- Author: Help Desk Team
The Mediterranean climate of Contra Costa County has us spoiled for choices in growing handsome perennials and shrubs, including many native plants that attract local beneficial insects and nourish our ecosystems. Whether you are planning a new garden or adding to an existing one, references abound to help you select and plant perennials successfully.
September through Thanksgiving is the best time to plant most perennials and shrubs, especially California natives. The soil is still warm enough to encourage good root development and most importantly, cool weather and winter rains get plants off to a good start. Make sure you water them well when first planted, then continue watering until winter rains start.
Plants adapted to a Mediterranean climate need moisture until their root systems mature (with some succulents being exceptions). These plants may still need water during the summer to look their best but will tolerate a long dry summer much better with well-developed roots.
“Drought-tolerant” is a somewhat misleading term. Several dry months during our typical Mediterranean summers do not result in a drought. “Climate-adapted” or “water-smart” are more helpful terms to describe plants. These are adapted to the normally dry summers and wet winters common in many Mediterranean areas. Water conservation during any California summer makes economic and ecological sense.
Some reliable favorites include Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Sunset Manzanita (neat and tidy), De la Mina Verbena (Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina'), Salvia ‘Bee's Bliss' (needs room), Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum), Epilobium, Yarrow, and California Buckwheat. Check the Native Plant database listed below to see which plants will do well in your zip code or in a particular spot in your garden.
The first four references below are robust websites to help you select perennials that will work in Contra Costa County. We are biased toward water-wise California natives, although perennials from other Mediterranean climates can do well here. If you have a lot of garden space, you may want the help of a professional landscaper (see last reference).
• East Bay MUD water-smart plants (natives and non-natives): https://www.ebmud.com/water/conservation-and-rebates/watersmart-gardener/watersmart-plants
• UC Davis “All Star” Plant Database (natives and non-natives): https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant-database
• Contra Costa County water-saving plant database (natives and non-natives): https://www.contracosta.watersavingplants.com/search.php
• Native plant database from California Native Plant Society: https://www.calscape.org/
• How to find a landscape professional https://rescape.memberclicks.net/directory
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County (EAS)
Even if you are not planning to plant many veggies and herbs this fall, you should definitely invest the time to plant a cover crop in both your garden and raised beds. Cover crops take very little effort. You plant them once, water initially to get them started, and then let Mother Nature take over — assuming we are blessed with another wet winter.
Here in the Bay Area, the primary need is to add nitrogen to our heavy clay soil in order to loosen it up and feed our plants. Excellent nitrogen-fixing crops include vetch, cowpeas, fava beans, and crimson clover. Buckwheat is a great choice if you want a quick fix. It germinates in about five days and is ready to be turned under in about a month. You can feed your soil now, and still get a great fall garden planted.
For information and cool-season crops, don't miss the upcoming Fall Garden Market at Martial Cottle Park's Harvest Festival Oct. 7. The festival celebrates the agricultural heritage of Santa Clara Valley. There will be food, entertainment, activities for the kids, park tours, and more.
You will find seedlings of many Asian and Italian greens such as Chinese broccoli, pak choi, tatsoi, chicory, escarole, and radicchio. There will be dozens of varieties of beets, cabbage, and cauliflower. Try growing a few leafy greens that are great in soups, stews, and stir-fry meals, such as chard, kale, and mustard. They are cut-and-come-again plants that will keep on giving through next spring. And, if like me, you can't live without a fresh salad, you will find a variable salad bar of lettuce, spinach, arugula, cress, and mache to grow; all you'll need for serving them is a little vinaigrette!
And yes, there will be peas, turnips, onions, and even kohlrabi, collards, and artichokes.
Don't miss out on the blooming beauties: Agrostemma, Clarkia, Delphinium, Larkspur, Linaria, Snapdragons, Sweet Peas. Flowers not only add beauty, but bring in the bees and beneficial insects necessary for pollination and fending off the “bad bugs” that can damage your garden.
Whether you are a seasoned-gardener or just starting out, you can pick up lots of tips from the festival's free educational talks — Amazing Succulents, Cool Season Vegetables, Glorious Garlic, and Native Plants.
Growing your own food, whether with your family or by yourself, is not only enjoyable but truly important! You will conserve water, waste less (no one wants to throw away what they have worked to grow), avoid using harmful chemicals, nurture your soil, and help support and feed our native birds, bees, and other insects. And most importantly, you will make a huge, positive impact on your children; kids actually will eat what they grow! So head on out to one of our upcoming Fall Markets, and dig in!
Upcoming Fall Fall Markets
There are three upcoming Santa Clara County Master Gardeners Fall markets The main event will be at San Jose's Martial Cottle Park (5283 Snell Ave.) on Oct. 7, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free, but there is a $6 parking fee.
Other Master Gardener Fall Garden Markets will be presented Sept. 23, 10 a.m.-noon, Palo Alto Demo Garden, 851 Center Dr., Palo Alto; and Oct. 14, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Guglielmo Winery, 1480 E. Main Ave., Morgan Hill.
by UC Master Gardener Rebecca Jepsen
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Jepsen
This article first appeared in the September 17 issue of the San Jose Mercury News.
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There are some great resources to help you do your homework when planning additions to your garden.
This is an ideal time to add California native plants. The California Native Plant Society has a resource, Calscape, that lists plants that are native specifically to your area. One of my favorites for (zip code) 95037 is Arctostaphylos Dr. Hurd. I love its reddish, crooked branches. At about 15' tall, in sun or shade, it's easy to fit into many gardens. Calscape also lists some annual wildflowers native to Morgan Hill. How about Baby Blue Eyes and Smooth Tidy Tips?
Santa Clara County Master Gardeners have a Waterwise Plant list that gives you great tips about which plants thrive in our area. You can choose based on plant type, and water and sun/shade requirements. They've done the testing for you, and the practical notes about growing conditions and watering are really helpful.
I'm renovating a garden with old oaks and here's what's on my list, that could easily be on your list, even if you don't have oaks. These are all typically easy to find in your local nursery. If you don't see them, they can order for you.
Arctostaphylos Howard McMinn – Howard McMinn manzanita is a native, medium sized (6' x 10') shrub that can be kept smaller by pruning. It is both drought and garden tolerant. I think it's quietly elegant and a graceful addition to any garden. It plays well with lots of other plants.
Correa Dusky Bells and Ivory Bells – I love Australian fuchsias and use them a lot. Dusky Bells is smaller (1' x 3'), with reddish pink flowers. I'm getting attached to Ivory Bells with its creamy white flowers and grey green, felt-like leaves. In the oak garden, it's planted next to A. Howard McMinn and underplanted with Stachys Helen von Stein, with its furry grey leaves, and they look great together.
This same planting bed under the oak includes Rubus pentalobus, a quiet, low dark green carpet, and iris Canyon Snow. There are lots of colors (purple, ochre, pale yellow, bronze) to choose from with our native iris, but I keep going back to the pure white charm of Canyon Snow.
Another area of this garden, includes drifts of Arctostaphylos Carmel Sur. Carmel Sur manzanita is my current favorite, low growing (1' x 4-6') native manzanita. It has glossy green leaves and grows relatively quickly. I'm also adding in Carpenteria californica Elizabeth as part of a mixed border.
When you're looking for inspiration and advice about great plants for your garden, make sure you also check out the UC Davis Arboretum All Stars plants list.
The horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum have identified 100 tough, reliable plants that have been tested in the Arboretum, are easy to grow, don't need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in the garden.
Use your local Master Gardeners for advice to grow by! Call our hotline Monday through Friday, 9:30-12:30 at 408-283-3105.
by UC Master Gardener Janet Enright
This article first appeared in the September 21 issue of the Morgan Hill Times.
- Author: Denise Seghesio Levine
As you clean up your garden and remove summer annuals, take care to banish weeds and their seedpods, too. Pick up a truckload of well-aged compost, or schedule a delivery, from one of Napa County's two excellent compost companies. Nourish tired garden soil with fertilizers that replace potassium and phosphorous. After you fertilize and amend soil, water well to disperse the nutrients. If your fertilizer comes in a bag, box or bottle, carefully follow abel directions.
Be merciless in removing weed seedpods. However, if you grew calendulas, violas, forget-me-nots or zinnias, shaking their seed heads as you weed will reward you with color spots the following spring. Even some edible crops like lettuce, onions and parsley will often reseed if you encourage them.
In fact, some annuals are such vigorous self-sowers thatWeeds of California and Other Western States,a University of California publication, considers them weeds. Violets, forget-me-nots and many others are in this group. Luckily for me, they are some of my favorite flowers. Denim-blue or yellow violas, sweet-scented purple violets (Viola odorata) and bold-faced pansies ranging from deep blue to pink can all be planted now. Plant violas in garden beds and put more in pots to bring some cheer to the coming winter days.
Tuck calendulas, also called pot marigolds, in any bare spot in the garden, and they will reward you with bright gold flowers throughout the winter. They will fade in summer's heat, but then a shake of their tough little seed heads will sow the next season's color. In the kitchen, calendula petals can brighten salads and are sometimes used as a “poor man's saffron.”The golden petals can tint rice dishes and other recipes needing a dash of color.
Plant perennials and California natives now so they can benefit from still-warm soil and grow strong before winter comes. If you plant foxglove seedlings from six-packs now, they will be six feet tall and have towering blossoms by next year. Small snapdragon plants, which children will enjoy, will be covered with little snappers by summer and provide bright flowers through the winter months, too.
Even decorative vegetables can perk up a walkway or bed. Pink and lime-green cabbages and vivid purple and red kales can provide color all winter long.
Sow seed now for the golden California poppies and red poppies that grace many an Impressionist canvas. It's a good time to sow other wildflowers, too, before the rains come. Look for seed packets of your favorites, or pick up one of the many wildflower blends formulated for shady or sunny spots.
Bulbs, corms and tubers are on nursery shelves now. Plant daffodils, sparaxis and freesia in garden beds or pots to brighten decks and indoor rooms. Some bulbs do benefit from pre-chilling, so read directions that come with the bulbs. Make sure beds and pots have good drainage.
Although many people are removing lawns, October is a good month to plant new lawn or renovate an older one. Over-seed now to correct bare or stressed spots.
Napa County Cooperative Extension recommends a premium blend of grass formulated for California's cooler growing areas. If you are curious about which turf grass is best, you can get reports from Cooperative Extension on how the different grasses and blends perform. Lawns and turf are often criticized as being wasteful of water, but they do provide some fire protection around a home.
Sweet peas can be planted now. Dig beds deeply and amend with aged compost.Tall varieties can be grown along fences or trellises and short varieties in beds or containers. Heirlooms with rich fragrances are my favorites, but last year I planted a dwarf sky-blue variety that bloomed tirelessly in a half barrel on the deck until the first summer heat finished them.
October weather can be varied, so be vigilant a little longer. Pay attention to weather forecasts and protect your new seed sprouts and tender seedlings from any final scorching days. Windy days zap moisture from air and soil, so make sure young plants are weathering those conditions, too.
Workshop: U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will host a workshop on “Citrus” on Saturday, October 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. This workshop will focus exclusively on caring for citrus, large and small. Potting and repotting container citrus, pruning, watering and fertilizing, frost protection and recovery from frost damage are part of the program. The workshop will also cover using the University of California IPM website to identify and understand citrus disease and pests.Online registration (credit card only); Mail-in registration (cash or check only).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
- Author: Christine Casey
Ask most folks about "fall color" and they'll picture trees turning shades of red, orange, and yellow. Here at the Haven, on the other hand, we think about all the plants that will bloom until frost. These provide honey bees with critical late-season honey-making resources; other bees and butterflies use these late bloomers as well.
I wrote about fall planting a few weeks ago. Here are some recent photos from the garden showing our version of "fall color."
Asters
Although they still go by the common name of aster, the New World plants in this group are now in the genus Symphyotrichum. Here's one of the largest, Symphyotrichum 'Bill's Big Blue' with many honey bees working its flowers. 'Bill' is a big guy, so be sure to give him plenty of room to spread and sprawl.
Ceanothus
Sunflowers
Zinnias
Pretty, easy-to-grow, and great for bees. What more could you want in a flower? We sow zinnia seeds directly into the garden. Do this in May for summer bloom and again in August for blooms that will go until frost.