As days shorten and temperatures cool, the pace of gardening slows along with plant growth.  But there is still plenty to be done during the fall and winter months.  In fact, much of what is done in the garden now will set the tone for the following year.

Cleaning up the garden is an important chore.  Remove any dead plant material from the garden and add it to your compost pile.  Pick up any fallen fruit from around fruit trees.  These actions will eliminate habitat for overwintering diseases and pests.  Rake up leaves.  Matted leaves left on a lawn can suffocate it.  Instead, add your leaves (chopping up the largest ones) to your compost pile.  If you delay dead-heading your spent flowers and seed heads until early spring the birds will appreciate having this extra source of food during the lean winter months.

Prune deciduous trees and shrubs during their dormant period.  However, it is worthwhile to do a little research on each plant to become familiar with its pruning requirements.  For example, pruning early-flowering plants such as azaleas, flowering quince, or forsythia in the fall will remove flower buds and reduce the spring flowering display.  If these plants require pruning, it should be done just after they have finished blooming.

Consider planting a winter garden.  Radish, spinach, pea and onion seeds can be planted in October or November.  Cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce and turnip seedlings can be planted in November.  If you don't want a winter garden, clean up your summer garden and mulch it with straw, grass clippings or chopped leaves.  Mulch will discourage weeds and provide soil nutrients for next year's garden.

Planting bare root trees and shrubs during their winter dormancy allows healthy root systems to develop before budding out in the spring.  Fall is also the time to plant bulbs and perennials.  Squirrels can notice disturbed soil and may dig up tulips and other bulbs.  Disguise your work by flooding the soil surface with water and then covering the soil with mulch.

Renovate garden beds by weeding, adding organic matter, and tilling the soil to a depth of at least six inches.  Refresh existing mulch around established plantings.

Conduct an irrigation review and adjust your watering schedule to reflect the lower water requirements of fall and winter.  Make any repairs (such as fixing broken pipes, hoses, or damaged sprinkler heads) before spring.  If you have an automatic system, be sure it is operating correctly. 

If you plan to create new garden beds, fall is a good time to do it before you are faced with the rush of spring gardening jobs.  And if you plan on creating a new bed in an existing lawn area, a good method is to cover it with a thick layer of newspaper topped with a layer of mulch.  This will kill the lawn (as long as it's not a dormant perennial like Bermuda grass) and the bed will be ready to be worked in early spring without the effort of manually removing the sod.

Finally, clean and sharpen your tools.  Keeping tools clean helps prevent the spread of disease and prolongs the life of the tools.  If you prune diseased plants, disinfect clippers, loppers, or saws with a diluted bleach solution, blot them dry, and then apply a light coating of oil.  Sharp tools produce clean cuts and clean cuts heal more quickly.  If you have empty flower pots that you are planning to reuse, clean them by removing dirt with a coarse brush and then rinsing with water.  Let terra-cotta pots dry completely before storing them.  

Plant Sale!!!  The Master Gardeners will hold their Fall 2021 Plant Sale on October 30, from 9am to 1pm at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch (10381 Midway, Durham).  Along with the Plant Sale, there will be two free workshops: “Gardening with Natives” at 10am, and “Berry and Grape Gardening” at 11am.  No registration is required for these workshops; Covid safety protocols will be followed.

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu (preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.

With our long, hot summers and drought seemingly becoming the norm, many home gardeners are on the lookout for water-efficient plants.  Although often overlooked, the cacti found in North and South American deserts fit this purpose nicely, and as an added bonus most species have colorful, often spectacular, blooms. While there are also species of cacti found in cloud forests and even rainforests, these would not be appropriate for outdoor landscaping in the Northstate.

A cactus is a type of succulent that belongs to the plant family Cactaceae.  Any plant that stores water in its leaves, stems, or roots is a succulent, but cacti are placed in this separate family because in addition to their water-storing ability they have several other adaptations that help them survive hot, dry environments.  With very few exceptions, cacti do not have leaves.  Instead, the leaves they initially had have evolved to become spines which protect a cactus plant from herbivores and eliminate the problem of water evaporating from leaf surfaces.  Additionally, species with plentiful or wooly spines further inhibit evaporation from the cactus plant by producing shade and reducing air flow around the leafless stems.  Interestingly, spines can also serve as condensation points, allowing the cactus plant to “harvest” dew from the night air.

In the absence of leaves, the green stems of cacti have taken over the job of photosynthesis.  In most plants, stomata (pores) on the leaves open during the day to allow for the uptake of carbon dioxide and release of oxygen during photosynthesis.  This creates a problem for plants living in arid climates because whenever their stomata are open, water evaporates from them.  Cacti and several other plant families have resolved this issue by utilizing a metabolic pathway known as crasssulacean acid metabolism (CAM).  On the CAM pathway, stomates are closed during the day and open at night, limiting the loss of water.  While their stomates are open at night, CAM plants take in carbon dioxide, store it in the form of malic acid, and then release the carbon dioxide from the malic acid the next day so that it is available for use in photosynthesis.  This process requires the expense of a lot of energy, but since plants depend on solar energy, it is not an issue for sun-drenched desert plants like cacti.

Cactus stems have several other adaptations that enhance their survival in dry environments.  The stems are fleshy and are used to store water.  Additionally, stems are usually covered with a thick, waxy cuticle, which prevents water loss due to evaporation.  The stomata on cactus stems are typically sunken in shallow pits.  As with wooly spines, this slows evaporation by decreasing airflow around the stomatal openings.  Finally, even the ribbed appearance of many cactus stems is functional, allowing the stems to expand rapidly when water is available for uptake.

Many cacti have shallow root systems that extend widely to quickly absorb as much moisture as possible from rare rainfalls.  A cactus that is just a few inches tall may have roots reaching out several feet.

Cacti can be grown in any sunny, well-drained area.   Smaller varieties can be kept as potted houseplants; hardy species can be grown as landscape plants, either in pots or in the ground.  The best time to plant a cactus is in the late spring or summer, when its roots are actively growing.  Always plant cacti bareroot.  Let the soil in the pot dry out and then gently loosen the soil in the root ball and shake it off.

When planting a cactus, prepare a hole that is as deep as the plant's root ball and one and one-half times as wide.  Place the cactus so that its stem is at the same depth it was before transplanting.  Use heavy gloves and/or a thick layer of newspaper wrapped around the plant when handling a cactus.  If your native soil is coarse textured and drains well, you can use it to fill in the hole and then pack it firmly around the root ball.  If your soil is heavy and doesn't drain well, it would be wise to dig a deeper hole and backfill it with cactus mix.  There are several cactus mixes available commercially, but if you want to make your own, a good recipe is three parts sand, three parts regular soil and two parts pumice or perlite.  Planting cacti in raised or mounded beds is another work-around for slow draining, heavy soils. 

If your cactus came from a lath house or outdoor greenhouse, protect it with a shade cloth for a couple of weeks.  This will help it acclimate to the stronger outdoor sun and the cactus will be less likely to become sunburned while its outer skin toughens up.  Once the cactus is in the ground, it should be watered until the soil is about as damp as a wrung-out sponge.  While cacti require minimal care, their number one cause of death is over watering, so after the initial watering wait and don't water again until the top two or three inches of soil are dry.  If your cactus looks a little shriveled, you may need to water it sooner.  Cacti in pots usually need to be watered more often than those that are planted directly in the ground.  Most cacti are dormant in the fall and winter, so they need little, if any, water then.

Cacti can be frost sensitive, but there are several genera that more cold-hardy. Cold-hardy genera include (but are not limited to): Opuntia, Ferocactus, Echinocereus, Escobaria, Corypantha and some species in the genera Cereus and Mammalaria.  It is important to note that in many instances, “it's not the cold, but the wet” that can kill these cacti.

Opuntia cacti are also known as beaver-tail, or prickly pear cactus.  Their stems consist of flattened, segmented pads.  Most species of Opuntia have yellow flowers, but species with vivid purple, pink, red, or orange flowers are common as well.  Opuntias can range in size from less than a foot to 15 feet tall.  Their fruit is edible, but care must be taken to remove the spines before eating it.  Young stems, called pads or nopales, are also edible and are an important part of Mexican cuisine. 

Members of the genus Ferocactus are large, deeply ribbed, barrel-shaped cacti.  Their “fishhook” spines often form an almost impenetrable armored web around the plant body.  Their flowers can be pink, yellow, red, or purple, depending on the species.  Ferocactus plants can range in size from less than a foot to over 12 feet tall, but most species are between one and four feet tall.  Although these barrel cacti do contain water, it is not considered potable and is likely to cause diarrhea if it is ingested.

Echinocereus is commonly known as the hedgehog cactus.  It is a relatively small, columnar cactus, with species seldom growing more than a foot tall.  Although these plants are small, various species often produce masses of purple, red, pink or yellow flowers.  Echinocereus spines can be tinged with pink, producing interesting color patterns on their stems.

Escobaria, commonly called pincushion cactus or foxtail cactus, is different from most other cacti in that it lacks ribs.  Instead, Escobaria cacti have lobed protrusions called tubercles.  Species in this genus are generally no more than six inches tall and can be columnar or globe-shaped.  They can be solitary or grow in clusters and their flowers vary from yellow to pink, red and purple.  Several Escobarias are extremely cold-hardy; this widespread genus is found from Mexico to Canada. 

Coryphantha cacti, commonly known as beehive cacti, are very similar to Escobaria.  To the layperson, they may look the same, but botanists have placed them in different genera because of significant differences in their seed coats.  The Coryphantha genus is not as widespread as Escobaria and most species are uncommon.

Many Mammillaria cacti are cold-sensitive, especially those native to regions south of the U.S. border.  Due to their covering of dense, fuzzy white spines, some members of the genus Mammillaria are often referred to as “old man” cacti.  Common names for other species of Mammillaria are pincushion cactus, globe cactus, fishhook cactus, or nipple cactus.  Most members of this genus are ground-hugging, but some can grow to one or two feet tall.  A few hardy landscape Mammillarias that can survive in our area include M. geminispina, M. backbergia, M. hahniana ‘Superba', M. mystax, M. supertexta and M. matudae.

Members of the genus Cereus are large, columnar, night-blooming cacti, but cereus is also used as the common name for several other night-blooming genera of cacti.  Many members of the genus Cereus are frost-sensitive, but one Peruvian species, Cereus peruvianus, is hardy to 18° F!  C. peruvianus, the Peruvian apple cactus, commonly grows to eight feet tall, but can reach heights upwards of 20 feet, making it an impressive focal point for a cactus garden.  The flowers of the Peruvian apple cactus are large and white and last just one night; the petals wither in the morning sun.  Its pollinator is a moth and if pollination is successful a large, red, spine-free fruit will develop.  As its name implies, this fruit is edible.  The flesh of the Peruvian apple cactus is crunchy and has been described as refreshingly juicy with a subtly tart sugarcane taste.

Plant Sale! The Master Gardeners will hold their Fall 2021 Plant Sale on October 30, from 9am to 1pm at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch (10381 Midway, Durham).  Along with the Plant Sale, there will be two free workshops: “Gardening with Natives” at 10am, and “Berry and Grape Gardening” at 11am.  No registration is required for these workshops; Covid safety protocols will be followed.

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu (preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.

The fungal disease “oak root rot” (Armillaria mellea) has evolved with California oaks and other native plants.  It is parasitic on oaks and other plant species, but if these plants are growing in our environment of moist winters and dry summers, this fungus is normally kept in check.  However, if summer irrigation is provided, Armillaria can become an aggressive, deadly pathogen.  Armillaria is an opportunist that will also attack plants that are under stress either by damage to the roots or because of improper watering.  Ironically water stress can be due to either drought or overwatering.  In addition to oaks, woody plants that are susceptible to oak root rot include Escallonia, Butterfly Bush, Blue Blossom, Lilac, several types of Azaleas, and some Maples.  Susceptible herbaceous perennials include begonias, carnations, daffodils, dahlias, geraniums, and peonies.  Woody plants that are resistant to Armillaria include many species of Maple, Tree-of-Heaven, Madrone, Boxwood, Tree Anemone, Western Redbud, Holly, and many species of Pine.  A more complete list of both resistant and susceptible plants can be found at Plants Resistant or Susceptible to The Oak Root Fungus.

Oak root fungus attacks the sapwood just beneath the bark of the lower trunk and roots of infected plants.  This disrupts the flow of water and nutrients in the plant.  When this occurs, the first above ground symptoms to be noticed are stunted shoots, discolored leaves and excessive leaf drop.  There may also be cankers and gumming of the trunk just below or at ground level.  When the bark of infected roots or the trunk beneath the soil line is peeled away, cream-colored fungal threads (mycelia) are present.  These mycelia have a distinct mushroom-like odor.  They may appear on the surface of herbaceous plants as well.  Honey-colored Armillariamushrooms typically emerge any time between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day and, when present, are always found in clusters around infected plants.

Armillaria is always associated with wood; it does not live independently in the soil.  Armillaria spreads from plant to plant when a root from an uninfected plant grows into the fungal mycelium, or when specialized fungal structures called rhizomorphs bridge a short distance (less than one inch) between a diseased root and an adjacent healthy plant's root.  Once Armillaria comes in contact with a living root, it dissolves the bark and decays the wood.  Although the interaction of environmental factors is not completely understood, it appears that high soil moisture, high concentrations of Armillaria, and close plant spacing are key factors that favor the spread of oak root fungus.

There are no fungicides available that kill Armillaria.  The only effective controls are planting resistant plant species and employing other appropriate cultural practices such as avoiding over-irrigation and avoiding moving infected root pieces to new uninfected locations.  Drying Armillaria kills it.  Reports state that oak root fungus growth has been slowed or stopped by removing the soil from around the base of an infected plant and allowing the area to dry completely.   If an area is suspected of being infected with Armillaria, prepare the soil by removing roots and wood debris and air-drying the soil before planting.  Then provide the new plants with adequate drainage and appropriate irrigation.  Do not over-water.

The Master Gardeners Fall 2021 Workshop Series is in Full Swing!  Upcoming workshops include When to Control for Pests; a four-part series on Landscaping for a Future with Fire; Gardening with Chickens; Espalier Gardening; and Tool Care with Rob Fanno from Fanno Saw Works in Chico.  Most workshops are in person, following Covid safety protocols, with a limited number of participants.  The series on Landscaping for a Future with Fire will be conducted via Zoom. All workshops are free and take place in the morning; none are more than two hours long. Registration is required.

Plant Sale!  The Master Gardeners will hold their Fall 2021 Plant Sale on October 30, from 9am to 1pm at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch.  Along with the Plant Sale, there will be two workshops: “Gardening with Natives” at 10am and “Berry and Grape Gardening” at 11am.  No registration is required for the workshops; Covid safety protocols will be followed. 

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu(preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.

If you are starting a list of plants to put in the ground this fall, you might want to add a salvia or two. With just under 1000 varieties, Salvia is the largest genus in the mint family (Lamiaceae).  Commonly known as sages, Salvias come in a dizzying variety of forms and colors.  Salvias can be evergreen or deciduous shrubs, or perennial, biennial, or annual flowering plants.  Although their flowers are most commonly a shade of blue or purple, different species of sages also produce white, yellow, pink, red, or even bicolor blooms.

As members of the mint family, all Salvia flowers are two lipped (bilabiate) and commonly arranged in dense spikes. Salvia leaves are usually found in pairs opposite one another on square stems, but the leaves may also be arranged singly on the stems of shrub species of Salvia.  Salvia foliage is aromatic, giving off a mint-like odor when crushed.  Sages of the genus Salvia should not be confused with sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata), which has none of these characteristics and is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae).

The characteristic of the genus Salvia that sets it apart from the rest of the mint family is the structure of its flowers. The stamens of these flowers form a lever and when a pollinator enters the flower, the lever causes the stamens to move and deposit pollen on the pollinator.  When that pollinator enters another flower of the same species, the stigma of the flower is situated so that it brushes against the pollen on the pollinator's body, virtually guaranteeing pollination!

In addition to stunning flowers, the handsome, fragrant Salvia foliage ranges in color from various shades of green to pale grey.  Additionally, many Salvias have an extended blooming season (some even lasting from spring through fall) and their flowers attract a wide variety of pollinators, including hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.  Salvias also tolerate a wide variety of soils and many thrive in full sun, needing minimal water during our hot, dry summers.   These plants are also low maintenance and relatively disease and pest free.  A final, but certainly not insignificant plus for these plants is that they are generally deer resistant.  Apparently, the chemicals that give Salvia leaves their distinct, minty odor have a disagreeable taste, and the result is that deer rarely graze on them.  What's not to like about these tough, attractive plants?

Several Salvia species are on display at the Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden at the Patrick Ranch Museum.  Popular Salvias found at the Demonstration Garden include:  Black and Blue Sage (Salvia guarnitica), Creeping Sage (S. sonomensis), Hummingbird Sage (S. spathacea), Autumn Sage (S. greggii) and Cleveland Sage (S. clevelandii).

Black and Blue Sage has intense, deep blue flower petals with an almost black calyx (the leaf-like structure at the base of the flower); it blooms from summer through fall.  Found in the Butte All Stars section of the Demonstration Garden, it grows to a height of three to five feet, has light green leaves, and will grow in full sun or partial shade.  Although S. guarnitica prefers moderate irrigation, it can tolerate dry conditions.  It is a perennial in the valley and foothills, but is treated as an annual in areas where winter temperatures regularly drop below 20° F. 

Creeping Sage and ‘Bee's Bliss' Salvia are similar groundcovers.  Both are found in the California Native section of the Demonstration Garden. These evergreen perennials reach a height of four to six inches, and a single plant can spread 12 feet or more.  Their foliage is a pleasing silver-green.  They produce a profusion of blue-violet flower spikes from spring to early summer.  These plants are moderately drought tolerant and will grow in full or partial sun.

With its large, deep red, tubular flowers, Hummingbird Sage (S. spathacea) is literally a hummingbird magnet.  This California native is planted in the Mediterranean section of the Demonstration Garden, where it blooms from March to May.  It is an evergreen perennial with bright green, oblong leaves that can have a puckered appearance.  Hummingbird sage grows from one to three feet tall and up to three feet wide.  This plant will grow in full sun, but prefers partial shade, making it ideal for growing under oaks.  Once established, it requires very little water.

Autumn Sage may be one of the few plants that is best known by its scientific name, Salvia greggii.  This plant blooms from early summer through fall and flowers of S. greggii are usually some form of red, but can also be bicolor, white, pink, rose, purple and or orange.  It is an evergreen perennial, but can be winter dormant in colder areas.  It grows two to three feet tall and as wide.  Like many Salvias, Autumn Sage thrives in full sun and requires very little water.  There are several examples of S. greggii in the Demonstration Garden.

Cleveland Sage is a popular woody shrub that has small hairy grey-green leaves.  According to the Calscape website of the California Native Plant society, some consider Cleveland Sage to have the “most pleasantly fragrant foliage of any Salvia.”  The Native Plant section of our Demonstration Garden contains the cultivar Salvia clevelandii ‘Winifred Gilman', which has round clusters of intense violet-blue flowers that appear from late spring through summer.  Cleveland Sage reaches a height of three to four and a half feet, usually growing twice as wide as it is high.  It prefers an exposure in full sun or part shade and requires no summer water once it is established.

If you decide to include Salvias in your garden, they do best if they are planted in early fall.  This gives the plants time to establish a healthy root system before they have to contend with the hot days of summer.  They can also be planted in spring, but will need more attention and watering during the summer months. 

Many of these salvias will be available for purchase at the Master Gardeners Fall 2021 Plant Sale. The sale will be held on October 30, from 9am to 1pm at the Demonstration Garden at Patrick Ranch.  Along with the Plant Sale, there will be two workshops: “Gardening with Natives” at 10am, and “Berry and Grape Gardening” at 11am.  No registration is required for the outdoor workshops; Covid safety protocols will be followed.

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website.If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu (preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.