- Author: Tina Saravia
A few years ago, I purchased a one-gallon plant from the Solano College plant sale. The label said Dorycinum hirsutum. I quickly planted it in my bare backyard and waited for it to grow. It's a slow growing plant and took several years to really show it's beauty and to reseed.
It doesn't require a lot of water. I don't have drip irrigation or working sprinklers in the backyard. Like any “drought tolerant” plants, it needs regular watering in the beginning but once it's established it can thrive with neglectful watering, or no watering, as in the case of the hairy canary clover, it's common name.
As its name implies, the hairy canary clover has fuzzy leaves. It is a low, sub-shrub perennial plant in theFabaceae family, the nitrogen-fixing family. It does not need extra fertilizer to survive as its roots fix nitrogen in the air. It blooms in the spring and attracts a lot of bees (and a photo-bomber chicken).
Here's a link to a more detailed description of this must-check-out landscape plant:
https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=529
- Author: Betty Victor
There is only about a month and a half to stop by the Master Gardener's information table at Home Depot in Fairfield, before Oct 1st, which will be our last time for this year. We hope to be back again April 2019, but you still can contact us if you have any gardening questions.
Our e-mail is mgsolano@ucanr.edu, or call the hotline 707-784-1322.
If by chance you don't know who the Master Gardeners are, we are all volunteers under the UC Cooperative Extension Program that have gone through weeks of training on different gardening topics.
The information table at Home Depot is different from those held at farmers markets. First, there are no fresh fruit or vegetables. There are plants that produce these. But what the Master Gardeners at the information table do is help you by showing you the different soils, what would be best for your garden project. Whether it is vegetables, flowers, succulents and more. We can show and tell you about the IPM program (Integrated Pest Management) the less toxic and safer pest control.
We can walk the inside or outside garden with you and show you some plants that might work for your garden project.
We also have free take-home pest notes on the “good bugs” as well as the “bad bugs”. As well as other gardening information.
We are at Home Depot every other Saturday from 10am -2pm. Look for us either in the inside garden or the outside garden depending on the weather.
You can also sign up to receive our blogs and a quarterly pamphlet “Seed for Thought”. Master Gardeners write articles for each of these. By the way, these are free as well as any information we have.
If by chance you ask us a question that stumps us, yes, it happens, we will take your information find the answer and get back to you. No question is too small, stop and ask or just to say “hello”.
- Author: Betty Homer
- Author: Brenda Altman
You're Your Best Garden Tool
As the days warm and beckon us outside, we start to think of all those gardening chores we've put off since last year. WAIT before you start anything take a moment to assess your health! You are you're your best garden tool! If your back and other body parts are sore you cannot garden. Guess what? - Those chores will never get done. If you have a persistent sore back or other chronic aches see your health provider and get checked up.
If you're already in good shape get ready for gardening by strengthening your core. A good stretching class or yoga can be helpful.
Your back muscles allow you to bend and twist. The key to preventing injuries is to 1) use proper posture throughout the day and in the garden 2) take a break or stop working when you get fatigued and 3) don't overreach or put your back into a compromising position.
Proper posture keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so your muscles work properly. Good posture allows you to use your muscles to their maximum. You can lift so much more when your back is straight and you use your leg muscles.
More than 1,000,000 back injuries occur in the workplace each year. Approximately 800,000 of these injuries are to the lower back and 750,000 happen while lifting objects.
Here's how to lift objects properly:
Stand close to the load with your feet slightly staggered. Maintain a straight back. Lift with your legs not your back, squat by bending your knees. Just a tad over 90 degrees (don't do a deep knee bend). Firmly grasp the object and begin slowly lifting WITH YOUR LEGS.
In a 2008 survey of the University of California Master Gardener Program, respondents indicated the posture of more than 250 Master Gardeners was repeatedly or constantly stooped either at weekly or monthly intervals when pursuing gardening activities.
Stooped posture risks lower back injuries. Injury and severity proportionally increase as the amount of forward bending and time spent in a stooped posture increase. Moderate Injury can occur when the back is bent forward more than 30 degrees for more than two hours per day. As you increase the angle and increase the time in a bent position you proportionally increase the risk for injury.
Use proper posture not only on your overall whole body position but also when using your hands. Check the angle of your wrist while using hand tools. Grip strength is at its maximum when the wrist is in a relaxed or neutral position. Studies have shown that people lose up to 25% of their grip strength when their wrist is bent.
Proper posture is important. Check yourself throughout the day. Listen to your body if your back begins to tighten up take a break, stop and smell the roses or oxalis. Take care of your best garden tool.
Work on your posture every day, listen to your body and take breaks. Use your best tool wisely! Happy gardening!
- Author: Lowell Cooper
NOTE from the Editor: Sorry this blog is being posted later than anticipated. JB
This past month, since early April, the local rose society of which I am a member, began to plan for its annual Rose Show. The commitment to a time at the end of April had to be made many weeks ago, indeed months before the show. There were all the practical details that had to be worked out: getting a venue that was the right size, location, and cost. There was also a matter of locating all the material infrastructure and making sure it all got to the venue on time. The Board of the Society had to be on board, as it were, and ready to help with advertising in local newspapers, fliers and printed forms. Judges had to be recruited from neighboring rose societies who were qualified to judge, and arrangements made to provide food, coffee, and some comforts – like a comfortable chair to rest in. (Fortunately, there was one person who had the experience and energy to spearhead this considerable effort.) I can assure you the drama built as the time grew near.
I could tell from my own ruminations, that it took a lot of mental preparation. The basic question was “do I have enough blooming roses to make the stress of preparation worth while”. And then all that was left for us interested individuals who wanted to show their roses was the wait for the plants to flower. The weather – which even hopeful and ardent group members couldn't control – was the wild card. It had been wet and cold during February and March and the roses were moving along slowly. Buds were forming. Aphids were finding their places on the foliage and the buds. It was a race against time since local weather conditions made all the difference. The flowers couldn't be picked before the morning of the show if they wanted to be at their best.
Then it was like graduation day; everyone was up and ready to get their flowers primped and cleaned and labeled for showing. It was as calm as getting a room full of high school seniors ready for graduation. It appeared to be helter-skelter with mostly two platoons of people working simultaneously. One group busily setting up tables, putting out labels so people knew where to put their plants, preparing the various water containers, and generally fretting. Another group were on the perimeter finding ad hoc places to clean and prepare their roses. For most of the tasks, individuals went from one group to the other fluidly.
Some people who usually show up, just didn't. No roses! Their gardens just didn't produce. Very disappointing for all. But the show must go on – and it did.
Very presentable showing. The judging began at 10am, so the roses had to be in place. After the judging was lunch for the judges and then the show was opened to the public. The place had to be folded up and put back in its original, pre-show form, by the end of the day so at about 4 pm the entire troop of workers and those who showed had to put the place back together. Since the show was felt to be successful, the last burst of energy could be mustered. So even though nature wasn't fully cooperative, the force of the calendar overcame natural reluctance. Rose-joy was not to be thwarted.
