- Author: Betsy Buxton
This Christmas, my best ever (ok since I was a child) present are the lemons on my Improved Meyer lemon tree. I have had this tree for 7 years now and it has had zero, nada, zilch anything on it besides leaves and aphids. It started out as a nice sized 3-gallon potted plant which after being repotted in a 5-gallon can, started to get shorter and shorter as it weathered the seasons and frost. Cover it and it froze back a couple inches – don't cover it and the same result! Everyone else's trees were thriving, blooming, and PRODUCING fruit. Finally I potted it in a 36- inch orangery pot and decided to let Nature have her way.
Down went the canopy along with the living wood -- this thing was going down s-l-o-w-l-y! Last year, I didn't cover it and just left it alone, the old sink or swim method; and then lo and behold: blooms, lots and lots of them! I just knew that the mini 1-inch lemons would drop as in the past like big green raindrops. But guess what! At the end of the last bloom flush, 22 lemons were still stuck on! Right now, that little (4-feet high, almost 7 if you count the pot height) tree is proudly carrying all its fruit to ripeness. I guess it just needed a “little” time. This lemon has outlasted a ‘Gold Nugget' mandarin known for its frost and cold hardiness; a ‘Washington Navel' orange and 2 other types of citrus trees known for their cold hardiness. Why do I keep trying with this tree? Meyer lemons which are believed to be a cross between lemon and orange parents are considered to be one of the best lemons for baking. And I do like to bake! On the other hand, my Mother had one for years and, of course, my Mother taught me to garden; I should be able to not only keep it alive but thriving.
Brought from Beijing, China, in 1908 by Frank Mayer who was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this tree is a moderately vigorous tree which is cold hardy, rather shrubby and is relatively small. This makes for a garden sized tree that blooms throughout the year and attracts both bees and hummingbirds to the yard. It adapts better to the garden better than the common lemon trees or the lime trees. And, although technically not a lemon, its fruits are a suitable substitute in recipes calling for lemon juice or zest.
This little tree produces fruits that are not normally shipped commercially as they are too tender and juicy; but it is excellent for the home orchard where the “shipping” consists of maybe a few hundred yards by hand.
So now that the lemon tree is “working”, now I have to go and read up on “blood” oranges to see it I can get mine to do something! Sometimes, all a garden puzzle needs is time!
If you are interested in seed growing tips and such, go to http://www.groworganic.com/MySeed Library.xls for good organic suggestions.
- Author: Tina Saravia
A recent visit to my cousin's beautiful suburban home during Thanksgiving weekend gave me cause to wonder if I've done enough in my garden.
My cousin's husband has cilantro (Coriandum sativum) patches everywhere that a flower border would be. Instead of grass, he has cilantro growing everywhere. His cilantro looked fabulous in the dark, rainy day. I'm jealous.
And I think about my little planter of cilantro. I barely harvest from it because there's not a lot of it. Meanwhile, as parting gifts, cousin Dave's up in arms, clipping away bouquets of cilantro for everyone. When he was done, I could barely tell he's clipped anything at all; he also sent us home with a cup full of cilantro seeds (also known as coriander seeds). I'm grateful, and a little shamed.
Why is this important to me? Maybe because I'm a gardener who always has something to do in the garden.
All year I'm constantly feeding the worms in my worm bins, adding more yard clippings to the big compost bin; I started converting the front yard sprinklers to drip irrigation; I finished the short retaining wall in the backyard; I built a potting bench from old fence boards; the list goes on...
But with cold weather comes less work for the garden, couple that with rain, and one is stuck indoors—with nothing to do. That is probably the core to my gardening insecurity. I would have to slow down and read seed catalogs and gardening books; spend time with family and enjoy the fruits of my labor. There are the pots of winter greens - Plantago minutina, from the six-pack I bought from Morningsun Herb Farm in late summer, the beet greens, perennial kale (Brassica oleracea 'Pentland Brig'), Brussels sprouts, lettuce (mesclun mix).
And since I'm slowing down, I'll wait until later to winter prune my one tree rose; side dress my plants with alfalfa meal/pellets and winterize the frost-tender citrus trees.
But for those who wish to keep working in the garden in the cold and wet garden, there's still time for planting cool season crops, those that grow best and produce the best quality when the average temperatures are 55 deg F to 75 deg F and are usually tolerant of slight frost.
Plants in this group include root crops such as: beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes and turnips; stems such as asparagus and white potato; leafy crops such as cabbage, celery, lettuce, onion, and spinach and plants whose immature flower parts we eat, such as broccoli.
For the ornamentally-inclined gardeners, there are Hydrangea plants to prune.
Summer and fall flowering plants should be pruned in the winter or dormant season because the flowers form on growth produced in the same growing season.
There are always weeds ready take over the winter garden - sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), Filaree, mallows (Malva parviflora) — if pulled before they go to seed, they can go in the compost pile.
And mulch, mulch, mulch.
As for me, I'll be busy making cilantro pesto and trying out new recipes with my coriander seeds. If there are seeds left, I may plant some in the spring.
- Author: Riva Flexer
The first time we looked at the terrible things that we do to trees to help them grow properly. All are based on ignorance of tree biology and growth. That's our job as Master Gardeners…to mitigate that ignorance and help you all manage your gardens safely and scientifically correctly.
So, you ask, should I stake a new, young tree when I plant it? Yes! It will help its root ball establish by allowing the roots to spread and grow without moving around as the little tree sways in the Solano County winds. The key is how and how long to stake…
The tree needs to be supported but not bound in place. Remember the broken leg analogy? A support about one quarter of the way up the trunk, and another at the point at which the trunk bends (when the trunk is held and the top is pulled) will work But those supports need to be loose enough for the trunk to sway a bit. Two stakes are adequate. 
The tree can have the stakes removed in a year or when the root ball no longer moves around in the ground. Check periodically to ensure that the bark is not being rubbed.
When you select that young tree, please consider how large it is going to grow BEFORE you purchase it. I cringe when I see saplings that have been topped (when the leader, the growth point, has been cut, to force the tree to “bush out” like a bush and make it shorter) This destroys the tree's profile and does not improve its looks and growth pattern. The poor tree in this photo is a liquidambar, in the wrong location for its eventual size.
- Author: JoEllen P Myslik
While the lyrics of this festive Christmas carol are true:
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
In beauty green will always grow
Through summer sun and winter snow.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
… they become false when all the beautiful trees get pitched curbside starting the day after the big Present Extravaganza! Don't you Green Thumbs out there find this sad? I certainly do! It's the reason I haven't had a live Christmas tree in years, even though that has its own level of sadness.
But this year I have renewed hope. It's the first year that I have heard several news stories about companies who do some form of tree ‘rental'. This isn't a new concept, apparently it's been going on for a while now, but I wish & hope it will catch on for the future!
It's one thing to accidentally kill a plant that we had very good intentions of caring for, but it's quite another thing altogether to purposefully cut down a beautiful living tree! Instead of paying an exorbitant amount of money for something that has already started to die when it's purchased, why not buy a live version and either plant it afterwards or donate it to an appropriate recipient?
This is the new bandwagon I'm jumping on --- promoting the purchase/rental of living Christmas trees --- so join me, won't you?!
Happy Holidays!
- Author: Sharon L. Rico
Winter finally arrived. I've found my winter vests to wear outdoors and yes, I am still gardening and loving it. Have created several miniature winter gardens in small-recycled containers that will be demonstrations for a presentation next month.
The sweet peas planted last month are about 4 inches tall. I'm watching them so I can wind them through the mesh netting when they are a little taller. Keeping snail bait around them is a must. One year they disappeared overnight when an army of starving slugs attacked. Come April they should be to the top of the mesh, in beautiful colors and their fragrance will knock your socks off. (The seeds ordered were called ‘The Perfume Mix').
Planted some Swiss chard and kale from seed for winter soup. It's in a raised planter close to the house so we can keep an eye on the plants and not have to walk in the mud. There is lettuce growing next to the kale that looks very happy and healthy.
It's early December and the tulip and daffodil bulbs from previous years are about ten inches tall. The clumps get thicker and thicker each year. We purchased a gigantic bag of ranunculus bulbs that have not made it into the soil yet. That is on the to-do list for this coming week. Maybe some will go in containers although experience reminds me that they perform better in the garden. They will be an explosion of color in late spring.
Pots of red cyclamen on the front porch bring Christmastime color as you walk in our home. They are in hanging baskets around the garden, too. Love their blooms that resemble butterflies. Cyclamen blooms can be red, pink, white or variations of these colors. The blossom edges are either smooth edged or ruffled.
The Hardenbergia (lilac vine) is forming spikes of blooms and the small purple flowers will soon be opening. Our plant is in a wine barrel and is over 20 years old. It has a large trunk, which indicates how old it is.
Primulas (primroses) are blooming in yellow, blue, red, white and purple. They do well in the garden or in containers, bringing color to the winter garden.
Our camellia plants are confused. One already has pink blooms, another is heavy with buds, and two others are now forming buds. They usually bloom anytime from December to May, but the last couple of years have flowered early.
And my favorite, the Daphne odora or Winter Daphne, is heavy with clusters of flower buds. Soon the heavy fragrance of this delightful shrub will fill the air. Gardening in winter is a different experience, but one I welcome with open arms.
