By Rainer Hoenicke

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) biologist, Jennifer Kubel, presented a webinar on August 26, 2020, on agricultural and horticultural practices that could benefit Monarch butterflies. As many of us know by now, the western population has declined drastically by more than 90% since the 1980s. What can landowners do to help? That was the key topic of the webinar. While the intended audience was mostly agricultural producers that operate on much larger scales than horticulturalists and hobby gardeners, many of the conservation practices are applicable even at small scales.

Key factors related to the decline of Monarchs are overwintering habitat loss along the coast, breeding and migratory habitat loss, as well as direct and indirect pesticide impacts. Master Gardeners can certainly contribute to spreading the word about applicable practices that can reverse at least two of the key factors of butterfly declines. The information resources that NRCS offers via the agency's website are immense. Many of them are on platforms that are map-based and interactive, such as e-Veg Guide at www.calflora.org/nrcs. That guide can show the various plants and their blooming times that benefit Monarchs during their migration times. The NRCS also has easily accessible technical guides with information about the conservation of soil, water, air, and related plant and animal resources (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/?cid=nrcs143_026849). Each conservation practice is listed alphabetically and by number. Jennifer provided a brief overview of each applicable practice, among them Wildlife Habitat Planting and Conservation Cover (#420 and #327, respectively), Hedgerow Planting (#422), and Restoration of Rare or Declining Natural Communities (#643). Certain trees and shrubs can provide year-round beneficial monarch habitat for nectar, shelter, shade, and roosting. Coyotebush, e.g., is an important nectar plant from late summer through winter. If concerned about seed spread, you can buy male plants only at nurseries.

She also discussed direct and indirect pesticide impacts on Monarchs. The current generation of extensively used insecticides, called neo-nicotineoids (or “neonics”), have been detected in plant tissues at concentrations that can impact feeding larvae and contribute to their already high mortality rates (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.00162/full ).

Neonics degrade only slowly, with a half-life of up to 280 days in soil (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Half-life-in-Soil-of-Neonicotinoids_tbl1_233795128).

An example of indirect pesticide application impacts is that of applying broad-spectrum weed killers that milkweed species are particularly sensitive to (e.g. Roundup).

Jennifer also listed the native California milkweed species and their bloom times. Asclepias californica and A. cordifolia are early-blooming species, unlike the more commercially available species of showy and narrow-leaf milkweeds that bloom mid- to late-season. Asclepias cordifolia and A. eriocarpa are extremely tolerant of dry, rocky terrain and can survive the dry season without irrigation just fine. The Xerces Society has a milkweed seed-finder on their website, in case you want to create your own milkweed patch in your back yard or get one established in your sidewalk strip, instead of that thirsty Dichondra lawn (https://www.xerces.org/milkweed/milkweed-seed-finder).

Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: public domain

 

 

 

 

 

by Melody Kendall

Finished labyrinth

Labyrinths have been around for centuries.  They are not designed like a maze to confuse and confine, but are created to be open and straightforward.  Labyrinths are meandering and often unicursal: (a new word for me) being composed entirely of a single continuous path or line. The participant goes in and comes out using the same path.  When walking this path, the idea is to use each step to clear your mind, meditate and reduce your stress level. By the time you reach the middle you should be centered, your anxieties calmed and your life back in balance.  On the return trip all these steps are reinforced so that when you come out of the labyrinth you are ready to face the world again.

I have been intrigued by meditation labyrinths for years and when we recently redid our backyard landscape, I was determined to include one in our design.  First, I had to decide on what size and shape I wanted.  Researching my options was confusing as there are so many patterns and sizes available.  Finally, my husband suggested that I draw out a plan for the entire landscape redo and see what size and shape labyrinth would fit best in the new landscape plans.  

After much crumpled paper and piles of eraser shavings, I came up with a labyrinth plan that not only fit into the new landscape design, but would be big enough to use as an additional seating area for relaxation. 

The pattern I chose was my interpretation of the classic Chartres Labyrinth which is circular in shape with a path that bends back on itself multiple times, eventually reaching the center.  The labyrinth area in the design plan called for a twelve foot diameter circle.  To do that I pounded a stake in the center of the labyrinth area and loosely tied a six foot length of string to the stake (picture 1).  Using a pointed stick tied to the other end of the string, I used the stake and the string as a compass to draw a circle, keeping the string taut while walking around the stake in a circle.  Then I stood back and looked at the circle scratched in the soil.  I redid this process three or four times until the location of the circle fit perfectly in the landscape.

We wanted the entire installation to be permeable so that the rain water would soak in rather than runoff. Decomposed granite (DG) was our material of choice.  To help maintain the edges we used a metal landscape border sunk two inches into the ground with four inches above ground as a barrier around the circle (picture 2).  Then we filled this four-inch-deep circle with two inches of blue rock and compacted it using a roller and hand tamper (picture 3).  We had a circle with a radius of six feet, so divided the circle into three concentric two-foot-deep circles to accommodate the paths.  We used the string and stake method by shortening the string two feet each time we drew a circle.  As the edge was the outside of a circle and the center was the inside we only needed to go around twice (picture 4). We then removed the wooden stake from the center and placed a special stepping stone in the exact center of the circle. 

Photo 4

I had created a colorful mosaic stepping stone for the center of the labyrinth by tiling one side of an existing round stepping stone (picture 5).

The stones for the final design of the paths were laid directly on the blue rock. We used various surplus stepping stones we had on hand and some art projects from our grandkids to create the meandering path to the center (picture 6).  This was quite the process as just when we thought we had it, we realized that the way the stones were laid out the path would not reach the center, or that they were too close together so the path was confusing.  Naturally we chose the hottest day of the year to do this. I can say without exaggeration that tempers certainly weren't conducive to meditation at this point, but a concise and clear path was finally created.

The finishing component was the decomposed granite.  Thankfully, we had ordered the DG product with a stabilizer so when we discovered that you could not compact DG when stepping stones are involved, watering down the entire installation worked quite well (picture 7). 

I could hardly wait for the area to dry to try out our new meditation labyrinth.  A fellow MG asked what size the labyrinth was, I told her that it was twelve feet in diameter, but that I thought maybe I should have made it larger – when I completed the circuit I was dizzy.  Another MG pointed out that the point of the meditation labyrinth was to take it slow and I might try decelerating and being mindful of the process rather than making it a race. 

Who knew that this crazy world situation would happen and that, as luck would have it, I would have the perfect vehicle to shed the stress and conflict right in my backyard?  

Believe me, I have been making use of my new meditation labyrinth and taking the good advice of slowing down and quieting my mind while doing so. And, when summer returns, I will have this area for additional sitting area in my landscape to use as a reading nook. 

 

Information links:

The Labyrinth Society https://labyrinthsociety.org/make-a-labyrinth

Veriditas.org https://www.veriditas.org/

Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: Mel Kendall

 

 

by Cindy Watter

A few years ago I thought about taking out a large, messy, non-edible-fruit-producing tree—a hawthorn (Crataegus)—in my backyard. It didn't seem to have much function beyond providing so much shade that it inhibited my vegetable garden. However, after studying the hawthorn, I realized it was a useful tree and kept it.

The hawthorn is attractive, with its shiny green leaves. It has white blossoms in the spring, red berries in late summer and fall, and multicolored autumn foliage.  The leaves are about two and a half inches long, oval in shape, with lobes, rather like a tiny oak leaf.  When they fall, I rake them into piles and let them stay there. They turn into natural mulch, supporting microorganisms and gradually decaying. Of course, I put some in the compost bin, too.

The hawthorne's main purpose, however, is to provide habitat and food for birds.  Sparrows, robins, mockingbirds and chickadees all eat the berries in the winter, when other foods are scarce. They also enjoy sitting in the branches, singing, and some will build nests there in the spring.  My hawthorn tree is home to several birds, and they added to the sociable atmosphere during this last COVID summer, when human visitors were rare.

The hawthorn is part of the rose family, and is native to Europe, Asia, and North America (temperate regions only). The English varieties are easy to grow and very popular here. Hawthorns do not require much care once they are established, beyond a pruning now and then. Mine is quite tall because I neglected that part, but the birds don't care. The fruits (called "haws" in England) look like tiny red apples and I have seen birds swallow them whole.   

Hawthorns are difficult to propagate from seed, but do throw out shoots that can be replanted.  Local nurseries sell hawthorns. They should be planted in full sun, and fertilized in the spring. They do require some water the first year or so, and during unusual stretches of hot dry weather, like any tree. Mulch helps retain moisture. Mine is over forty years old and is thriving. 

I have seen hawthorns grown as shrubs and hedges in Europe. About thirty years ago, the City of Napa planted more street trees, and instead of the ubiquitous liquidambar, inserted some hawthorns in my neighborhood. They are pretty and support the avian population.

Information links: 

Cal poly selectree https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/crataegus-autumn-glory 

National Wildlife Federation https://www.nwf.org/

Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: Cindy Watter

 

Cynthia Kerson

I worked hard to grow veggies from seed for this year's spring and fall plantings. While I do a fine job of bringing starters to full production with little loss, I can only rarely get seeds to cooperate. I have an area in my garage set up with heat pads and grow lights. I buy good seeds and planting soil. I put the seeds into their little compartments. I water, turn the lights on and off as directed and monitor the soil temperature. And still failed miserably again this year.

My miserable failures are depressing. I don't like to kill anything – well maybe an obnoxious carnivorous wasp, even then with feelings of guilt for removing them from their place in the ecology of my garden. The two seasons I tried growing from seed, fall '19 and spring '20, I was able to grow only 10 plants from the about 100 seeds I tried to nurture. Those 10 plants took an elevated position in the garden as they were my “first born.” But, half of them died within a week of getting them into the ground. Of those that did survive, my favorite was the Cosmonaut Volkov heirloom tomato with its red and green striped skin and green tiger-mottled insides and a flavor to die for. I made salads, ate them raw with Maldon salt, made sauce and roasted them. I couldn't get enough.

And while I revel in that one success, I am saddled with the loss of all the rest. Last winter, I seeded cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, beets, and sunflowers for this spring and summer. In addition to the tomatoes, the sunflowers were the only other success!

Here's how I lost all those the ‘lil buggers:

• Seedlings grew out of the seedling mix – cutest little cotyledons. I transplanted them too soon. I learned after that I have to wait for the first real leaves to appear.
• Seedlings were spindly. Okay, so I forgot to turn the lights on a few days.
• Overwatering. Underwatering. Inconsistent watering. . .
• Heating mats heated the soil to almost 90*. Most seed instructions say 55*-75*.
• I planted outdoors too soon. I even tented the seedlings. But alas, they still perished.
• Planted outdoors so soon they had no recourse to whatever pests came their way.
• I used the heat mat and lights for fall seeds when I should have taken advantage of the natural light and heat of August and September.

So here I am at trial 3 of parenting seedlings and literally ending up with about four beet plants in one container, which I planted in the ground last week. They died within three days. I tried a few varieties each of beets, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli. So, the summer's tomatoes while still my “first born,” are also my only children. Thank goodness for the resources we have here in Napa to buy starters or my veggie beds would be bare. I'm not giving up; any resources or advice is very welcomed here.

Information links

UCMG San Mateo/SF http://smsf-mastergardeners.ucanr.edu/Elkus/Cool-climate_tomato_trials/

UC IPM Tomato http://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/tomato/index.html

Sunflower http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FLOWERS/sunflower.html

Cotyledons http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/C116/m116hscpestdamage.html

Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143.  Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.

Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.

Photo credits: Oledd, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons