- Author: Marime Burton
‘Looking for the perfect plant? How about a perennial that’s easy to grow, comes in different sizes and colors, arrives early, often stays late, and is beautiful and long-lasting in a vase on your dining room table?
Meet the Alstromeria. Sometimes called Princess Lily, Inca Lily or Peruvian Lily, the exotic names hide the ease of growing this plant in the garden. Plants come in a variety of colors and sizes. They can be yellow, white, red, and purple, dwarf, medium or tall. They have few problems with pests or different soils. Alstromeria requires little attention but the taller varieties should be cut back if they begin to lay down. Snails are just waiting for them to hit the ground so it’s good to remove the temptation. Flowers begin to bloom in late spring and it’s productive to pinch off the earliest blooms. They usually bloom profusely and continue off and on throughout late summer.
Cleaning them up during the season is actually fun and easy. Just grab a stem and pull it right out of the ground. This is also the way to pick them. The more you pick, the more they bloom. Their bulbs remain underground so they come right back the next spring.
The South American native has become increasingly popular and easy to find in local nurseries. As its familiarity has grown so have the variety of colors and sizes. Alstromeria likes our cool nights and warm days and requires very little care. If the soil is well drained and a thin layer of mulch is applied they stay pretty happy ... and so do we.
- Author: Janet Snyder
It's finally here! In spite of the rather mild winter we have had here in Solano County, it's nice to herald the arrival of March and the coming of spring. We are almost ready to close the book on another winter, but we do still have a few more weeks of "official" frost season. That said, it is just so hard to see the daffodils blooming, the blossoms on the flowering trees in my backyard, and not go outside and put in a whole batch of new plants. I am holding off, however, until the official beginning of spring (March 20th this year). After that date, I'm willing to take a gamble and start planting.
This year I have a whole new learning curve to work with. Up until recently, my gardens were full sun for the better part of the day. I have three flowering plum trees ('Krauter Vesuvius') in my garden that have been growing larger every year. Last summer, I noticed several roses, pineapple sage, society garlic, and coreopsis 'Moonbeam' were trying to reach for more sunlight, and it dawned on me that they were receiving more shade than sun. Now I am having to decide what to move, what to shovel prune, and what to plant in shade. I never had to shop for shade plants, and now here I am, researching and planning a whole new garden!
I am actually a little excited about some of the plants I have found. Camellias, columbines, Chinese lanterns, Japanese maples, liriope, bleeding heart are just a few of the plants I've never grown before and now have the opportunity to do so. We are so fortunate to have the resources offered to us on the California Garden Web (www.ucanr.org/sites/gardenweb) for gardening in the Golden State.
It just goes to show you that a gardeners work is never done!
- Author: Trisha Rose
A couple years later and now we are both retired. We decide to pull out another mow strip in front and put in some nice perennials and herbs. We are now cooking alot more and fresh herbs are always a good idea. The dogs play in the backyard so the herbs were much safer in the front. Also, we were beginning to think it would be nice to have some plants that aren't as attractive to insects and disease as our roses have proven to be. I was spending a lot of time with my Sunset New Western Garden Book looking up rose disease and pest solutions by now and had begun to notice that many perennials had some pretty nice features.
So the middle strip of lawn between the walkway up to the front door and the driveway eventually got dug out. Since our two dogs love their daily walks around the neighborhood and I am the designated dog walker, I am noticing more what is going on with the neighbor's gardens and appreciate what is blooming and doing well or not. Have I mentioned that it is very windy in the front yard as our street faces the Carquinez Strait. There is virtually nothing to slow down the wind so the plants have to be sturdy enough to withstand both the long exposure to sun and frequent day long winds. These same winds, I suspect, have also played a role in spreading some of our most prevelent rose diseases and pests amongst our neighbors, namely rust, black spot, mildew and the most invasive of all, the aphids. Thank you perennials for entering our lives.
As we planted our newly dug out mow strip, just by luck did we choose a Lantana montevidensis 'Confetti' to anchor this garden area. I can't claim to have studied a book or website to make this decision. The Lantana was just sitting very prettily near the entrance to Mid-City Nursery the day I had chosen to make some plant purchases. This plant has proven to be one of the hardiest and most prolific bloomers in the garden. It has stood up to my trimming and shaping with a vengence. It has become a real stunner as it is now shaped as a small bushy tree with branches that bend gracefully with many blooms. Besides the many people that like this plant, it has attracted Monarch butterflies each year along with bees and many different birds that are attracted by the berries in late summer. We have added many herbs including Origanium vulgare, Salvia officianalis, and Thymus vulgaris. Besides the herbs, we have added Aloe attenuata and arborescens, Coreopsis, and many, many different succulents. This old mow strip has really turned into a joyful garden.
So with success brings confidence. As we shape our gardens we continue to learn what grows well, and looks good. and when it is time to shovel prune an intruder or poor student as in the case of many of those early rose choices. Truthfully we haven't had to shovel prune much, we have grateful neighbors with more patience and know how who have been happy to give new homes to our cast-offs.
- Author: Betty Victor
Another good day working at the New Foundations Garden located at the Solano County Juvenile Hall Detention Facility, in Fairfield.
This garden was started last year with the cooperation of the Solano County Grounds Supervisor Jim Simon, the counselors at the facility and the Master Gardeners. The idea is to turn a huge empty field into several types of gardens and paths, along with a teaching area.
Over the last few months planting beds were constructed, filled with compost, and made ready to plant. The young men at the detention facility did the work under the supervision of the Master Gardeners. Summer vegetables were planted as well as red and golden raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. A citrus orchard has also been started with the trees off to a good start. So far the young people have learned how to plants seeds and trees, how to install drip irrigation, and how to compost by starting a compost bin. The Master Gardeners have taught the young men how to keep the garden tools clean and ready for use, as well as plant propagation.
Over the summer months, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, corn on the cob, watermelon, and pole beans were harvested. Some of the bounty has been donated to the food bank. The blackberries, raspberries and strawberries were eaten right of the vine by these hard-working young people.
This last week the beds were cleaned of the summer vegetables, except for a tomato plant, pumpkin, watermelon, and the zucchini as they were still producing. The cleaned beds were then planted with butter lettuce, ‘Pixie’ cabbage, tricolored carrots, broccoli, and green onions as the winter crops to be planted so far.
For color, one of the beds was planted with iris and cannas and another bed has been planted with sweet peas.
Also on their waiting list the giant pumpkins that were planted early in the year. All are wondering how large they will get and if any will be ready by Halloween.
More projects are planned for the coming months, watch for updates.
- Author: Sharon Leos
I enjoy watching the wildlife in our suburban garden, so when a squirrel appeared at our bird feeder, I was very excited. We have lived in our house for more than fifteen years and this is only the second time we have seen squirrels in our garden. The first sighting was not long after we moved in, so I think the current visits may be due to our recent addition of the bird feeder.
I checked the UC Integrated Pest Management website and found the squirrel in my photo is probably an eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), a type of tree squirrel. Tree squirrels are active during the day all year-round (they do not hibernate) and enjoy eating a variety of items, several of which are found in the garden. So far, the squirrels in our yard have only eaten bird seeds, so I don’t mind them visiting - emphasis on visiting. I do not want a squirrel population explosion, like we seemed to have had with rats this summer, but that is a story for another day.
Keeping squirrels out of a garden or away from bird feeders can be challenging because they are very smart creatures. I will move to the birdfeeder farther from the fence, hopefully out of squirrels’ reach. The squirrels in our backyard do not like the presence of dogs, so our dogs will be outdoors more in the coming days where I know they will enjoy more time under the Solano sun.
For more information on managing tree squirrels in the garden visit the UC IPM website: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74122.html
