The UC Master Gardener Program Mission Statement - "To extend research based knowledge and information on home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices to the residents of California and be guided by our core values and strategic initiatives."   Our 2015 Trainee Classes and Open House   It's not too late to apply!! We are still taking applications until November 30th.  To apply, go to this link: Become a Master Gardener We are holding an Open House this Saturday, November 22, 9am to 11am, at our UCCE office - 777 E. Rialto, San Bernardino, 92415 Attend to learn more about the Master Gardener Program and to apply in person.

The UC Master Gardener Program is an example of an effective partnership between the University of California and passionate volunteers. In exchange for training from the University, UC Master Gardeners offer volunteer services and outreach to the general public in more than 50 California counties. Last year 6,048 active UC Master Gardener volunteers donated 385,260 hours, and more than 4.2 million hours have been donated since the program's inception. Advice to Grow By ... Ask Us!  UCCE Master Gardener Program

From gardeningchannel.com - Ready to grow your own blueberries? These tips will help you grow great blueberry bushes.

Where to Plant Blueberry Bushes

Blueberries are a very rewarding shrub to grow at home, and will produce buckets of fresh blueberries each summer under the right conditions. Location is extremely important for good blueberry picking. Blueberry bushes like full sun with well-drained soil. They are often found growing wild in sandy areas, which are best suited to the shrubs.

You may be lucky enough to have good blueberry-growing conditions in your yard or property already, but look around before planting: you don't want them near existing wild blueberries. Not only will they compete for resources, but they are also likely to cross-pollinate, resulting in smaller berries on your plants. Another consideration will be cold-hardiness.

Wild blueberries grow in cold climates with early and late frosts, but cultivated blueberries won't be able to produce as much fruit in shorter growing seasons, so maximum production comes in more moderate climates.

More Tips for Growing Blueberries

My Garden is for the Birds!

-- By Janet Hough, Master Gardener --

 

One day prior to that momentous event, the bigger of the two babies literally pushed out its smaller sibling. Fortunately I saw it go down and immediately jumped into action. Our dogs were brought into the house and I scooped up the little one with a piece of paper, being careful not to touch it with my hands. I put it back into its nest and backed away; watching closely through the kitchen window. Both adults came back to the nest and immediately began taking turns feeding the offspring as if nothing had happened. I sighed with relief that all was well.

A few days later, as I was washing dishes near the kitchen window, one of the adult hummingbirds kept flying to the window and then dove downward toward a cabinet that was against the patio wall. It was as if it was trying to tell me to come see something. When I opened the patio door and went outside, the adult bird flew to within an arm's length of my face then dove down toward the cabinet that sat underneath the window. When I moved the cabinet out from the house, out popped a baby humming bird, obviously not able to fly, but scooting about wildly. I managed to corral it with a dust pan nearby and lifted it up to another hanging pot some distance from its original nest; all the time being watched by the adult bird at a safe distance. The adult hummingbird flew to the baby bird as if to calm it. Soon the other adult hummingbird came to the now tired little baby bird and both adults began feeding trips to the new planter and the original nest to feed their babies. The adults apparently had no problem dealing with the new location of their errant one. We enjoyed this feeding routine for a couple of days then both young birds disappeared, hopefully to join their parents in feeding excursions.

Often times while hand-watering, I will have one or more of the hummingbirds come down to drink water from the hose. He or she will fly up to within 3 feet of my face and give me a stare as if to say “thank you”, then jet off on some important mission. I softly speak each time I see one and most of the time the hummingbird will fly down toward me as if to acknowledge my presence. I guess am tolerated. 

My local hummingbirds do not migrate as some species do. So I have tried to plant shrubs and flowers that will give them natural food sources all winter long. My luck with sugar water and hummingbird feeders is not good – I seem to get more ants and other undesirable insects invading the feeder and my patio. Each year I purchase one more plant that will hopefully satisfy taste, give variety and meet the hunger of my hummingbird friends. Some of the plants I have added to accommodate my insatiable eaters include:

            Cape Honeysuckle (has grown so wild in my yard that it now climbs up a nearby tree and sends out blooms 30+feet into the air (year round bloomer)

            Bird of Paradise [Strelitzia reginae] (flowers off and on year round)

            Lily-of-the-Nile [Agapanthus orientalis] and [Agapanthus orientallis ‘Albius'] (summer flowers)

            Bignonia Amarilla, ‘Mayan Gold' (fall and winter blooms)

            Pelargonium - the flowers are not really built for hummingbirds but they do visit the blossoms anyway (summer, fall, winter blooms)

            Red Pestemon (spring and summer blooms)

            Variegated Weigela (spring, summer, fall blooms)

            Sweet Lavender (summer and fall blooms)

            Lantana (blooms all year)

            Aloe (winter blooms)

Of course, since hummingbirds are my prime focus for this article, I also did a little research on the species and some of their habits. Their scientific name is Trochilidae; they have an average life span of 3 – 12 years; there are more than 325 hummingbird species in the world; they are native to the New World and are not found outside of the Western Hemisphere; and many hummingbird species can breed together to create hybrid species. There are about 14 hummingbird species known to be living in California. I am undecided about which type of hummingbird I have but I think it might be the Black-chinned Hummingbird. The two pictures in this article are black-chinned hummingbirds. No matter. Did you know that hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backward? Or that when a hummingbird goes into a torpor (hibernation-like state) it not only conserves 75% of its energy but may even be found sleeping upside down? Or that the rufous hummingbird travels 3,000 miles from the bird's nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada to its winter habitat in Mexico? Or that the ruby-throated hummingbird flies 500 miles nonstop across the gulf of Mexico during both its spring and fall migrations? I am definitely impressed and shall remain enchanted with this little neighbor of mine.

 

The young (larval life stage) of many beneficial insect predators such as lady beetles, hover flies, lacewings, and parasitic wasps eat large numbers of insect pests.  Adults of these good bugs feed on nectar and pollen.  Provide adults with food and habitat in your garden with a variety of plants blooming from early spring through fall. This will encourage the production of all life stages of insect predators and will help reduce undesirable insect pests naturally.     Create plantings of varied heights in sun and shade to provide food and habitat for different insect species and life stages - eggs, pupae, larvae, and adults.   Plants with many small flowers are preferable to plants with large single flowers.  Small insects may drown in the abundant nectar of large blooms.  Small flowers include: asters, alyssum, small sunflowers, yarrow, cosmos, mints, stonecrops, lobelia, basil, thyme, lavender, parsley, dill, borage, and many other herbs.     Plant perennials that can remain undisturbed from year to year, as well as annuals that can be changed with the seasons.    Pests in your garden ecosystem provide food for the natural predators.  Decide what level of plant damage is acceptable to you.     Pesticides will kill many beneficial insects even more effectively that the target pest species.  Reduce or eliminate pesticide use to encourage beneficial insects.    

• Achillea filipendulina, common yarrow (sun, low to medium height)  
• Aster sp., asters (sun, low growing)  
• Veronica spicata, spike speedwell (sun, medium height)  
• Callirhoe involucrate, poppy mallow (sun to light shade, low growing)  
• Coriandrum sativum, coriander (sun, medium height)  
• Lavandula angustifolia, English lavender (sun, medium height)  
• Potentilla recta, sulfur cinquefoil (sun, medium height)  
• Lobelia erinus, edging Lobelia (part-shade to sun, low growing)  
• Mentha sp. mints (sun, low to medium height)  
• Sedum sp., stonecrops (part-shade to sun, low to medium height)  

LATER BLOOMING PLANTS  

• Achillea millefolium, fern leaf yarrow and other yarrows (sun, low to medium height) 
  
   
• Allium tanguticum, lavender globe lily (sun, medium height)  
• Anethum geraveolens, dill (sun, medium to tall)  
• Anthemis tinctoria, chamomile (sun, low growing)  
• Feniculum vulgare, fennel (sun, tall)  
• Limonium latifolium, statice or sea lavender (sun, medium height)  
• Monarda fistulosa, wild bergamot (sun, medium to tall)  

• Annuals or perennials in the sunflower/aster family (many small flowers/petals around a central disk): cosmos, zinnia, small sun flowers, daisy, coneflower  
• Cabbage, broccoli, mustard, bok choy, and radish allowed to flower  
• Many herbs: borage, horehound, lavender, chamomile, rosemary, basil  
• Mints: bergamot, pennyroyal, wood betony, thyme, (some invasive) 
• Carrot family; angelica, coriander, parsley, dill, fennel, anise
• Sage Family (Salvia):  scarlet sage, Cleveland sage
• Buckwheats (eriogonum) 

REFERENCES: Websites with plant lists and information about beneficial insects.  

^{http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74140.html}  

^{http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/MG/NE/index.html}  

^{http://www.farmerfred.com/plants_that_attract_benefi.html }  

^{http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/PHC/benefici.htm}  

^{June 2009.  Written by UC Master Gardener Carla Markmann.  Edited by UC Master Gardener Cathy Coulter and Judy McClure, UC Master Gardener Coordinator.}