- Author: Karen Metz
This time last year, we were pulling out our dead, brown front lawn and replacing it with drought tolerant plantings. That venture went well. We have enjoyed the lush plantings, many of which are blooming now.
This spring has been very different. It started innocently enough with a desire to replace our two sliding glass doors that lead to the patio, since one had begun to stick. We also knew that our home was long overdue for an outside paint job, so we decided that should be done this spring as well.
The process started in early February; it took some time to have evaluations and estimates done. Once decisions had been made, the delivery of the new doors was delayed a bit due to winter storms. Finally they arrived. Furniture, decorations, and plants within 3 feet of the doors, inside or out, had to be moved. Okay, it would just be for a short time, right?
Once everything got started, though, wood rot was discovered in 2 places. Work stopped while a water intrusion specialist was called in. He determined parts of the door frame, floor and siding would need to be replaced. More plants were moved off the patio to accommodate more equipment. I worried about my plant babies as I scattered them throughout the back yard. Some of them had spent their whole lives under our protective patio cover. I couldn't count on my usual, routine care as the plants were now experiencing altered conditions: more exposure to wind, rain, sun and temperature changes. Luckily we did not have any freezes during this time.
With the initial repairs complete, the glass people were able to come in and finish putting in the replacement doors. Now we moved on to the painting. The painting company found several more areas that needed the siding replaced before painting could begin. More plants, three wooden plant shelves, and a potting bench had to be moved into the back yard. Now the entire back wall of the house was clear.
They also mentioned that the shrubs on the side of the house would need to be pruned back away from the side of the house so the painters could get in. It made sense. I got out loppers, pruning saws and hand pruners to cut back Tagetes, Euonymus, Holly, Pomegranate and Grevillea. I decided to take off some of the height as well as trim their backsides, so they wouldn't look completely out of proportion. As I worked I remembered the pruning rules; after the primary removal of dead and diseased branches, the next instruction was to prune for form and function. Well, in this case, I was pruning to help improve the function of the painters!
The power washing is due to be done towards the end of April. The painting is to start May 1st and take about a week. We have decided to leave the plants and plant stands where they are until the painting is completed, as we just can't face moving them back and forth again.
With our rains, the hand watering hasn't been too onerous, but I have had to make sure some pots weren't getting too much water in some of our downpours. It looks like our story will wrap up in May which means it will have lasted for 4 months. My “spring gardening” has not been at all what I had planned. I haven't planted a single tomato. I have had to pay more attention to detail as my plants deal with their new conditions. It has required more hands on, up close and personal, interactions with my plants. This has had its own rewards; a sparkling drop of dew on a succulent, seeing bees so close up that I can see their pollen sacs. It has also required more time reaching for the Tylenol bottle and ice packs for the knees and back.
- Author: Betty Homer
I love all things bee-related. I recently came across an announcement for the inaugural California Honey Festival that is to take place on Sat, 5/6 10 am - 5 pm in Historic Downtown Woodland, California. This event is put on in partnership with the Honey & Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute at UC Davis. From researching the festival's website, there seems to be something for everyone. For those who like to eat, restaurants participating at this event will be featuring honey-centric cuisine. For those who enjoy alcoholic beverages, there will be bars and local breweries offering mead or honey-laced beer on tap. There will be lectures on bees and beekeeping, gardening education demonstrations on how to attract bees and other pollinators into your backyard, as well as small garden displays.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, consider supporting this local festival. For more information, please see: http://californiahoneyfestival.com/
- Author: Michelle Davis
I read a gardening blog today from another part of the country about the return of the hummingbirds. It made me smile. We are lucky to have them here with us all the time. Solano County is a year-round home for Anna's hummingbirds, a summer time residence for Allen's hummingbirds and a rest stop for visiting Rufous hummingbirds.
Test your knowledge of these little beauties.
- True or False Hummingbirds are only found naturally in the Western Hemisphere.
- True or False Hummingbirds suck nectar from flowers and feeders.
- True or False Hummingbirds are pollinators.
- True or False Hummingbirds only need sucrose sugar to survive.
- True or False Hummingbirds usually migrate in flocks.
- True or False (for Mother's Day) Hummingbird dads help hummingbird moms.
- True or False Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly in all directions.
- True or False Hummingbirds only prefer red flowers.
Answers:
- True They range from Alaska to Labrador, Canada and all the way to Tierra del Fuego, at the bottom tip of South America. Most of the 325 species of this Trochilidae family of birds are in the Central and South American tropics. In the US, the absolute best place to see LOTS of species is southeastern Arizona.
- False Their long tongues have forked tips and grooved sides. A bird dips it into the nectar up to 10 times per second. The hummer pulls its tongue into its mouth like a pump and the grooves, now filled with nectar, are squeezed into the throat. Then the bird swallows.
- True They're important pollinators for wildflowers and some orchids and are incidental pollinators while searching for nectar.
- False Hummingbirds require and burn a lot of sucrose for immediate energy. They also need protein, fat and amino acids which they get from eating tree sap and small bugs– gnats, fleas, fruit flies, aphids and spiders.
- False Each travels alone. Rufous hummingbirds, for example, travel from Mexico to Alaska every spring – 4000 miles- and attempt to avoid predators like hawks, bullfrogs, praying mantis and roadrunners. Only 50% will live to age 1. They also are very territorial and will chase off other hummers near “their” food source.
- False Not on your life! Mom builds the nest, lays two eggs usually, sits on the eggs for 23 hours/day for 2 straight weeks leaving only to drink, feed and defecate, and after the eggs hatch, she gets rid of the eggshells and makes hundreds of trips to gather nectar to regurgitate into the babies' beaks. After the babies fledge, mom still feeds them for a few days and, as they mature, they will feed with mom at flowers and feeders. Mom will run off males competing with her and her babies for food.
- True Side-to-side, backward, forward and upside-down flight is possible because of their pectoral muscle. 25% of their body weight is their pectoral muscle. Ours is only 5%.
- False Hummingbirds do use their eyes to locate brightly-colored flowers, but any flower with a high level of sucrose is the top pick. Bees and other insects pollinate flowers with glucose and fructose sugars which are simpler sugars.
- Author: Amy Haug
As gardeners everywhere are planting their summer gardens, some school kids are starting seeds that have been in space. As part of an ongoing experiment with the Canadian Space Agency, NASA, and the First the Seed Foundation, students have an opportunity to cultivate their love for science and gardening. The project is called Tomatosphere and began in 2001. This project helps organizations like First the Seed Foundation and Let's Talk Science prepare for deep-space missions. Since astronauts on long-term missions will not be able to take enough food with them, they will need to grow their own food in space.
Tomato seeds are flown to the International Space Station (ISS), where they will spend about a month. The seeds are then flown back to earth and distributed to students along with control seeds (seeds that remained on earth) to germinate. The germination rates of the test and control groups are then compared.
The seeds have been delivered to more than 15,000 classrooms per year across the US and Canada. The most recent seeds were launched on SpaceX's ninth commercial resupply for NASA to the ISS last year. The seeds were aboard the ISS for 37 days and then returned to earth on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft.
Students and teachers participating in the program receive seeds from space and earthbound seeds to be planted and grown in their classrooms. Each plant's growth rate is monitored and recorded. The results are then compared to other student's data to access the effects of microgravity on seed germination.
If you are interested in the project or the results, check out NASA's website:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/tomatosphere
- Author: Mollie Jarrett
I'm always looking for unusual plants, vegetables, and fruit for my garden. Last fall, I found this intriguing winter salad green called minutina that looked like plugs if grass. I found out that minutina (Plantago coronopus), is an Italian heirloom green that has been grown in America since Colonial times. Minutina is also called bucks horn plantain (because of it's narrow cut leaves that resembles a stag's horn, or it maybe called Herba Stella ('Erba Stella').
It has been very easy to grow and our rainy cool winter and spring has been perfect weather for it to thrive. The leaves are crunchy and taste like parsley to me, but I've read that others report that it has a nutty taste, or that it tastes like raw spinach. The flavor is said to be best before it flowers, but if you don't catch it before you can also eat the flowers! I have eaten it salads and also include it in stir fry, delicious!
I may have a few transplants for the vegetable /herb sale at the plant exchange on April 29th. (UC Cooperative Extension, 501 Texas Street, Fairfield from 9am until noon.)