Autumn has finally arrived! We have shorter cooler days, and the leaves are turning brilliant Fall colors. Gardeners with some foresight and planning can use this time of year to plant bulbs for a riot of Spring flowers. With their potential for promised beauty, bulbs are like hidden jewels waiting to rise up when warm weather returns. The very act of planting Fall bulbs demonstrates one's faith in nature's cycles, where life begins anew when, eventually, Spring returns.
Botanically, these perennial plants are geophytes, adapted to store their nutrients and energy in underground storage structures. Tulips and daffodils are “true” bulbs (they have fleshy layers surrounding a central bud) and are perhaps the most commonly known. But plants that store their energy and nutrients in corms (bulbs that do not have layers) and in rhizomes (which have long, narrow underground stems that develop parallel to the soil surface) are also geophytes. All geophytes are adapted to produce new growth from these storage structures after periods of dormancy or environmental stress, such as drought or chilling.
Today, in addition to tulips and daffodils, bulbs often found for sale include alliums, fritillaries, snowdrops (Galanthus), snowflakes (Leucojum), grape hyacinths, and anemones. Commonly planted corms include crocuses and Dutch irises. Rhizomatous plants that can be planted in the Fall include peonies (typically planted as bare-root divisions), coral bells (heuchera), and bearded irises.
There are some basic rules to ensuring success with bulbs:
1) Plant at the correct depth, which is often listed on the bag they have come in.
2) Ensure they are planted with the growing tips pointing up and the roots heading downwards.
3) Plant in fast-draining soil, because most bulbs are susceptible to rot if they become water-logged.
4) Amend the planting soil with a mix of compost and, if planting in heavy clay, add some grit.
5) Place a layer of mulch over the area of newly-planted bulbs.
6) If necessary, secure chicken wire or plastic netting on top to keep pesky squirrels from digging the bulbs up. Small pieces of plastic fence netting secured over a planted container is often enough to discourage squirrels. You can adjust the netting in the Spring when new growth emerges. Doing the same in a yard is also possible, but more challenging.
Some gardeners go to elaborate lengths to keep their planted bulbs safe. Judging by the many beautiful displays of daffodils and other bulbs in local gardens each Spring, most bulbs do seem to survive, coming back year after year as “heralds of Spring”.
Mixing in a balanced fertilizer when planting can be beneficial, but there is no real scientific evidence that adding extra potassium to the planting holes will promote better blooms.
A fun planting technique is to toss out a handful of bulbs and plant them where they Fall. This approximates how these plants grow together in more natural settings. You can find special bulb planting tools to help you with digging the holes, often making the work much easier.
Once bulbs have finished blooming in Spring, wait until the leaves have completely dried before removing them. This allows the plant to make the nutrients it needs to store again for the following year's bloom. Some gardeners like to plant fast-growing annuals over their bulbs, or plant bulbs among perennials with Spring growth that will hide the drying bulb leaves and flower stalks.
Blue-eyed or yellow-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium), which grows from a corm, is easy to cultivate and establishes quickly, producing lovely violet-blue or yellow star-shaped flowers atop flowering stems. They are a member of the iris family and will readily spread if given some moisture.
Native bulbs are well-adapted to California's climate and growing regions and are especially beautiful when used in gardens and wildflower meadows that feature native plants.
The main requirements for growing bulbs, corms, and rhizomes include a cool, wet winter with little hard frost, well-drained soil, fairly deep planting and, most critically, total dryness all summer to avoid rotting. Native plant gardeners have had luck growing them in containers as well as the ground but some of these might need several growing seasons before you see your first blooms. If you are planting Fall bulbs to begin with, then you are already a patient gardener!
Planting Fall bulbs isn't simply a garden task, it's a gesture of hope and testament to nature's resilience. You are investing in the beauty of the future. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a novice with a newfound passion for these plants, this simple act of tucking them into the earth, hidden away until they burst forth in Spring, is a connection to nature's cycles of life and renewal.
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 or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.
Each year, the U.S. throws away between 30% and 40% of the food produced for human consumption (over $161 billion worth). Roughly 20% of the total volume of waste sent to landfills is food. If you have tended a vegetable garden, then you are probably well aware of the amount of water, labor and money that is required to produce your food. And, while it is certainly commendable to compost your food and plant scraps, reducing the waste is even better. All too often, vegetable plants are harvested for just one of their many plant parts- whether it be the leaves (e.g. lettuce), the roots (e.g. carrots), the flowers (e.g. broccoli), or the seeds (e.g. beans). But many plants have more than one edible plant part. Grape vines and beetroots are perhaps the best-known examples of such multi-use plants, as the leaves of both are useful edibles.
Often times, a recipe will leave you with a heaping pile of scraps. And while you can continually freeze these scraps until you have enough to make a rich broth, this isn't the only option. Apple peels and cores can be simmered with water in order to create home-made pectin. If you are stumped as to how to use the tough ribs of Swiss chard, try making a gratin, or steam and puree the ribs with lemon and tahini for a refreshing middle-eastern style hummus. For a richer snack, leftover potato peels can be fried in bacon grease.
Many of the flowers you may find in your garden are edible. Pansies, marigolds (especially Tagetes tenuifolia), roses, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), tuberous begonias, and pineapple guava flowers all make beautiful and tasty complements to salads, ice cubes, and butter. Even the pesky dandelions in your yard can be of value: both the leaves and flowers can be eaten raw or cooked (or, for a true culinary adventure, try making dandelion wine!). Elderflowers (the flowers of elderberries) can also be used to make wine, as well as infused vinegars and liqueurs.
Both the leaves and flowers of nasturtiums add a peppery punch to any dish, but perhaps the most impressive use of the nasturtium is the pickling of young seeds in order to make “poor man's capers.”
While many plants have multiple edible parts, do keep in mind that not every part of every plant is edible. Always consult a reliable source before eating anything unknown. And remember, when life gives you lemons… don't throw away the peel!
Learn more about the many alternative uses of plants, specifically plants harvested in the wild, by attending the Master Gardeners' workshop on Wild Crafting (Monday, November 20), the final workshop in the Master Gardeners' Fall Workshop Series. For more information, and to register, visit our website. All workshops are free, but registration is required.
Do you have an undeveloped garden area you'd like to turn into a landscape that grows native plants and supplies habitat and food for pollinators? Perhaps you'd like to do most of the work yourself, but have no idea where to start? There is lots of information available about planting for pollinators, selecting appropriate native and water-wise plants, and creating a garden space that reflects one's personal style, but it is easy to get overwhelmed and miss the bigger picture.
Once the area is defined, designers can suggest plants that fit your growing zone, water needs and other requirements, your goals for using (or viewing) the space over time as the plants grow, and help you incorporate your “wish list” of favorite plants and/or plants with sentimental associations. For most people, this is where the fun really begins. Visiting nurseries and demonstration gardens, walking around neighborhoods, greenbelts and botanical gardens, even just scrolling through online resources, can inspire and inform.
In addition to starting with plants from nurseries or other sources, consider sowing seeds. There are many benefits to sowing seeds yourself. Seeds for annual flowering plants can provide quick color and interest and attract pollinating flower-visitors the first spring. And seeds are generally inexpensive, easy to start, and, in many cases, will self-sow year after year. Once they become established, you should be able to move some of the plants you've initially grown from seed to other parts of the garden.
Be aware that there can be some difficulties encountered when planting seeds, but none of the potential pitfalls are insurmountable. If the rains don't come often enough, your seeds may need supplemental water to get them started. Do not plant seeds too deeply or not deeply enough (follow packet instructions carefully). Sometimes it is hard to tell a seedling you want from a weed you don't: you can learn to identify your seedlings by sowing some in a pot, labeling them and then comparing them to your garden seedlings as they grow (don't forget to keep these potted seedlings moist as well).
Most flowering plants sown or planted in fall will bloom March through July, giving you beauty and color while also attracting pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
When you are planting an area for more than interest or color but also as habitat, consider plants that produce berries or fruits as well as flowers, and plants that will bloom throughout the growing season and into fall. If you are including trees and shrubs in your plan, consider their location in respect to structures and the eventual shade they will provide as they grow taller and wider, and the upkeep they may require (like pruning or cutting to the ground after bloom time). Here again is where a garden designer can give you guidance from their extensive experience with suitable plants.
Resources:
Climate Appropriate Plants for the Northern California Landscape
CalScape, a website by the California Native Plant Socieity
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 or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.
Located between playing fields and pickleball courts along a popular bikeway into the main CSU Chico campus, the Biological Sciences Greenhouse is a state-of-the-art botanical and agricultural research facility. Over 1500 species of plants, including a collection of exotic and rare plants from around the world, are housed here in two buildings that are climate and light controlled. At a combined 6000 square feet, the Greenhouse provides classroom and working areas as well as growing space for its carefully curated plant collection.
The first thing you notice when you enter the main conservatory building [O2] is the temperature. There are three distinct rooms, each representing habitats found throughout the natural world. Spiny, thorny cacti and succulents, crowd-pleasing carnivorous plants, and rare specimens like the odd, ancient Welwitschia mirabilis from Africa are found in the first room, along with other species that grow best in dryer, warmer conditions. Every part of the space is in use: plants grow on benches and up walls, hang from the ceiling, and trail along wires strung overhead. Tall, tree-sized specimens tower over other plants which taper down in size to the very smallest non-flowering plants such as mosses and liverworts (bryophytes).
Stepping into the third growing room is like taking a trip to the tropics: warm, humid, rainy and misty. Here are wonderfully-scented orchids, lush tropical fruit trees and vibrantly colored flowers, in addition to plants thriving in small containers filled with water. A recent addition is a species of fern known to have the largest frond in the world, a gift from the CSU San Francisco greenhouse. Future plans for this space include incorporating a small pond with a waterfall.
The star attraction here might well be the fascinating and unique Amorphophallus titanum, a member of the Arum plant family. A very large plant, it will produce a single, huge leaf that can grow to twenty feet tall. Eventually a flower spike emerges, rapidly reaching 10-15 feet within a few weeks. This is the Corpse Flower, famous for its strong smell of rotting flesh, its striking appearance, and the fact that it only blooms every few years[O3] . The odor attracts insects that then pollinate the plant. The bloom typically fades away after 24 hours. CSUC's Corpse Flower is currently forming its flower stalk. Shaine suggests checking news outlets to learn when to drop by to see and smell this phenomenon!
Shaine says that the most important common denominator for all of the plants he curates is the soil or, more precisely, the growing medium.
“Growing plants in greenhouses is a different challenge than growing them in your home garden”, he explains. “Everything needs a high quality, loose, fast-draining mix that is considered “soilless” or compost-free. It's also important to use soil that won't decompose, in order to avoid creating an environment for rot and odors.”
Nutrients are added to the water in amounts which allow frequent feeding. This encourages healthy roots that favor plant growth. Additionally, pruning and keeping plants in smaller containers allows Shaine to grow larger species than the space might otherwise allow.
Another challenge is pest control. Pests can rapidly move through the greenhouses, damaging plants that are expensive and sometimes rare. When pests are found, Shaine starts simply, by hand picking, washing, or wiping them off. If necessary, he'll shift to biological controls: for example, he recently released a predatory mite that devoured not only the damaging mite species he wanted to control, but another pest (thrips) as well. Maximizing the plant's health by re-potting or feeding and changing its environment can also solve some problems. Spider mites can be eliminated, for instance, by moving plants from a dry area to a moister one, because these pests don't survive in moist or wet conditions. The greenhouse is an enclosed space, so treating plants systemically with a pesticide is an option, but it is an option Shaine prefers to avoid whenever possible.
Opening up this green world to share his passion and to educate more people is one of Shaine's goals. He encourages visitors or tours and loves to show you his latest exciting plant “find.” If you are interested in viewing a plant that can eventually live for over 1,000 years, or one that digests insects for nutrients, or another that shoots up one fantastic, smelly flower every few years, consider making a foray to the CSU Chico Biological Sciences Greenhouses. For more information and to arrange a visit, contact Shaine Hill at smhill@csuchico.edu.
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 or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.
“Gardening becomes increasingly difficult as we age, yet the garden beckons as strongly as ever,” notes Butte County Master Gardener Kay Perkins. Our bodies become less limber and agile, and more prone to injury, which makes tasks such as pulling weeds, pushing wheel-barrows, digging holes, pruning, hauling, and moving heavy objects ever more challenging with advancing years.
Many of the workshop topics are developed from the content of Sydney Eddison's Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older (Timber Press, 2013). Eddison is the author of six previous books on gardening, and was awarded the National Garden Clubs, Inc.'s Award of Excellence in 2010.
For over 50 years, Eddison (who was born in 1932) was an aficionado of time-consuming gardening choices: "It took a great deal of effort to make my garden as high-maintenance as it is….That was the point of it all” she writes. Then a bothersome hip replacement put a damper on her garden activities, one of which was "digging great big holes and moving plants around all the time.” Refusing to give up the gardening she loved, she began researching low-maintenance garden techniques. Those discussed at the workshop are explained below. A list of suggested tools and plants can be found at the end of this article.
Choose compact or dwarf varieties of popular shrubs (such as buddleia) that need pruning only one or two times a year. Shrubs that produce berries add a splash of bright color to gray winter days, and provide a source of food to overwintering and migrating bird species. Eddison is a fan of conifers because they offer year-round color and variegated foliage texture, and also add structural interest in the form of cones, globes, and mounds. But choose wisely and think carefully before planting shrubs as they are more difficult to move than perennials.
List, list, list: Making lists saves time, reduces aggravation, and increases organization and efficiency. Take the time to develop a Master List and a Daily List. The Master List should contain all garden tasks, large or small, organized by season and species (such as tree, shrub, or perennial), prioritized by importance. Your list may seem daunting and impossibly long at first, but Eddison promises that you will be surprised by how many of these tasks you will be able to accomplish. Nothing beats the satisfaction of crossing a task off the list for that season.
The Daily List is developed from the Master List and should be realistic for the time you can allot to the garden on any given day, and for your abilities. This list should also indicate if the task is essential or aesthetic in nature. These lists can help you keep from getting distracted or pulled in different directions by the garden's demands. If you are lucky enough to have a helper in for the day, a list for your helper will save him or her time.
Speaking of Being Realistic: Gardens are only perfect in catalogs and (perhaps) for a short and finite window of time in our own yards. Learn to accept imperfections, and understand that plants are always in a state of “becoming.” Leave some dead leaves under shrubs to serve as mulch that will enrich your soil. Allow grass clippings to remain on the lawn, to sink in and feed the grass. By the way, whatever it is, if it's kept short and green – viola! - it's a lawn.
Realize which plants have grown beyond your ability to manage. Decide whether to 1) continue to invest time and money into them; 2) give them a brutal pruning to see if that revives them; or 3) remove and replace them. The hardest friends to remove are the old landscape trees which have contributed shade and beauty to the garden over many years. If one must go, don't be too quick to replace it – you may find the increased sun allows new landscape opportunities and that you enjoy the newly-opened space.
Before you move on to the following lists of ergonomic tools and plants to consider for your garden, ponder Eddison's sage advice for the aging gardener: “Our best hope of a simpler way to garden is to follow nature and learn to go with the flow.”
Ergonomic Tools and Tool Suppliers: Loppers and pruners with soft grips; ratchet loppers and pruners; pole saws with extension handles; lightweight durable ultra-flexible kink-free garden hoses such as those made by Zero-G; digging and weeding tools such as those made by Radius Garden tools; hori hori knives; short- and long-handled weeders; shovels with U-handles; kneeling pads and benches; rolling seats; aprons with deep pockets.
Battery-Operated Tools: Blowers, hedge trimmers, lawn mowers, weed whackers, hand spreaders.
Other Tips: Use lightweight containers or rolling carts for hauling; plant in raised beds; use a pool siphon for cleaning ponds and water features; keep a cell phone or whistle with you when gardening; take frequent breaks to stand and stretch; stay hydrated.
For More Information: www.gardeners.com; www.patriot-products-inc.com; www.radiusgarden.com; www.garden.org/learn/articles
List of Easy-Care Plants for Butte County (compiled by Dana Drennan, UC Master Gardener of Butte County)
Shrubs: Callistemon (bottlebrush); Cercis (redbud); Chaenomeles (flowering quince); Cistus (rock rose); Cotinus (smoke tree or smoke bush); Dodonaea (hop bush); Grevillea; Echium; Lavandula (bush lavender); Osmanthus (sweet olive); Prostanthera (mint bush).
Perennials: Achillea (yarrow); Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw); Caryopteris (Bluebeard); Epilobium (California fuchsia); Hemerocallis (day lily); Iris (see below); Origanum (oregano); Nepeta (cat mint); Perovskia (Russian sage); Salvias; Solidago (golden rod); Teucrium (Germander); Westringia (Coast rosemary); grasses such as Bouteloua, Carex, Muhlenbergia, and Stipa.
List of Lower-Maintenance Perennials (compiled by Eddison)
Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Agastache “Blue Fortune”, ornamental grasses, Liriope, Boltonia asteroides “snowbank”, Amsonia, Aster 'Raydon's Favorite', lamb's ears, Siberian iris, and daylilies.
For more information about the Gardening for a Lifetime workshop and all the other workshops in the Master Gardeners' 2023 Fall Workshop Series, visit our website. All workshops are free, but registration is required.
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 or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.