- Author: Anne Schellman
- Editor: Roger A Duncan
The colors of autumn are especially beautiful this year. Tree leaves are turning brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and even purple.
Want fall color in your landscape next year?
Read about the trees you've noticed around town that are currently “popping” with color. And, if you plant a tree now (or in early spring), you can have fall color in your landscape next year! Here are some excellent tree species to choose from that thrive in our area (USDA Zone 9b):
Chinese Pistache – Pistachia chinensis
The Chinese pistache is Ed Perry's favorite tree. Ed was the Environmental Horticulture Advisor for over 35 years at UC Cooperative Extension in Stanislaus County. He chose this...
/h3>/h4>- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
As the long, hot days of summer slide into cooler, shorter days of autumn, seasonal changes are occurring in my garden. Not as many plants are blooming, the leaves on deciduous trees and plants are becoming drier and starting to change color. Some plants are producing autumn berries that will sustain many birds as insects, another source of food, begin to disappear.
Quite a few butterflies have been showing up in my garden to take advantage of flowers that are still blooming. Butterflies I have been seeing include painted ladies (Vanessa cardui), common buckeyes (Junonia coenia), fiery skippers (Hylephila phyleus)and cabbage whites (Pieris rapae).
With the advent of...
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Tomatoes are ripening all over California right now keeping many gardeners and tomato lovers busy picking, canning, and eating. But what may not make gardeners happy are seeing curled leaves and not knowing why. There are many reasons why your tomato leaves may be curling or rolling. Being able to narrow down possible causes takes a bit of detective work, but using this article and UC IPM's Plant Problem Diagnostic Tool can make it achievable!
Tomato leaf curl can be the result of:
Environmental stressors
Leaf curl on tomato is often caused by environmental stress, not necessarily pathogens or...
- Author: Kat Kerlin
Reposted from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences news
- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
The Autumn Equinox signals a time of change in the seasons. The weather becomes cooler, the days shorter, skies turn a softer blue with occasional clouds, summer vegetable gardens are finishing up, and deciduous trees change colors and drop their leaves. By mid-November our neighborhoods and gardens will be littered with fallen leaves.
People often rake their leaves and put them out to be picked up as trash. I have always preferred to leave the leaves for my garden.
If you take a walk in a forest, you'll see leaf layers several inches deep around trees and bushes. Fallen leaves have a complex relationship with trees and nature, providing many benefits which can be reproduced to some extent in our...