- Author: Denise Seghesio Levine
In the coldest days of winter we can all use a little splash of color in the garden. This month your nursery or garden center should have plenty of bedding plants to fill the bill. Look for upright, colorful primroses in bold, primary colors; mischievous-faced pansies in yellows and blues; and delicate Iceland poppies in translucent salmon, pink, white and yellow.
The word primula is the Latin feminine diminutive of primus, meaning first (prime), and is applied to flowers that are among the first to open in spring.
Primroses (Primula vulgaris) do well in Napa Valley, bringing color to our grayest season. They thrive in the winter chill. While many varieties of primrose bloom through spring and summer, the English, Chinese and fairy primroses are especially good choices for winter.
The flower stalks of primroses shoot up from low, ground-hugging rosettes of thick green leaves. Whether the stocky English variety or the more ethereal-looking fairy type, most primroses bloom for weeks.
Primroses will grow in shady, damp parts of the garden that might thwart other flowers. Try them on the north side of the house or under deciduous trees. They appreciate sun in the spring but do better in shade when the summer heat hits.
Primulas prefer slightly acid soil rich in organic compost or leaf mulch. Most varieties require well-drained soil, but there are exceptions: Helodoxa, Bulleyana and Beesiana will grow in relatively wet soil, and Florindae and japonica will even thrive in wet, boggy spots.
When you buy primroses, choose plants that still have unopened blossoms. These will grow vigorously when you set them out in well-dug soil amended with compost or leaf mulch. Primroses are easy to transplant, but beware: some gardeners develop itchy dermatitis after transplanting primroses. Pull out the gloves for this chore.
Space primulas six to eight inches apart, and plant so that the crown is even with the soil. Mulch and water well. Primulas are usually pest free, although slugs and snails can do some damage.
Perky-faced pansies (Viola tricolor) in a multitude of colors make wonderful bedding and container plants for winter. Pansies and their cousins, violets and violas, are perennials but are normally grown as annuals or biennials because they tend to get leggy after one season.
Pansy "faces" are made up of five flat petals: two top, two side and one lower petal. Typically, each flower exhibits two or three colors. The side and bottom petals often have contrasting veins radiating from the center of the bloom, teasing the imagination into seeing perky little faces. For gardens designed to delight youngsters, pansies, violets and violas are essential components. They create magical habitats and memories that last.
Pansies grow successfully in a well-drained, sunny spot. Bring home six-packs or flats and plant them directly in the garden. Pansies normally grow about nine inches high with most blossoms measuring two to three inches across.
Pansies look great planted in mass in a bed, or in flower pots or containers on porches and decks where you can see their cheery faces up close. Never overwater pansies, but if rain is not keeping the ground moist, give them a good soak once a week.
As for Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicaule), they do best in cool weather. They grow about a foot tall with cream, white, pink, red, salmon, orange or rose-colored papery petals on tall, leafless stems.
Plant Iceland poppies carefully as their roots do not appreciate being disturbed. Make sure the crown is just slightly below the soil surface to avoid rot. Water weekly if rain is scarce.
Iceland poppies make wonderful cut flowers, and a handful can make a whimsical bouquet. Your poppies will bloom more prolifically if you pick them often. Iceland poppies will stop blooming when the weather gets hot, so enjoy the winter color and their frilly blossoms indoors and out.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners (http://napamg.ucanr.edu) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4221, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?
- Author: by Denise Seghesio Levine, U. C. Master Gardener
If you still need a paper calendar for 2013 and you cherish the many oak trees that beautify Napa Valley, have I got a deal for you.
The Napa County Resource Conservation District, the Watershed Information Center and Conservancy of Napa County, and Friends of the Napa River have produced a beautiful, educational 2013 Watershed Awareness Calendar: “Preserving and Restoring the Oaks of Napa County.” This colorful guide gives an overview of the history of oaks, where to find them, what their impact on cultures has been, what other species they support, what threatens oaks and what we can do to protect them. It is instructive, lovely and free.
Some of our most talented local photographers have captured images of oaks, their habitats, their leaves and their acorns throughout the changing seasons.
The first page introduces you to the common oaks of Napa County, with clear photos of distinguishing leaves and acorns and descriptions of where each type grows. Armed with this calendar, you will be able to identify the valley oak (Quercus lobata), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), blue oak (Quercus douglassii), interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni), canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) and black oak (Quercus kelloggii).
The calendar's authors describe the state of our oak woodlands and why becoming more aware of our oaks is so important.
January's page starts with the Angwin Audubon Christmas Bird Count, already marked onto the square for January 1; and the Boy Scout Christmas Tree Collection the following weekend. The calendar is not only clear and easy to use, but also a wealth of information.
At the bottom of the first page is an introduction to Napa County oaks. I was surprised to learn that Napa County has the highest density of oaks of any county in California. In fact, 33 percent of our county is covered by oak woodlands.
On the February page, we learn that oak woodlands cover over 167,000 acres of Napa County. Mixed and coast live oaks are most prevalent in the southwest part of the county, while black oak woodlands are found in the Atlas Peak region and other higher elevations. The calendar describes where other oaks can be found, too.
The March page explores the history of oaks and the important role they played for earlier cultures that thrived in this area. The Wappo tribe, thought to be the sole inhabitants of the Napa Valley until the late 1700s, depended heavily on acorns from several oak species. Acorns were leached of their tannic acid and ground into flour, which was an important part of their diet. If you want to try cooking with acorns, check out this link where you can learn how to process these nuts. Then you can try some of the delicious acorn recipes on the site.
The April page digs deeper into oaks and their impact on cultures. In times past, people were drawn to oaks for a variety of reasons. The acorns provided food for them and their animals. The trees, often huge, provided welcome shade and protection for man and beast in summer. Because of their size and ability to be seen from long distances, oaks were often used as monuments and landmarks or boundary markers.
The May page looks at the habitat that oaks support. Oak woodlands nourish “at least 300 vertebrate species (including at least 120 mammal, 147 bird and 60 reptile and amphibian species); 1,100 plant species; 370 fungal species; and 5,000 arthropod species (insects and mites).” Yikes.
The June content explores a typical situation in Napa County: oaks and vineyards living in harmony. Oaks provide habitat for animals that keep vineyard pests at bay. And with this page on your wall, you won't forget Connelly Ranch Family Farm Day on June 15 or the Wine Country Truck and Tractor Pull on June 29.
The second half of the calendar is as handsome and informative as the first. An extensive listing of local resources on the back page is a bonus. Here you will find information and contact numbers for 19 agencies concerned with our environment, including the Land Trust, Audubon Society, Fish and Game, and the Napa County Master Gardeners.
To obtain a calendar, call the Natural Resource Conservation Service at 707-252-4188; Friends of the River at 707-254-8520; or the Watershed Information Center and Conservancy at 707-259-5936. The calendars are free, but donations are welcomed.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4221, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?
- Author: Denise Seghesio Levine
Time for last-minute holiday shopping, and if gardeners are on your list, you are in luck. Gardeners are some of the easiest people to shop for. There is always something a gardener can use.
Gardener-friendly finds range from tiny seed packets, garden clogs and bare-root roses to big-ticket items like greenhouses. So if you are still pondering last-minute gifts, consider some of these for inside and out.
More gardeners every year are embracing old-fashioned culinary skills and learning how to preserve their harvests. Canning jars, canning supplies and cookbooks about preserving and canning are more available than ever and welcomed by new and seasoned canners alike. Responding to the renewed interest in home preserving, merchants now stock beautiful jars, BPA-free canning lids and a plethora of pickling and preserving books. Little items like decorative labels for pantry jars are fun and useful, too.
For gardeners and cooks who are ready to move beyond basic water-bath canning, consider surprising them with a pressure canner. These devices process low-acid foods that cannot be safely preserved by the water-bath method. For example, you can process plain tomatoes with salt and lemon juice in a water-bath canner, but you need a pressure canner to process tomato sauce with onions or mushrooms. Pressure canners are easy and safe to use and expand the gardener's ability to safely stock the pantry with produce from the garden. Regardless of what kind of home preserving you or your gardening friends do, follow the directions and processing times recommended by the USDA onits website and in its publications.
Compost buckets for collecting kitchen waste are now as fanciful and decorative as cookie jars—a good choice for any home composter tired of fruit flies hovering over the scraps on their way to the compost pile. Sure, there are utilitarian metal buckets, but you can also find ceramic compost keepers in a wide palette of colors, or more whimsical buckets that look like heads of romaine lettuce. Simple compost keepers are just good-sized lidded containers, while more expensive versions have replaceable charcoal filters to help keep odor down.
Compost thermometers can help dedicated composters monitor the temperature of their compost piles. Keeping a pile hot is essential for breaking down pathogens and killing weed seeds in compost. You can find these thermometers in garden-supply and hardware stores. For an aspiring composter, consider purchasing a home compost system. There are many types to choose from.
Every gardener can use another good reference book in his or her library. Noteworthy possibilities include one updated classic and a new local publication.
Sunset has recently reissued its popular Western Garden Book. First published 80 years ago, this gardening bible has been completely revised and updated for the ninth edition. Sunset has refreshed and expanded its compendium to meet gardeners' evolving needs. This ninth edition includes new sections on edible landscapes and fire-wise gardens, as well as information on wall and roof gardens.
Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America by R. Michael Davis, Robert Sommer and John A. Menge (University of California Press) will be treasured by wild-mushroom enthusiasts. Davis teaches plant pathology and mushroom identification and culture at the University of California at Davis. Sommer and Mengeare emeritus professors at Davis. The three have compiled primary descriptions and illustrations of 300 species of mushrooms, plus text-only descriptions of many more. For “shroomers,” this is a helpful new addition to the field-guide section of the bookshelf.
Of course, a wonderful gift for Napa Valley gardeners is A Month-by-Month Guide to Gardening in Napa County, written by U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County. For tree lovers or anyone re-doing a landscape, consider Trees of Napa Valley by John Hoffman and illustrated by local Master Gardeners. Hoffman, now deceased, was a professional arborist and Napa resident. You can order both books online at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgnapa/Gardening_Books/Our_Books/.
For gardeners who anxiously await the first hint of spring to start their gardening season, consider a soil thermometer. These devices take the guesswork out of when to plant. Just insert the thermometer into the soil as directed to know if your seeds are likely to sprout, or rot waiting for warmer soil. The same gardeners might also appreciate some floating row cover to extend the season or a mini-hothouse to get a jump on planting.
Seeds and plants make wonderful gifts, too. Illustrated seed packets are wonderful stocking stuffers. You can choose quick-growing crops like radishes for little people, or something exotic for the gardener ready for a new challenge. Bare-root roses and fruit trees are good choices, as are gift certificates to a favorite garden center.
Ask Master Gardeners what they want for Christmas, and quite a few will tell you they would like a truckload of compost. I know that is what I am getting. I just don't know if there will be a bow on it.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners (http://cenapa.ucdavis.edu) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4221, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?
- Posted by: Yvonne Rasmussen
We have all watched fruit trees grow and change through the seasons.
Fruit and nut trees grow most rapidly in the spring and summer months. As summer progresses, the growth rate slows until it all but stops in the fall. Days shorten, temperatures drop and the trees drop their leaves. Finally, the trees go dormant for winter.
It might not look like much is happening outdoors during the next few cold months of dormancy, but fruit and nut trees' hormonal systems are hard at work.
The longer, cooler days trigger hormonal growth inhibitors. Trees produce these hormones to prevent them from growing in winter and being damaged by cold. During its dormancy, if a tree has not received sufficient chill hours, even a warm spell with perfect conditions will not awaken it. Some plants do not have this hormonal protection. Many of us have lost plants that were fooled by an early warm spell and coaxed to bud, only to be killed by a later frost or freeze.
Napa County is luckier than many parts of the country. Winters are warm enough here that plants are not usually killed by extreme cold, yet we have enough chilling hours to meet the needs of our fruit trees and promote an abundant crop.
Trees have different requirements for the number of hours they need to break dormancy. Almonds require at least 250 to 500 hours at less than 45 degrees Fahrenheit to break dormancy. Pears, including Bartlett and Bosc types, need 700 to 800 chilling hours. Asian pears, which do well in my garden, need only 350 to 400 hours.
Most red-skinned apples need a cool climate to develop good color. But while some apple varieties require 500 to 1,000 hours of chilling, others need only 400 to 600 hours. When you shop for apples and other bare-root fruit trees, look at the plant tag to see if your choice has high or low chilling needs. Local nurseries tend to choose varieties suited to our climate, so you will usually find choices that are going to be successful. This is a good reason to buy locally instead of from catalogs that carry plants suited to zones and growing conditions different than ours.
We certainly have enough winter chill to grow many kinds of peaches, pears, plums and other fruits and nuts. Take a stroll down the bare-root aisle of your local nursery or home improvement store next month and survey the selection. Just be sure to read the plant tags and ask a nursery professional if you are not sure whether a variety is suited to your microclimate.
If your garden does not get much frost, you probably won't have much luck with sour cherries, which need 1,200 hours of chill. But you still have many options. Figs of all types, Hachiya and Fuyu persimmons, almonds, olives, pomegranates, chestnuts and pecans usually produce abundant crops with a minimum of chill.
A mild winter may be pleasant, but it can diminish our future harvests. Warm winters can result in delayed foliation and prolonged blossoming, but the buds deteriorate or drop, yielding few flowers or fruit.
December and January are the most important months for meeting chilling requirements. If the temperature falls below 45 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 400 hours in each of these months, and those cold hours are fairly evenly distributed, most of our orchard trees' needs will be met.
Once a fruit tree has accumulated the chilling hours it needs, a period of warm weather will signal to its hormones that it is spring, time to break dormancy and safe to grow.
Napa County Master Gardeners (cenapa.ucdavis.edu) answer gardening questions Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the UC Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa, 253-4221.
- Author: Yvonne Rasmussen
Both walnuts and almonds were commercial crops in Napa County until grapes took over. In fact the Hartley walnut, now the most widely planted variety in the state, was developed in Napa County.
Pistachios, pecans and chestnuts are also appropriate trees for Napa County, although they have never been grown here commercially. All of them make nice shade trees, and if you can beat the squirrels to the crop, you can harvest some nuts as well. These nuts mature at slightly different times but have similar harvesting and storing requirements. Chestnuts require some different treatment for harvesting and hulling and don't require drying.
Walnuts ripen from early September through early November. They are considered ripe when the hull (also called the husk) darkens and becomes loose.
Pecans mature from late September through November and are considered ripe when the outer husk splits open and the shell within is completely brown.
Almonds ripen from early August through late September. They are ready to harvest when the hulls split and expose the shell with the nut inside.
Pistachios ripen from late August to early September and are mature when the hull changes from green to red and you can easily remove the nut from the shell.
Chestnuts are ripe when they fall to the ground. The nuts on a chestnut tree don't ripen evenly, so do not knock them off to harvest them.
For other nuts, you can use a pole or rubber mallet to knock the crop from the trees. Wear head and eye protection to prevent injury, and spread tarps under the trees to keep the nuts clean and prevent contamination from soil fungus. Collect fallen nuts promptly to
Remove the hulls soon after harvest to prevent spoilage and nut darkening. Use metal hardware cloth with a half-inch mesh, available at hardware stores. Rubbing the hulls against the mesh will help break them off. To make the job even easier, mount the mesh screen on a wood frame. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands when hulling walnuts. The hulls contain chemical compounds called phenols that can stain hands and irritate skin.prevent insect and animal damage.
For chestnuts, which have a spiny husk, you will need heavy leather gloves.
All nuts except for chestnuts need to be dried if you intend to store them. If you fail to dry them sufficiently, they may develop mold and turn rancid quickly.
To dry nuts, spread them in a single layer on trays or screens in a shady or partially shady location with good air circulation. Cover them with netting or an additional screen to foil birds. Stir the nuts daily and cover them completely if rain threatens.
Crack open a few nuts every few days to check for dryness. The kernels inside should be crisp, not rubbery. In late summer and fall, drying may take only three to four days. Pecans should be dried more slowly to prevent the hull from cracking. A drying temperature between 75 degrees and 85 degrees Fahrenheit is best.
Properly dried nuts, shelled or unshelled, can be stored for up to a year at 32 to 45 degrees F. A typical home refrigerator is between 38 to 45 degrees. Most home freezers are around 32 degrees. Chestnuts still in their shells will keep only about a month in the refrigerator.
For more detailed information, consult the following publication: “Harvesting and Storing Your Home Orchard's Nut Crop: Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Pistachios and Chestnuts” (UC ANR Publication No. 8005). You can download this document at no charge from anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/ or get it from the Napa County Master Gardeners office.
Napa County Master Gardeners (cenapa.ucdavis.edu) answer gardening questions Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the UC Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa, 253-4221, or toll-free at 877-279-3065.