By Melody Kendall

As a youth I was very active in the local 4-H program. Once, while contemplating a title for my presentation I would enter in the 4-H Demonstration Day, my Dad piped up from the other room, ‘How about…Spring has sprung, the grass has riz and here we is'?  I laughed, but as I recall my Mom wasn't amused at his grammar.  I really don't remember what I ended up calling the presentation.

Saturday, March 20^th, 2021 was the first day of Spring, so these photos of my spring garden is for you, Dad, because spring has definitely sprung.

After winter months with the only color in my garden coming from the bright red Heavenly Bamboo Nandina domestica berries and some volunteer Field Marigold Calendula arvensis, which I have since learned is considered an invasive plant,

I was ready for a change.

First up were some crocus bulbs that I hadn't remembered I planted and my variegated Daphne Odora blooming and filling the area with a lovely fragrance.

Next the grape hyacinth and my Cape balsam Bulbine frutescens showed their colors.

My Camellia and Azaleas had bountiful, beautiful blooms and the Daffodils stood tall and bright. 

I had planted some ranunculus and Poppy anemone bulbs and they put on quite a show.

Along the north side of the garden is a free form area containing Sparaxis and California Poppies. A friend gave me the poppy seeds and I broadcast them and walked away.  Quite a lovely display for virtually no work don't you think?  

And, this is just the beginning. I'm trying some tulips, allium is ready to pop and even the roses are getting into the show.

Now my bougainvillea is leafing out, oriental poppy seeds are sprouting and my variegated Dogwood has little green leaf tufts at the ends of all its branches. 

Everything is showing so much promise.  Each day when I walk in my garden I feel rejuvenated, alive and hopeful for the future.  It's hard not to when so much life abounds all around me. My garden is truly a gift, a retreat where I can recharge and gain a positive outlook for what the future holds.

Thanks, Dad, for the inspiration to create this pictorial to share my garden.

Information links:

UC IPM

Heavenly Bamboo http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/nandina.html

Camellia http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/camellia.html

Azalea http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r280110211.html

UC ANR blog-Spring Bulbs https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=22522

Invasive plants atlas-Field Marigold https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=22378

USDA-Plant profile-common grape hyacinth https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MUBO

UC Davis Arboretum-Cape Balsam https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant/cape-balsam

UCMG Santa Clara County-Sparaxis tricolor

http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/water-wise-plants/full-plant-list/?uid=99&ds=833

Pacific bulb society-Allium https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/AllAlliums

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 Dianne Weyna

Having a lot of time on my hands, I've decided to change part of my front yard to a native garden.  I want to use less water, encourage pollinators and attract and feed more birds.  I began by clearing the center of my garden by taking out a lilac bush and a large rose bush. This left plants at both ends of my garden and around the edges, many of which are existing native plants.

I visited the Martha Walker Native Habitat Garden in Skyline park and while it is winter and most plants were not in all their glory, I was able to see plant markers to make a list of plants that interested me.  If they are growing there, I am hoping they will grow in my yard.

I made a grid of my garden area after watching an excellent video from the Master Gardeners on planning a pollinator garden.  I calculated the square footage I have for new plants, identified almost all the plants I have and decided which ones I will move or remove.   

 My garden is west facing, receiving mid-day sun with shade in the morning and late afternoon with plantable space of 134 square feet.  Knowing pollinators like groups of plants, my design will be to add to the natives I already have. Yarrow, dudleya and California fuchsia (Epilobium canum) will be the major groupings. Pollinators need a variety of plants, but I am unable to add too many more different species.  My street space has a well-established eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), which attracts bees in the spring with many pink flowers along the stems, and a Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum), which attracts bees in the spring with its white smelly flowers and birds in the fall with red berries.  

To prepare the new garden area I've placed cardboard on the ground and added soil on top. Happily, the rain is finally here that are soaking the soil and cardboard.  This will help ready the area for planting by May, in time for spring and the California Native Plant Society plant sale. 

A manzanita shrub has already been transplanted from another area where it wasn't doing too well and placed in my new garden where it will get more sun. Santa Barbara daisies(UC Davis All-star plant) are in a lot of areas, very easy to grow and help to shade early plantings.  I'll select plants that are drought tolerant, like full sun to partial shade and will not grow too large. 

The plants I am considering are:

Western columbine (Aquilegia formosa), a perennial, small and mounding, needs sun to part sun and some water and/ or 

Serpentine columbine (A. eximia) another possible choice and another UC Davis all-star.   

Western dog violet (Viola adunca), attracts silver spot butterfly and can be full sun to partial shade and partially dry.  

Yellow eyed grass, (Sisyrinchium californicum) full to part sun and moderate water.  

Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana) a purple iris that grows short and self-spreads. 

Penstemon Margarita BOP (Penstemon heterophyllus), another UC Davis all-star grows 1-3 feet tall, likes clay soil, is perennial and likes sun.  

Golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum) to add to my other yarrows.  

I may also grow buckwheat (Eriogoinum fasciculatam), California rose (Rosa californica) and milkweed (Asclepias california or A. tuberosa). Tropical milkweed should NOT be grown (A. curassavica), which is dangerous for the Monarch butterfly.  I would also like a bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons). 

Here is more information I garnered from various websites:  Gardening with native plants, US forest service, fs.fed.us.  Why native plants matter, Audubon.org has a “find your bird friendly plant” guide that you can put in your zip code and get a list of plants that attract birds.  Calscape, California native plant gardening guide. 

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: Creative Commons 2.0; Jane Callier, Silver Bush Lupine

Information links:

California Native Plant Society  https://www.cnps.org/gardening

Audubon Society-Native plant database  https://www.audubon.org/native-plants

US Forest Service-Native Plants https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/index.shtml

Calscape-Garden planner  https://gardenplanner.calscape.org/

UC Davis Arboretum https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/blog/creating-diy-pollinator-garden

https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant-database

Martha Walker Gardens Skyline Park Napa  https://skylinepark.org/park-info/martha-walker-gardens/

Lasagna or layer composting https://afghanag.ucdavis.edu/irrigation-natural-resource/files/soil-lasagna-composting.pdf

UCMG Napa County-Step by Step Garden Design  http://napamg.ucanr.edu/GardenDesign/

 

by Julie Pramuk

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: Julie Pramuk

Resources:

UC IPM

sweet peas http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FLOWERS/sweetpea.html

Weed management http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7441.html

Mulches http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/ENVIRON/mulches.html

UCMG Solano County-Tree Collards https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=20042

UCMG San Joaquin-definition of Perennials https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=15639

Missouri Botanical Garden-Pincushion plant

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=f490

Calscape-California Poppy https://calscape.org/Eschscholzia-californica-(California-Poppy)

 

by Melody Kendall

We have an oddly shaped lot with two fences. One is a normal six-foot tall neighbor-friendly fence. The other is six feet of fencing atop a four-foot retaining wall (that side of our yard is lower than the adjoining lot) creating a ten foot tall barrier fence. We have espaliered evergreen climbing vines along both fences to add color and privacy. Originally, we planted a lavender trumpet vine (Clytostoma callistegioides) on the neighbor-friendly fence and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) on the raised fence.  Both were slow and steady growers that required no more than three trimmings a year, once each spring, mid-summer and late fall. 

About five years ago the star jasmine on the raised fence started to decline and within a year most of the plants had died back. We did some research, but could never pinpoint what caused the plants to die off. Most of the information we could find said that the star jasmine plant is pretty tough and trouble free. 

Not liking the views through the boards into our neighbor's yard the bare fence provided us, we looked for a fast-growing evergreen vine to fill in the area quickly. The potato vine (Solanum jasminoides) was our choice. The information on this vine said it was fast growing and evergreen; both attributes which fit perfectly into our criteria.  Little did we know that when the word ‘fast' was stated in the ‘growth rate' part of the description, the writer was being conservative.  The vine grew very rapidly and covered the fence in short order.  The downside is we now have to prune it back about twice a month for most of the year. It does slow down in the winter months, but not by much. 

It's been some time since I realized that getting up on a ladder wasn't such a good idea. My husband and I have an agreement that when either of us does get up on a ladder we notify each other, not to catch the other person if they fall, but to be aware and check on the climber periodically.  My husband likes to say, “Don't try to catch me, because then who would call 911?”

Since the potato vine grows on the raised fence and requires regular pruning, I found that I was up on a ladder quite a bit and it was becoming harder and harder to manage. Two years ago, I decided enough was enough. We cut the six-foot tall potato vine down to three feet and installed lattice above it to create the privacy we wanted.  Now I can stand on the ground and manage the still vigorous vine without a ladder.

Today the fence looks great with the three-foot tall green foliage and white/purple flowers running along the retaining wall with the lattice above it creating the perfect screen.  Also, I now use a battery-operated hedge trimmer to save my neck and shoulders from getting tired from all that hand clipping.  No more ladders.

My opinion: potato vine is a great filler, grows fast and loves to climb, but be warned this plant grows exuberantly and knows no boundaries.

Information links:

Lavender Trumpet Vine https://www.monrovia.com/lavender-trumpet-vine.html

Star Jasmine https://www.monrovia.com/star-jasmine.html

Potato Vine https://www.monrovia.com/potato-vine.html

https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/5089http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

 

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