Posts Tagged: Sunset Western Garden book
In My Fall Garden--Maybe Yours.
by Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County According to a long-term forecast...
Fall leaves, another look. (reuthes.com)
Cardboard in the garden. (Jon Moore Unsplash)
Cardboard with leaves. (gardenprofessors.com)
Swale--keep a little rainwater in the garden. (ucanr.edu)
Pride of Madeira. (designwithplants.com)
Sunset Western Garden book (sunset.com)
UC Davis Arboretum All Stars (available at the website as a pdf). (arboretum.ucdavis.edu)
One way to collect rainwater. (askbobcarrcom)
Another rainwater collection. (brooklynfarmgirl.com)
Unpaved paths keep rainwater in your garden. (womansweekley.com)
Compost, good for soil tilth. (rodaleinstitute.org)
Deadheading--put them in your own compost pile. (cottonwoodland.com)
Fall leaves, keep them! (Courtney Smith Unsplash)
Rain Gardens Are A Creative Option.
By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County I have been checking the Farmer's Almanac and...
New resources for backyard gardeners
Whether you’re trying to garden at home more sustainably (minimizing water use or using pollinators), or whether you want the most up-to-date information on beautiful new plants, new gardening practices, or new hardiness zones, I have assembled some practical information for home gardeners.
Arboretum All-Stars
The horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum have identified 100 tough, reliable plants for California that are easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in the garden. Many of them are California native plants and support native birds and insects. Most All-Star plants can be successfully planted and grown throughout California. The Arboretum All-Star website not only provides cultural information on each of the plants, but also has a searchable database, photographs, and an audio slideshow.
For those of you outside of California, if you have a similar climate (see the section below on hardiness maps), these All-Stars may grow well for you, too.
Arboretum plant sales
The UC Davis Arboretum and the California Center for Urban Horticulture are working with wholesale and retail nurseries in California to make sure that the All-Star plants are available for home gardeners. Check with your local retail nursery to see if they carry All-Stars, check the online list, or go to one of the Arboretum’s plant sales if you are in Northern California. These plant sales draw gardeners from all over Northern California who want unique, specialty, or All-Star plants that perform well in California: plant sale dates.
Pollinator gardening
If you want to create a pollinator paradise in your landscape, you might want to attend the Pollinator Gardening workshop at UC Davis on April 28, 2012. Sponsored by the California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis, this full-day workshop will have entomologists, horticulturalists, and design experts present to inspire gardeners and equip you with the tools to provision pollinating insects in your own landscape. Learn what you can do to support healthy bee communities.
Roses, roses, roses
Rosarians and garden amateurs will all enjoy the annual Rose Day workshop at UC Davis on May 5, 2012. Sponsored by the California Center for Urban Horticulture, the program features rose-breeding experts Dr. James Sproul and Jacques Ferare, rose tours on the UC Davis campus, and a rose plant sale.
The New Sunset Western Garden Book
The ninth edition of the legendary garden book, The New Sunset Western Garden Book, was recently released, and features over 2,000 color photographs (goodbye, little hand sketches!), a complete redesign, an encyclopedia of 9,000 plants, and a “plant finder” section.
Debbie Arrington, garden writer for the Sacramento Bee, and Debra Prinzing at the LA Times provide additional information and reviews of the new edition.
New plant hardiness maps
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released a new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map, updating a useful tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with greater accuracy and detail. The new map is available online. The map offers a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based interactive format and is specifically designed to be Internet-friendly. The map website also incorporates a "find your zone by ZIP code" function.
While the map is useful in many areas of the U.S., some gardeners in California find it not specific enough for our multitude of microclimates (Mediterranean, maritime, mountainous, and more), so many California gardeners still rely on Sunset’s climate zones.
New Sunset Western Garden Book
Have you seen the latest edition of the Sunset Western Garden Book? This is just the latest in a series of “new” books. Remember when the Lane Publishing Company published the “Sunset” franchise? Back then, the “gardeners’ bible” was reprinted often, but not revised. Now that Time Home Entertainment has taken over, this book has been redone a minimum of 3 times.
It used to be that a copy of this book was handed down from one family member to the next, but no more. At the local library book sales, one can now find a good half-dozen copies available for sale. I know – I buy them! Right now on my desk, I have 6 copies from various years and reprints: from 1973 which advised that the alphabetical plant listings and descriptions are on pages 167-445 to the newest, just out, which gives more than 2,000 full-color photos and no-fail tips for flowers, vegetables, natives and more(!). Between my 6 copies, I can probably find out more than I wanted to about plantings for my area. And yet, can there be too much information? Not really as more and more varieties of plants are bred or discovered each year!
The Sunset Western Garden Book started out in 1947 in the form of the Sunset Western Flower Book of which my mother bought a copy of the “revised and enlarged” Seventh printing in 1951. All of 252 pages including the index, this book was strictly a “how to” book: how to care for plants; how to grow annuals; when and how to water; etc. In the notes section, my mother wrote:” Sulphate of ammonia – rapid growth and rich green color” as well as how, what, and when fertilize a Meyer lemon tree. It appears that the queries about plants are the same as then.
Forwarding to the 1970’s, we began to use the West’s climate zone information when choosing plants for our own areas – not so much hit and miss with a plant’s growing habits and needs. Back then, the climate zones included California to Washington and over to Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. With the newest volume, “the West” has grown to include up into Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan) and down into Mexico ( Baja California, Baja California Sur, and the States of Sonora and Chihuahua). Also now included are Alaska, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. Hawaii is represented as well! Would you believe that this book is sold throughout the United States? I was in a bookstore in Delaware, Ohio, which is a suburb of Columbus, several years ago and there it was – right next to a version of the Sunset Western Garden Book for the rest of the country. Thumbing through it, I asked the clerk if he sold many copies. He admitted that they never sold a copy, but that every year the 6 shelf copies were returned to the home office for credit and without fail, 6 more copies showed up for sale. We both agreed that it didn’t make sense, but sometimes with chain-stores things were nonsensical!
I must confess that there are several things that I don’t like about this newest version: the 1st is the shiny paper. All the papers are printed on this paper, unlike the previous which reserved the shiny paper for photos only. This shinier paper is lighter weight which wrinkles when damp or wet – not to great for a book which goes outside! The 2nd thing which caught my attention (and fingers) is the lighter weight cover – good for a tour guide but too easily bent in regular use – my cover bent at the corners just getting it home from Costco. I fear for its “shelf” life as I use it in my weekly gardening activities. The 3rd disappointment is the lack of illustrations for each plant listing – now there is just a small photo showing what the writers thought to be important to show for each plant listing. For instance with Gentiana, there is a small, rather close-up photo of purple flowers amid foliage with no distinct flower shape; whereas in the previous edition, the drawing very clearly shows the flower shape and its position upon the stems.
Yes, I have purchased the new Sunset, but as usual, I will continue to hold onto my other copies for reference.
Cover of the new Sunset Western Garden Book. (photo by Jennifer Baumbach)