms wondering if we finally lost it. At least we got offered the use of their green bins since we had enough weeds and garden trash that filled 4 of them. We have clay soil. We had weeds gone wild. We fixed the pipes broken by said willow tree and trucks driving on the wet clay soil during the rock install. We put in a temporary boarder until we can get a mow strip in there. Moved 3 yards of rock. Dug holes, plants went in, drips went in. All in 1 week in January. So we are almost done.... oh my back. My knees. I just threw my husbands garden shoes away. I ordered the bark to be delivered tomorrow. We survived. But we have our property back, and we just met the new neighbors who stopped by to see what we were doing....ha.... Yeah.....they like green.....it will be ok now......
- Author: Martha White
When Jennifer encourages us to submit pieces of writing to the UCCE Master Gardener Blog, “Under the Solano Sun”, I think most of us don't immediately jump onto the idea of writing a poem. If somewhere along the way, you began to feel that poetry-writing was for someone else, I'd like to offer a tiny writing lesson. Hopefully, you will have fun playing with words and may discover a new talent!
I'd like you to start with writing a cinquain. This form of poem originated with an American poet, Adelaide Crapsey, in the early 1900's. She admired the concise use of words in the Japanese Haiku, and designed the five line cinquain. Each line is carefully counted out in syllables. No rhyming is involved. For our use, let's focus on something in nature, which makes a perfect partnership with all of us who love our gardens. Think of a season, plant, bird, insect, or other garden subject. Next, write down or type all the words you can think of that tell about your topic. Count the syllables of each. Your topic can be the title, but might not be needed in the five lines of the poem. Then, you are ready to plug into the cinquain format:
Line 1-2 syllables
Line 2-4 syllables
Line 3-6 syllables
Line 4-8 syllables
Line 5-2 syllables, synonym for Line 1
Editing is part of the process. Let your writing piece sit for a day or two. Your brain is still working on it, even if you don't think so. When you come back to it, change it around if you want to.
When I taught second grade, I used the cinquain writing lessons when my young students were learning about syllables. Counting, clapping, tapping your chin, snapping –all were techniques to help them hear the rhythms and patterns that are basic to our English language. As you begin to play with cinquain writing (hopefully?), try saying your words aloud, clapping or tapping the syllables you hear. Your chin will drop down just a bit with each syllable. Words can be magical, eliciting memories or creating videos in our imaginations. With Jennifer's permission, I hope you will submit your favorite cinquain efforts to our MG Blog!
Sample Cinquain:
“Zygocactus Cinquain”
Vibrant
Christmas cactus
Magentas, pinks, whites, reds
Winter gloom dispelled with bright hues
Brilliant
