- Author: Janet Snyder
Do you have an olive tree, Olea europaea, in your landscape? We do - a 'Kalamata' olive. It's a beautiful evergreen tree that, once established, requires very little water. The pollen can be highly allergenic. Ten years ago, we brought it home from the Vacaville Home and Garden Show. It was a spindly little stick, not more than ten inches tall from root ball to tip. We were excited at the prospect of harvesting our own olives and curing them with a method my husband read about that used only water and salt instead of lye. Let me say, LOTS of water and salt. We planted it in the back portion of our vegetable garden, about two feet from the fence line. No, I was not a master gardener ten years ago, or I would have known to plant it farther from the fence.
Over the years, it's grown to about 20+ feet tall. Since then, that vegetable garden has been relocated to accommodate a swimming pool, the size of which was dictated by the location of the olive tree. My husband and I are out there pruning the tree a few times a year to keep it from hanging over the neighbor's yard. In the spring, the yellow pollen from the tree coats the patio and chairs in a thick yellow dust. From now until January, I am constantly picking up dropped olives to alleviate staining of the concrete. And the olives we were going to cure? Haven't eaten a single one. On the upside, the tree provides a terrific area of shade to sit under, and lends a distinctively Mediterranean atmosphere to the backyard. It is a beautiful tree.
So what have I learned from this tree? Two feet between a tree and a fence is nowhere near enough. Curing olives takes time and patience. Even though olive trees grow well in Solano County, don't plant them near a pool!
Don't put a pool next to an olive tree.
- Author: Trisha Rose
Got a fascination for fastuosum? One of my favorite plants has been Echium fastuosum also known as Pride of Madeira. It is in glorious bloom right now all over Solano County. It grows with abandon at the Vallejo waterfront and throughout its many neighborhoods. Although it seems to be a common plant in our area, this place continues to be a car stopper, literally. There aren't many plants that bring folks to the front door with the same question. What is that plant with the big purple plumes and can I have a piece for my garden!? I am not kidding. This has happened twice in the past week. Fortunately, Echium doesn't mind a little pruning at all. This very hardy perennial thrives in our local, so similar to the Mediterranean coast, alongside the Carquinez Strait. It gets just enough moisture to remain healthy and brings the stupendous blooms each and every year. I have seen many plants in the 6 to 7 foot range with a breadth of equal volume. The long grey green leaves remain throughout the year and provide a nice looking shrub throughout the year.
- Author: Sally Livingston
Last year, I went to a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale and found many plants that I wanted for my garden. They had so many different plants that it was hard to decide what to choose for my garden. I found some different ceanothus, some crape myrtle, a chocolate scented plant with yellow flowers and many others. I ended up buying over 15 plants and am enjoying all of them except the chocolate scented plant which did not survive our frost last winter.
The sale has hundreds of different kinds of uncommon garden plants that have been locally grown, including the Arboretum All-Star plants, their top recommended plants for gardens in our Mediterranean-type climate. Expert advice is also available to help you choose the right plants for your garden.
Their next plant sale is on Sunday, October 9 from 9 am to 1 pm with a focus on sustainable gardens. There will be a plant doctor clinic so you can bring your problem plants sealed in a plastic bag for diagnosis. The plant sales are at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive at the University of California in Davis. For more information, go to