- (Public Value) UCANR: Promoting healthy people and communities
- Author: Harold McDonald
Desert globemallow or apricot mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) is a local favorite, brightening the roadsides and hillsides of the Eastern Sierra region dependably every year. People love the delicate globes, and thanks to our local Bristlecone Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and their annual native plant sale, hundreds of people now get to enjoy the show in their own yards.
The common names pretty much say it all—they do well with little water, and they are covered in spring with 1-inch, 5-petaled, bowl-shaped apricot blossoms. But let's dig a little deeper, into the scientific name. The Greek words σφα?ρα (sphaira) and αλκεα (alkea) translate to “sphere” and “mallow.” Sphere obviously describes the shape of the flowers, and mallow tells us that this plant is in the family Malvaceae—the same family that includes cotton, okra and hollyhock. If you check the leaves of each of these plants, you'll immediately notice one of the family characteristics—palmately lobed leaves (like fingers on a hand).
It's not the genus, but the specific epithet* that I want to focus on here—ambigua—the color of this species is ambiguous. Calflora lists eight other species of Sphaeralcea in California, nearly all of them orange nearly all the time. Sphaeralcea ambigua is apparently the exception. This species comes in three different botanical varieties: ambigua (our local variety), rugosa and rosaceae. It is especially among the rosaceae populations that colors can vary. I learned of this some years back, when I bought a plant in Tucson. In that area, this species comes in a range of pastels, from white to mauve, peach, pink, lavender, and occasionally deep wine reds.
That original plant has given me three new plants, two pinkish and one apricot. As a bonus, that plant and its descendants seem to have a more vigorous revival in the fall than the plants I have purchased locally. Because Tucson gets a summer monsoon season, many plants bloom in both the spring and the fall, so I'm assuming my plants share that characteristic more than the plants from summer-dry California.
Helpful links
‘Childerly' is a hybrid developed in England
You can see some other colors here
A search of “mallow” at High Country Gardens gives you some closely related plants that will also do well in our area
Seeds from the Tucson area may be more likely to give you shades other than apricot
*By the way, Wikipedia has lists of the most common plant species epithets (A-H and I-Z)!
- Author: Carmen Kappos
“Overwatering is the number one killer of houseplants,” says Mr. Ernesto Sandoval, Manager and Curator of the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory. Overwatering encourages disease, pests, and can smother roots that need oxygen. With overwatering, roots can die and rot.
When to water depends on many things: the type of plant, the amount of light, temperature, the potting mix. All these things have an effect on when the plant will need water. So how to tell when to water?
Here are some good tips on determining when to water your houseplants.
Tips:
- Your finger is a really good moisture meter. Use your finger to check for moisture in the top 1” of potting mix.
- Leafy plants: let the potting mix start to dry until barely moist between watering.
- Succulents and stem succulents: the top 1” of potting mix should feel mostly dry between watering.
- Get familiar with how heavy the pot is right after watering, dry potting mix is much lighter in weight than when it is wet.
- Dry potting mix is also lighter in color than wet potting mix.
Techniques:
- Water so that some water drains out the hole in the bottom. This ensures that the water has gone into the entire pot and has reached the root zone.
- Do not let the pot sit in water, empty the saucer or tray after watering. Drained water contains salts and minerals that can be reabsorbed into the pot. This briny water is not good for the roots.
- Pots can be elevated with material like pebbles, in the tray, to keep the pot from touching drained water.
- Usually tap water is ok to use for most houseplants, however softened water contains salt that will quickly kill plants. Water with Boron should not be used on container plants.
- Water from wells may be ok to use, it depends on the amount of minerals dissolved in the well water.
- If there is a buildup of crusty minerals on the pot or potting mix, gently remove the crust and flush out the pot with clean water that does not have minerals, then let drain.
- Use a well-draining potting mix. Most commercial potting mixes hold too much water. Small pumice rock sold at plant nurseries can be added at half the total volume to improve drainage in potting mixes.
The UC Davis Conservatory houses over 3000 plants in more than 150 different plant families. Responsible for the care and development of the collection, with a degree in plant biology, Mr. Sandoval has watered and cares for many plants. In his video talk on houseplants Mr. Sandoval advises to err on the side of under watering. Check out his talk on houseplants at: https://youtu.be/n60Iia0XxUE
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Bonus tips from the editor: If you're seeing lots of little gnats buzzing around the pot, you're probably keeping the plants too wet. Seeing lots of burned edges on leaves? Either you have accumulated salts or may be getting plants too dry between waterings.
- Author: Dustin Blakey
I was out last night above the river to take some pictures, and I noticed that as the sun went behind the mountains I was joined by some unwelcome visitors: mosquitoes.
I suspect they were males as I didn't end up with any bites, and they were mostly hovering above me. A few landed so I squished them. I don't know what kind they were other than "generic mosquito." I was in the same area last week and didn't encounter any, so I think it's just starting.
All this to say, it's probably worth thinking about taking typical mosquito precautions when recreating outdoors in the evening away from town. Here is some information about mosquitoes from UC IPM.
The Owens Valley Mosquito Abatement Program has a good page on Facebook that updates progress. You can like their page to keep informed. https://www.facebook.com/OVMAP/
- Author: Dustin Blakey
In times of crisis and stress people often try to help each other out by passing along information they have gathered. This is a commendable act, usually done with the best of intentions. But with the proliferation of information sources available to us now, it is easy to pass incorrect information.
Even if one's intentions are good, it is possible to do harm by spreading misinformation. Please do due diligence in checking any information you wish to share with others to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date. Some of the information being spread online now is not only ineffective, it can be dangerous. (Do not consume bleach!)
These are some reliable sources of information about the COVID-19 virus.
- CDC's COVID-19 Main Page: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html
- California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH): https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx
- CDPH Press Releases: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/New-Release-2020.aspx
- Travel Guidance from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html
- Social Distancing: https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/03/13/what-is-social-distancing/
- COVID-19 Tracking Map (Johns Hopkins): https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
- Inyo County Public Health Dept: https://www.inyocounty.us/services/health-human-services/public-health-and-prevention-division
- Mono County Public Health Dept: https://monocovid19-monomammoth.hub.arcgis.com/
If you see a post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or email that sounds especially intriguing, perhaps it's different than what you've been hearing, I recommend checking with the website snopes.com to see if it is a hoax. It's not infallible, but is a good test for hoaxes. An easy way to to this is to type part of the title or text of the post into Google and add the word snopes.com at the end.
Don't forget that gardening can be a relaxing way to enact social distancing!
- Author: Bobbie Stryffeler
Have you read “The Princess and the Pea” written by Hans Christian Anderson? If so, you know from the story only a princess would be so sensitive as to feel a pea under twenty mattresses and twenty eider-down beds.
A pea was used to determine if the young lady who claimed to be a princess was actually so. Most likely the princess was tested against an early heirloom pea that was cultivated for dry seed, much smaller than today's modern garden varieties.
Throughout time humans have enjoyed peas. Primitive garden peas have been found in excavations dating back to the Stone Age and to ancient Troy. They were grown for cereals, porridge, and eventually became a delicacy of the aristocracy. In 1696 Madame de Maintenon described the pleasures of peas, “the subject of peas, continues to absorb all others, the anxiety to eat them, and the desire to eat them again, are the three great matters which have been discussed by our Princes for four days past…It is a fashion and madness.”
It wasn't until the 18th Century that commoners like you and me were allowed to enjoy luscious, green peas.
One of my favorite vegetables included in cool-season crops is the garden pea. This is how I approach the art of growing and savoring peas.
Like other cool season vegetables, peas prefer cooler soil temperatures to germinate, and they sweeten best in cooler air temperatures. Peas can tolerate frost and are actually less sensitive to freezing in spring.
A proper planting of peas begins in a sunny location with well-drained soil that has a pH of 5.8 to 7 which is common in Bishop but can be challenging for some of our outlying areas. The soil should be workable, tilled to about 8 inches. Avoid soggy compacted soil as this may be a sign to wait longer to sow seeds. Fertility needs for peas are low and excess nitrogen will only encourage more foliage and fewer blossoms.
It is a gamble to predict exactly when to plant peas in our variable climate. This year February is bringing dry weather with cold to freezing night time temperatures. I seeded one small crop of peas on January 11 when the soil was workable. I will sow another crop this February, and most likely, another in March with hopes that all or some will provide a harvest.
If you plant peas each year, it is a good idea to rotate locations in the garden. Peas and other legumes grow in a symbiotic relationship with soil dwelling bacteria, enhancing soil fertility by a nitrogen fixation process. This basically means last year's pea garden site will be a great spot to plant something else. Proof this occurs is in the nitrogen-containing nodules found attached to the roots once the harvest is over.
Germination occurs in soil temperatures as low as 40 degrees to approximately 60 degrees. Naturally germination on the low end will be slower. Days to maturity vary from 58 days to 70 days, and as I mentioned before, I will have three plantings, which include at least three varieties of peas.
I typically plant along a five-foot-tall trellis a couple of the taller varieties. This year will include British Wonder, Sugar Daddy, Burpeeana Early, and whatever else I find. If you're short on space the smaller bush varieties are just as tasty, and they don't need trellising.
Birds and squirrels love pea sprouts so beware! Netting or row cover helps prevent their pesky snacking. One spring I forgot that I wasn't the only princess who favored peas, in just one day a whole bed of sprouts were cleaned off.
The sweet flavor of peas is best if they are consumed soon after harvest.
A few years ago a friend presented me with a lovely bouquet of pea tendrils, I was hesitant but found they added a delightful crunchy sweetness to tossed salads. Needless to say, I now plant extra peas just for the tendrils. I've read that the Sugar Magnolia variety produces tall, eight foot plants and clusters of messy tendrils.
In 2020 we commoners are privileged to plant and savor fresh peas as we choose. I promise nothing you buy at the market will compare with home-grown!
Resources:
- http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Monthly_Vegetable_Gardening_Tips/
- https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cool_vegetables_for_you_to_grow_this_spring
- https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/how_to_grow_peas
- https://underwoodgardens.com/the-history-of-heirloom-peas/
