- Author: Sharon L. Rico
Many years ago, my husband and I went to the Napa Town and Country Fair. A vendor had a table display of miniature trees in shallow containers. Some were pruned into interesting shapes or wired to mimic windswept trees in nature. I had seen bonsai displays before and thought they were “interesting”. This display was intriguing because of the variety of plants, the unusual containers and the Asian miniatures placed in several small garden settings below the plant.
I found there was a Bonsai Club in Napa that welcomed novices to their meetings. They encouraged you to come and learn from the Masters. Members brought their own Bonsai plants and were coached on how to prune, wire and care for their miniature plants. I attended a meeting and met Steve, a firefighter, who was a bonsai instructor and lived in Vacaville. I had been given a bonsai, which consisted of three Gingko trees in a shallow blue container. Not knowing how to care for these tiny trees, I contacted Steve. He arrived at my home with his “tools”, wire and an assortment of bonsai paraphernalia. He placed bendable wire on each tree explaining the wire would guide the shape of each tree. He talked about repotting and the need to do this every 2-3 years.
Bonsai means, “tree in a tray” or “shallow pot”. It also refers to the art of training the tree to grow in a particular direction, like they would in nature. Bonsai need to be kept outdoors. They need daily attention (misting). There are four sizes of bonsai, which are miniatures, small, medium and large. Miniatures grow up to 2 inches; small to 6 inches; medium to 12 inches and anything taller are considered large. My Gingko trees were considered medium.
Centuries ago the Chinese started creating miniature landscapes. The Japanese overtook the Chinese with their mastery of this art. A great place to view amazing bonsai plants is at the San Francisco Flower Show in San Mateo. Several club members bring their ancient plants that have been passed down from generation to generation. You occasionally will see one or two that are in the 300 year old range.
I would like to encourage you (if you are interested) in creating these amazing trees for yourself. Bonsai is for everyone, from children to seniors and even those who are not mobile. Care and maintenance can be accomplished without needing to bend or kneel. Bonsai clubs are willing to help and guide you. The local libraries have books on the art of bonsai. Small trees or even seedlings are available at nurseries, plant exchanges or possibly your own garden. It's not difficult, so start planning today to learn more and create your own bonsai.
Napa Bonsai Club meets at the Napa Senior Center on Jefferson Street the first Saturday of the month from 10am to 2pm. Question? Contact John Holt @ (707)312-0887.
- Author: Kathy Low
The reasons we love flowers are many and varied. But one thing is sure – they make us happy. Research conducted at Rutgers reported in the April 2005 issue of Evolutionary Psychology found that flowers have both an immediate impact on our happiness, and long term positive effect on our moods.
“Flowers make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.” - Luther Burbank
QUIZ
We each have one or more favorite flowers. So let's test your knowledge of the favorite flower or flowers of former first ladies and the first lady of the MG Program in Solano (i.e the Program Coordinator). See if you can match up the ladies below to their favorite flower(s).
- Bess Truman A. Texas Bluebonnet & lavender-hued bluebell
- Pat Nixon B. Dahlias
- Jacqueline Kennedy C. White peony and blue cornflower
- Michelle Obama D. Pink carnations
- Lady Bird Johnson E. Tulips, lilies and roses
- Mamie Eisenhower F. Roses, mums, peonies and hydrangeas
- Jennifer Baumbach G. Yellow Rose of Texas
Answers: 1. E, 2. G, 3. C, 4. F, 5. A, 6. D, 7. B
- Author: Betsy Buxton
Well, the vines and such have been trimmed off the fence that was supposed to be replaced 2 weeks ago and the cut vines look ragged and dejected unlike their full beauty earlier. The Clematis that was on the fence is lying in a sad pile since I refused to cut that down – I waited too long for it to take flight up the fence trellis and give me blooms in the later winter/early spring! Nuts to that!!
I should be out removing the scarlet pimpernel that thrives in the rocky area in the front yard but my knees are suggesting a later time. No irrigation to power the growth, but the wind does send water there from the lawn. An idea: maybe if I decide to grow the pimpernel there it will die! Everything else dies in that corner; perhaps I should try cultivating it.
The clematis awaiting planting when the fence is replaced are blooming extremely well: 1 plant has 14 flowers bursting out in full glory and is only 1-foot high. Others are content to send out 3 and 4 flowers at once – less energy consumption in the long run and a longer bloom season for me.
Out near the gazebo, the snowball bush, Viburnum opulus, is adorned with so many “snowballs” that half the gazebo is missing behind the small clouds of white. When I look at it in bloom I remember the plant my mother had at her home in Santa Rosa. She planted it and a strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum or P.littorale longipes, along her fence when I was a teen-ager. She had high hopes for those 2 plants and envisioned large shrubs with lots of interest in that area. Years went by – lots of years – and no color on those big shrubs! She finally mentioned to her neighbor that she was taking them out and why; “Oh no” was his reply. It seems that the mulberry tree in the middle of the yard was shading HER side of the bushes and HIS side had wonderful, huge snowballs and wonderful colorful blooms on the guava. Mom has been gone now for 5 years and hadn't lived in that house for the past 30 but the memories linger on.
I think I'll bundle up and go outside and just let the memories surround me. You see, my mother was my main influence in going back to school and getting my degree in ornamental horticulture; she also was the driving force for me entering the Master Gardener Program-Solano and sticking with it. I can still hear her: “Your cousin is a Master Gardener in Minnesota, you should do it here!” Competition between sister-in-laws can lead to good things.
- Author: Lanie Keystone
By now we've all dutifully pruned back our roses. We're just waiting for that bit of new growth and the show of the first few leaves and then we can fertilize and fantasize about their springtime beauty. What better time, in the midst of winter, to think about lovely roses and what they represent. As it happens, much writing is filled with wonderful rose references.
So, sit back, read and “smell the roses” in a bouquet of words.
“This rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again, that we have much to hope from the flowers.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“When you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” F.H. Burnett, The Secret Garden
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” Abraham Lincoln
“Just remember, during the winter, far beneath the bitter snow, that there's a plant with the sun's love that in the spring becomes a rose.” Leanne Rimes
“The quiet, singing of a rose. The song that promised all might be well, all might be well, that all manner of things might be well.” Stephen King, The Wolves of the Calla
“Do thou smile like the rose at loss and gain;
For the rose, though its petals be torn asunder,
Still smiles on, and it is never cast down.” Rumi, The Masnavi
“A single rose can be my garden…a single friend, my world.” Leo Buscaglia
HAPPY VALENTINE DAY!
- Author: Patricia Brantley
Teaching kids about gardening or farming is a great way to share a part of you that can continue for generations. With everything being instantaneous now from getting an answer to a question to being able to find a T.V. show that you missed in a couple seconds, it's nice to be able to see something that demands patience. Oh sure there are grow lights and heat mats etc., but there is no way to go from seed to full bloom or produce instantly.
So, while you're waiting for those first sprouts and bud and blooms and fruits, it's the perfect time to help younger ones learn some more details about horticulture in general. For that there is a plethora of resources on the Internet.
One place you can find a lot of items for all ages is on the Internet. One place is Education.com found at Education.com. There are worksheets, activities, lesson plans for ages pre-School through High School. Simply typing in the word “plant” led me to this link https://www.education.com/resources/plant/ and showed a wide variety of items covering many aspects from the parts of a plant to coloring pages with planting instructions to science experiments and how-tos.
Another great site, Teachers Pay Teachers (or TpT for short) has a wide variety of free items to download. There are several items worth looking at and downloading. There is a great free printable game here with two options of playing either with a printed board game (just print from your home printer) or a stand up version to get you and the kids moving https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Butterfly-Garden-A-Life-Cycle-Game-1219748
Other places to learn might be various Garden company sites on the Internet. These are great for seeing photos of plants that are grown and also for getting materials as well. On YouTube you can quell that instant gratification anxiety by searching Time lapse plants or Time Lapse Vegetables. While there are many, this one shows vegetable sprouting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pmZ45BY1I moving and swaying as they go which can bring about conversations of sunlight and air. This one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsJOJq2TDKo demonstrates an Atlantic Pumpkin growing from seed to harvest. This one is great because it shows the days and time as well as a variety of growing styles used with just the one plant from seed tray to outdoors and protection from the elements.
Finally, there are those old fashioned ways to pass time and learn…books. There are a number of great children's books centering on gardening, plants and vegetables, insects and animals, and just plain fun stories that can be enjoyed by all…here is a list of a few of my favorites:
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Very Hungry Catepillar by Eric Carle
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
The Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (If not for “gardening advice” just the illustrations alone are worth the look)
There are many, many more ways to pass the time between that initial planting a seed to sprout to bloom. They're all fun and will keep young gardeners occupied during that long wait from seed to bloom. If you think of another, feel free to share it with the rest of us in the comment section!