- Author: Dustin Blakey
If you have cats (and you like them) chances are you've tried giving them a sniff of catnip to see what happens. Of my last two cats, only one seemed to notice. Many cats don't respond at all to catnip's fragrance. But that's probably fine with the catnip plant (Nepeta cataria). You see, cats probably aren't the plant's target.
In this video, you'll learn a bit about how catnip works and what scientists think its active ingredient (nepetalactone) is for and its relationship with common garden pest. Even if you're not all that interested in catnip, the video features lots of clips of cats. Isn't that why we have the Internet?
- Author: Jan Rhodes
I am finally getting around to writing this, ah well. Let me begin by wishing you all a happy height of gardening season! The weeds and the fruit and the veggies and the flowers are keeping me hopping, as I imagine you are. Ah, but the pay-offs are worth it. Now, let me share another bit of garden discovery with great pay-offs: Cover crops. When I first started gardening, I knew nothing about cover crops. As time and experience went by, I learned of this practice, but was convinced (for whatever reason) that this was a large scale agriculture idea, not suitable for a small backyard plot. Then, a couple of years ago, I was somehow motivated to revisit the idea – call it an inspiration or a garden tweet, I don't know. Anyway, my curiosity and research led me to numerous articles on the Internet that assured me this practice is of great value to home gardeners and has been used by many. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
So, let's start at the beginning. A cover crop is planted for the purpose of improving soil quality and nutrition and, perhaps, for attracting beneficial insects. Cover crops improve the quality of soil by adding nitrogen and organic matter, and improving soil tilth and water penetration. One that is planted in the fall and tilled under in the spring is often referred to as “green manure”. This addition of organic matter feeds the soil dwelling fungi and bacteria so they can release nutrients back into the soil. Cover crops also choke out weeds and stabilize the surface of the soil while breaking up and aerating with their deep reaching roots.
I don't remember seeing seed for cover crops in any nursery or seed catalog until recently. Now quiet a few of the better suppliers carry a wide variety. In choosing which cover crop you want to try, you must consider what you are hoping to accomplish. Cereal crops, such as winter rye, will help build organic matter. Addition of nitrogen would call for a legume crop, such as vetch or peas. If you want the best of both worlds, you can choose a seed mix. Just remember, if you choose a legume, you will need to employ an inoculant when you plant. You probably already do that with your sugar snap peas and bush beans, right?
Most home gardeners would want to put in a cover crop for winter. The idea is to reap the benefits without much work. If you plant a winter garden, this might be a drawback. But, if you are not much of a winter gardener, then putting in a cover crop is great for suppressing weeds, and requires minimal watering. Planting is easy. Just prepare the bed, scatter the seed and rake it in, then cover with a mulch of straw. A new planting will need water for germination and to get a good start, then just minimal watering and no additional fertilizer. In the spring, let the crop grow until about a month before you want to plant. Then, weed whack the cover crop and turn it in with a rototiller or spade.
The first year I tried this, I planted winter rye – mostly because I got a late start on the project and didn't get the seed in until late October. This is a hardy grain and did just fine. I did not let the seed heads mature and decided to pull the stalks out rather that turn them into the soil. It turns out that rye is great for keeping the weeds down because it has some allelopathic properties that keep them from growing. Since I was going to plant vegetable seeds in the beds I had covered, I did not want to take a chance that they might react to this residue. All went well.
The takeaway lesson has been that the small investment of time and effort in cover cropping pays huge dividends. My soil was enriched with organic matter, water infiltration and water holding capacity was increased, weeds and soil-borne diseases were suppressed, plant available nitrogen was added and beneficial insects were attracted. In addition, I grew my own mulch and fertilizer. Finally, I am certain my soil, my veggies and the environment all thanked me for this effort.
So, there you go. I encourage you to give this practice a try if it fits your needs. It is inexpensive , low maintenance, and there is plenty of information on the Internet, including charts to help you choose the best cover crop for your needs and your region. Happy gardening to you all!
Resources for cover crop article:
Mother Earth News: Grow Cover Crops for the Best Garden Soil by Harvey Ussery
Mother Earth News: Use Cover Crops to Improve Soil by Barbara Pleasant
Marin Master Gardeners: Cover Crops boost soil in vegetable beds by Marie Narlock
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension Sacramento County: Cover Cropping in Home Vegetable Gardens by Chuck Ingels
Oregon State University Extension Service: Cover Crops for Home Gardens by R.L. Rackham and R. McNeilan
Rodales's Organic Life: Cover Crops
- Author: Alison Collin
With Memorial Day fast approaching my thoughts have turned to poppies because a paper Red Flanders Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is often worn to remember and honor those who have fought for their country. In many parts of Europe the plants are still to be found growing in cornfields and along byways in large masses and, although in some places they have been declared an agricultural weed, most people secretly love them.
The poppy family, Papaveracae contains 25 genera, and over 100 species which generally emanate from the temperate latitudes. Many have wonderfully flamboyant flowers such as the well-known California poppy, (Eschscholzia california) with its saturated orange flowers which clothe many dry hillsides of the state in spring, to the exquisite sky blue Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) which is tricky to grow at the best of times and would hate the dry atmosphere in the Owens Valley.
However there are many garden varieties of poppies which are easy to grow here and it is hard not to love their vibrant crepe petals.
California Poppies now come in a wide range of colors such as pale cream (White Linen), burnt orange (Mikado), yellow (Chrome Queen), and purple (purple gleam). They are perennials but can be grown as annuals where there is a long season. They have a long taproot and resent any attempts to transplant them, so the seed needs to be sown where they are to grow. Water to keep moist until germination has occurred after which occasional watering should suffice, although they will flower for a longer season if given a more regular supply.
Shirley Poppies (P. rhoeas) are annuals and do well here if sown in the fall to will bloom in the spring. They grow about 3 feet tall and about 1 foot wide, and come in a variety of colors apart from the original red – white, pink, salmon, and lilac, sometime with a contrasting white edge. Bees love them for their early supply of pollen, and I have often witnessed them almost fighting around the anthers.
Oriental Poppies (P. orientale). These perennials are perhaps the most striking with huge flowers held on strong stems in late spring or early summer. They grow a clump of hairy leaves early in the year before the flower stems develop. Large clumps of flowers each up to 7 inches in shades of scarlet, white, coral or pink with a large black blotch at the base of the each petal can make a spectacular show in May, after which the foliage dies down in the summer in response to hot weather. They are also loved by bees for their black pollen. Unfortunately the roots are also irresistible to gophers!
Papaver soniferum, an annual variety that has been in cultivation for hundreds of years, comes in a wide range of colors and forms. I love the original single violet flowers which have darker splotches at the base of the petals but now they also come in double varieties (which are not attractive to bees and can look rather like a mop head), and fringed versions. The colors range from very pale pinks to almost black. Unlike a lot of other poppies the leaves are grayish-green, and smooth.
A plant that has done exceptionally well in my high desert garden is P. atlanticum. This is a smaller poppy which produces a prolific crop of soft orange semi-double flowers and which arise from a clump of perennial foliage. It has a very long blooming season if it is regularly deadheaded. It is difficult to transplant, but volunteers readily and comes through our winters with ease. The large black native carpenter bees are particularly attracted to this flower and look ridiculous as they try to collect food from these delicate flowers.
In the deserts the native prickly poppy, Argemone intermedia, is just coming into bloom. An annual or biennial, it has large crinkly white flowers the delicacy of which belies the prickly plant's tough nature, so unless you have an area given over to plants that like dry rocky terrain, you probably would not want to plant this in your garden. It is much loved by insects of all sorts.
Another native plant with similar flowers and no prickles is the shrubby Romneya coulteri the blooms of which look like fried eggs with their crepe-papery petals surrounding a boss of golden stamens. It is native to the Californian coastal regions, and is probably borderline hardy in the Owens Valley but I have seen a spectacular hedge of them growing in West Bishop. They are quite tricky to get established since they require fire for the seeds to germinate, and have rubbery roots that do not hold a ball of soil well for transplanting. The best method is to find a rooted sucker and try transplanting that. However, once established in ideal conditions these plants can spread rapidly and reach 6ft-8ft.
There are many more types of poppies, both native and cultivated and seeds of these available, both from suppliers of native plant seeds and catalogs such as www.edenbrothers.com/PoppySeeds that specialize in garden varieties.
It is hard to find flowers that give so much reward for so little effort.
- Author: Harold McDonald
Southwest Connections, part 2
Last time we learned about Gambell oak (Quercus gambellii) and a couple of Rhus species, R trilobata and R aromatica. And last year, I wrote articles here about another couple of foundational plants in my xeriscaped yard: sugarbush (Rhus ovata) and coffeeberry (Frangula californica). Today I'd like to highlight another tough-as-nails shrub. All of these are plants are perfectly suited to our dry land of temperature extremes. Though they thrive in lean, fast-draining soils, you're not likely to kill any of these with regular garden watering. Some native shrubs (the gorgeous flannel bush and our native Ceanothus come to mind) are so intolerant of irrigation that a summer watering is like a death sentence! Not so with the bushes I am profiling. They are all carefree in every way.
Anyone who has driven to the trailheads of Bishop Creek has probably noticed Chamaebatiaria millefolium (now that's a mouthful!), because of the attractive, fern-like foliage that gives the plant its unsurprising common name—fernbush. You'll see lots of it just before you get to Bishop Creek Lodge on the south fork of Bishop Creek or just past Aspendell on the north fork. But don't think fernbush has to sleep the winter away under a blanket of snow. I've seen this highly adaptable bush in rocky, inhospitable sites in the White Mountains, and it does great down here in the wilds of West Chalfant.
Even fernbush's scientific name is appealing! Fernbush is monotypic, meaning it is the only species in its genus. The genus name (Chamaebatiaria) comes from the similarity in appearance (though not at all related) to mountain misery (Chamaebatia), the ubiquitous groundcover of the west slope of the Sierra Nevada (the Wawona area in Yosemite National Park is a great place to see this plant). And the species name—millefolium—is the same as for one of my favorite garden flowers, yarrow (Achillea millefolium). And then we could move on to the interesting scientific name for yarrow…but maybe another time!
Anyway, fernbush is a winner in all ways. Mature plants get to be 4-6' high and wide. They are supposedly very tolerant of pruning and shearing back, though I've never felt a need to prune mine, because they seem to maintain a perfect form all on their own. You can find fernbush online at High Country Gardens and occasionally at Chalfant Big Trees—if I haven't already snatched them up!
- Author: Harold McDonald
You'll definitely want to make sure you're on navigation, whether human or digital, because it's not the easiest place to find. Type it in on Google Maps, though, and it's not so bad. Get off I-80 onto CA 113 N and take the first exit to the right. The grove is just across the street from the veterinary school. We found plenty of free one-hour parking right on the street.
Most of the nearly 300 trees planted in the grove came from acorns in the collection of Dr. John Tucker, who was a professor and director of the UC Arboretum. There are more than 500 species of Quercus worldwide, and the Shields Grove features about 100 of those, mostly from California, Texas and Mexico in the New World, with old world species coming mostly from the Middle East. Easily the most impressive as far as size were the Persian oaks (Quercus macranthera) near the grove entrance, 100-foot giants also known as the Caucasian oaks for the mountains they call home.
But the Persian oaks are just the beginning of one of the most delightful strolls I have taken in an arboretum. If I lived in Davis, I'm sure I would spend many summer hours under the shade of the oaks. Shields Grove is really a series of connected groves—a netleaf oak grove, an English oak grove, a white oak grove, and groves of various encinos (live oaks) from Mexico—because the trees are planted in groups rather than single specimens.
One of the highlights is the gorgeous mosaic tree plaques found throughout the grove, created by UC entomology students in partnership with the Art-Science Fusion Program. Thirty-five oak species are identified by these one-of-a-kind signs, each one bringing to life the unique leaves, acorns and animals that share its life. A wall-sized mural near the entrance to the grove shows the oak family tree.
One of the highlights is the gorgeous mosaic tree plaques found throughout the grove, created by UC entomology students in partnership with the Art-Science Fusion Program. Thirty-five oak species are identified by these one-of-a-kind signs, each one bringing to life the unique leaves, acorns and animals that share its life. A wall-sized mural near the entrance to the grove shows the oak family tree.
If you're traveling through Davis, Peter J Shields Oak Grove (named after one of the founders of UC Davis) is a great refuge from the traffic of the interstate, even if you're not a plant nut—or even acorn!