- Author: Karen Metz
My husband and I went into Alameda for a street fair in late July. While trying to stand out of the way while my husband waited in a baked goods line, a large, intriguing shrub caught my eye. It was very overgrown and was the only planting in front of what looked like an old apartment building. What drew me in were the purplish-pink pompom flowers growing on the ends of the branches.
I had to check it out and take some pictures. The flowers were even more striking close up. When I got home, I put the pictures into several plant ID and search apps. I think the plant is Melaleuca nesophila in the Myrtaceae family. Common names include Pink Melaleuca and Showy Honey-Myrtle.
They are evergreen large shrubs/small trees that are native to West Australia. In the US, they tend to top out at 20 feet high and 12 feet wide. They grow in USDA Zones 9,10, and 11 and Sunset Zones 13,16-24. They are hardy to about 20 degrees. These plants can tolerate sandy, rocky, or regular soil; even clay if it is well drained. They can handle ocean winds and even the salt of sea spray. They are drought tolerant.
They bloom in late spring to summer. The flowers can be used as cut flowers. They have attractive seed capsules that remain on the tree for some time providing further interest. The trunks have thick peeling bark. I was not able to appreciate this on the plant that I saw as it was so overgrown. The branches grow in a twisting manner. Several of the sources suggested selectively pruning these trees to show off the growth pattern and the bark.
The tree attracts bees and birds, as well as, visiting Master Gardeners. It grows well on slopes and its roots don't seem to cause problems in the landscape. Melaleuca nesophila does not take well to full shade or soggy soil. The only diseases I could find associated with the plant were Phytophthora and root rot.
Pink Melaleuca seems like such a plucky little shrub/tree, a real survivor. Low-maintenance, low-water-use plants become increasingly attractive as I age and the climate warms. When the plant has the bonus of outstanding flowers, it seems like a real winner. I would love to hear from anyone who has grown it themselves.
Resources:
“SelecTree.UFEI “ melaleuca nesophila Tree Record.” 1995-2024. Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. Accessed on August 12,2024”
<https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/932
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/melaleuca-nesophila
- Author: Mike Gunther
Students back to school
Farmers Markets in full bloom
Garden harvest thoughts
- Author: Paula Pashby
I have a potted Meyer lemon tree (Citrus Meyer) that I have regrettably neglected these past few months. I recently took some time to give it some tender loving care and was relieved to discover that my tree was doing well and even sprouted some new growth. On closer examination, I noticed that the newly discovered shoots looked quite different from the rest of the lemon tree. The main lemon tree has medium-sized, oblong-shaped leaves, whereas the new growth has small, three-lobed, narrow leaves.
So, I had to ask myself - should I keep this new growth? And the answer turned out to be a gigantic NO! I learned that the new growth must be removed in order to keep the integrity of the current tree, because the new growth could possibly take over the original tree and likely not produce decent fruit. The reason it is unlikely to produce good-quality fruit is that it is a “graft rootstock sprout”, a product of citrus tree grafting.
The grafting process is a technique used to grow the best possible fruit tree by joining parts from two or more plants to create one new hardy plant or tree. Grafting is accomplished by binding a scion (upper part of plant) selected for its desirable fruit, with a root stock (bottom part of plant) selected for its strong root system.
With my Meyer lemon tree, I discovered that often times the graft rootstock is taken from a completely different type of citrus tree, called Trifoliate orange. Trifoliate orange is a preferred rootstock because it is cold and drought tolerant, and very strong and hardy. But you wouldn't want the full tree, as it is known to produce very sour fruit that can be rather inedible unless cooked.
I thanked the Trifoliate orange portion of tree graft for providing the lemon tree with such a strong root system, and then using a disinfected pair of clippers, I carefully removed the graft rootstock sprouts. I made sure to cut close to the main tree but leave enough room for the wound to heal. The Meyer lemon tree is feeling loved again.
- Author: Cindy Yee
Capparis spinosa, aka, caper bush is a fruiting plant (not a vegetable) native to the Mediterranean region, parts of Asia and the Arabian peninsula. When I visited southern Italy two years ago, healthy caper plants were growing wild in rock crevices, ancient stone walls, road cracks, and hard dry ground with no irrigation. The temps were in the low 90's, however it felt more humid there compared to Northern California.
The first two pictures below were taken in the warm Puglia region. Capers are harvested by hand as tiny green unopened flower buds, sun-dried, and then pickled for use in Italian cuisine. If the buds are allowed to bloom, they eventually become crunchy berries, which are also edible pickled or salted. Even the leaves can be used in cheese making.
The first picture shows a small plant growing in a crack on the rough road, with no water source.
The second picture has a large, beautiful plant growing in a stone wall. In their native habitat, caper bushes can grow as large as three feet tall to six feet wide. Caper plants can supposedly survive several months with no water.
The final picture below shows a little seedling that I was delighted to come across at a local independent nursery. The nursery first tried propagating cuttings but found that they did not always survive and took up to a year to grow. They found growing from seed to be the most effective approach. There won't be intentional experimenting on this pricey plant's ability to survive months without water. Early on, I left it a mere two days, and some leaves shriveled up. Perhaps the lack of moisture in the air here makes a big difference. Right now, we are in the midst of a severe two-week heat wave, and today, I finally decided to take a break from the exhausting early morning watering of our yards. Alas, I forgot to water the caper especially! One can only hope my plant has acquired a little of its Italian cousins' invincibility…
Cheers, and Chill!
- Author: Paula Pashby
Earlier this spring I set out to prepare my raised bed gardens to plant a variety of vegetables. I was quite pleased to find that the soil was in perfect condition for the growing season, since winter cover crops had brought valuable organic nutrients to the garden. I proceeded to plant a combination of seeds and seedlings and hoped for the best.
While kicking back to celebrate my freshly planted garden, I saw one of our kitties using the freshly prepared garden as a litter pan! What? I love seeing our cats enjoying the outdoors on occasion, but do not like the yucky notion that my veggie garden would become their digs. I shooed the cats out of the raised bed, but they'd sneak in when my back was turned.
So, my husband did some online searches for a better solution to our pet and garden protection dilemma. He found many websites on “catios”, which is a patio enclosure for cats. A catio would allow our cats the opportunity to still be outdoors but also remain safe from aggressive strays, racoons or potential predators. Plus, this would keep them from digging in my garden!
We were excited to see many differentcatio designsonline and viewed many videos by folks showing the construction of their own projects. My husband ended up building one that incorporated the features we liked from these videos. We chose a 10 x 2 feet area under the roof eaves just outside my office, so that our cats could use my window for passage into theircatio. He added an outside door for easy access to tend the area or retrieve a snoozing cat if needed. There is also removable fence panel for washing windows before it rains… it always rains when we wash the windows. All of the area is very secure.
Our cats love the new hangout area. We are very happy that they can be outdoors and remain safe, and we now have peace of mind when harvesting our garden bounty.
My next task is to do some research on plants that would be good for a catio enclosure. There are a few plants already in the space, but we would like to create a little jungle for cat play and hiding. We are especially interested in chewable attractions that are safe for consumption. Hmmm, maybe this could be a topic for my next blog.