Tips for Successful Spring Gardening

Sometimes I get to be on T.V. Here's a recent show I did with Melissa Paul of Channel 10's Sac and Co ...

... and here's the video!

 

 Here are 6 tips for successful nursery shopping: 

1. Plan ahead - know the area you are going to plant. How much sun does it get? Morning or evening? Any partial shade? Know the orientation of the garden ... if it faces west with no trees to shade it a bit, it will be hot. I mean, hot! What's the drainage like ... what's the soil like. If you know these details you'll be able to match up plants that like or at least tolerate those conditions. If you don't know these factors, good luck!
2. Honor the seasons - fall and spring are the best times to plant most anything. The soil is warm enough for new plants to get settled in and get their roots established. When it's too hot or cold, that root growth doesn't happen. Also, there are warm season and cool season plants ... especially vegetables and annuals ... that love one season, hate the other. Don't go putting that tomato or it's summer veg pals (squash, peppers, eggplant, corn)into the ground until the nighttime temps are 60 degrees or above.
3. Shop at the Independent Nurseries - I am not a snob about shopping at the "Big Box Stores". I love them, to tell the truth. But, the independent nurseries are so much about variety and unique treasures ... if we don't support them we'll lose them, and that would be a shame! 
4. Ask for help - the people who work in nurseries usually love plants and love sharing their knowledge. If you've done #1 above you'll put them in a position where they can help.If you're at a #2 nursery, the quality of their advice will be sooo much better!!!! 
5. Don't Overbuy - resist impulse shopping ... your plants will do much better if they get in the ground quickly. Sure, some plants can survive in their nursery pots for a long time, but, they'll be so much happier in the actual ground.
6. Be Easy on Yourself - gardeners grow those green thumbs, they weren't born with them! And the road to being a successful gardener is to have many a failure! An example of my own. I've been really keen on CA native plants the last couple of years. One that early grabbed my interest was the Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). It was so prominent in the hills around Hollywood, they named the area, well, Hollywood! Because it has red winter berries (that the birds love) it's also called Christmas Berry. Well, I killed 2 before I learned that just because it's drought tolerant, doesn't mean it can survive without water in it's nursery can. I think the phrase is "drought tolerant once established", and now I know what that means!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!

Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Wildflower Wonders - April 14th, 10 - 4

Elderberry Farms - a project of the California Native Plant Society, Sacramento Chapter. Come celebrate the season - spend a day in the "country" on the banks of the American River in Rancho Cordova - far from the freeway noises, where chickens and dogs wander freely, the sky is blue and birds entertain from above!

Sticky Monkeyflower grows in the demo gardens 

 Come to Wildflower Wonders

Saturday, April 14 - 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

2140 Chase Dr, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

On the American River Parkway at Soil Born Farms

Free Admission / Open to the public / Refreshments available

Wildflower Wonders is the annual Earth Day event presented by the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Kick off California Native Plant Week with Wildflower Wonders! What will you see and do this year? 

Explore Soil Born Farms

• 10:30 Bird Walk for Families - Join Sacramento Audubon’s Maureen Geiger for a brief walk and talk about common Sacramento birds. Binoculars provided. Limited to the first 10 families each day.
• 11:30 Farm Tour - Join Soil Born Farms staff in a guided tour of the American River Ranch and learn about how their non-profit farm and education center is improving health through innovative food production, food access and education programs.
• 12:30 Native Plants and Climate – Tim Nosal, an Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Game has been exploring the trails of the American River for more than 25 years. Join Tim on a 1 hour walk as he finds a way to weave botany and water conservation into an insightful view of our locally native plants. Free advice will be provided on plant identification, gardening challenges, baking, and drip irrigation.
• 1:30 Bees Are Not Optional! Join us for a talk about the importance of native bee pollinators in our urban landscapes, followed by a walk to check out bees on Soil Born Farms hedgerow. Julie Serences, Environmental Educator
• 2:30 Ecology and Ethnobotany - Take a walk with David Self, Co-founder of The Place Program, People Linking Art, Culture & Ecology. Learn how to recognize and honor Native traditions that sustained and celebrated a myriad of foods, crafts and rich biodiversity through centuries.



Foothill Penstemon also grows in our demo gardens!

 Plant Sale

During the Wildflower Wonders Event, Elderberry Farms and Cornflower Farms will have plants for sale. Gardening experts will be there to help you find the best plants for your garden. A wide variety of gardening books, field guides, and other native plant literature will be for sale. Please bring boxes to carry home your treasures and an umbrella if it rains.

CNPS 

To find out more about native plants in our area, visit the California Native Plant Society, Sacramento Valley Chapter  FREE PLANT: Join or renew your CNPS membership at the sale and choose a 1-gallon plant from Elderberry Farms!

I've been seeing this native Flannel Bush in freeway plantings lately ... very drought tolerant!



Note: I've been volunteering at Elderberry Farms since last fall. My specific job is designing (weeding) the demonstration gardens. It's been a chance for me to get to know plants that are native not only to California, but native to our local area as well. Wednesday morning's are work days at the farm, and all are invited. Free pbj sandwich for all volunteers. Contact LewisC916@yahoo.com for more info.

Call me ... let's explore native gardening together!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!

Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Looking for Curb Appeal in East Sac

...it's a Tuesday and I'm in the mood for a little drive and snap. This house has a nice mix of hardscape and plant material.

Is this fence simply dog-earred boards turned sideways? Whatever, I like it. Has a sort of modern feeling that would look nice with mid-century or urban architecture. Would give a bit of zip to ranch style houses, too.

This bamboo border catches my eye. It adds a airy privacy screen to the side yard..

This isn't a great photo, but perhaps you can see what made me go whoa!

Here's a closer view, and a better shot. Lots of native plants in this mixed border.

Even though it's unlikely anyone will be sitting outside on this cold day, it tells me that the homeowners here like to enjoy their neighborhood. I think we should all bring chairs out to our front yards! Yeah!

Here's another family adding life to their neighborhood with their bar-b-que, patio chairs and table, and themselves (although, not today!). I think our old-style neighborhoods are too sedate. If the front yards are just lawn, a shade tree and some foundation plants and all the activitity is in the back yard, it's just too boring out front. Edible front yard gardening, dining or wildlife viewing patios, fun plantings, a place to toss a ball ... all add to the shared pleasure of one's community.

Leaving East Sac via the H Street underpass. Great stand of Euryops - unsung reliable shrub that blooms and blooms and blooms.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Easter at High Hand Nursery

A beautiful day to celebrate Easter, a day when the earth delights in its own resurrection! My husband and I have breakfast at the High Hand Cafe in Loomis, CA. In the beautiful conservatory, opening to the outside patio, we wait ...

... for this! Pretty, huh? At High Hand they do everything right!

The nursery grounds are arranged in a parklike fashion, almost like a botanical garden, with so much to inspire, from charming topiary,

to gorgeous japanese maples,

to architecturally trained trees. High Hand is first class all the way.

This cute young girl and her dad were feeding the koi. She asked me if I wanted to try and gave me some fish food which I held out in my fingers towards this huge fish coming at me with his mouth agape! He got his food, I kept my fingers, all were satisfied!

One of the pleasures of being a garden designer, I get to consider other garden spaces than just my own. While something might not be appropriate to my gardens, perhaps it would be perfect for a client, for instance, my clients who live in Curtis Park. We're getting ready to fill out their front yard planting. It's already lovely, why not go for more lovely!?! This False Spirea has beautiful tropical and lush ferny foliage with white flower clusters in the summer. Grows to be 5 - 8' tall so would be pretty as a background shrub. Just what we need.

Sitting right next to it, this sunshiny yellow-orange-pink rhody. This one's a compact 4 x 4 ...  t'would go nice in the front of that border ... especially if we can get the wild onion cleared!!!

These newly introduced osteospermum don't close up on cloudy days or in the evenings. '3D Purple' blooms - says the label - prolifically from spring thru fall. I first read about them in Horticulture magazine's new (free) on-line pub, "Gardeners on the Go". They say it blooms best in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall. Sunset Western Garden Book says they're more winter/spring blooming (November - March). I say, my experience is they can get kind of ratty looking in the heat of Sacramento's summer. Course, lots of plants do, which is why I also say, everything does better with a bit of partial shade!

There's more to be seen at High Hand ... art gallery, wine bar, florist, several fun shops ... but for us, we're inspired to go home and make our own home lovelier (or at least, clean!)... and,so, it's time to leave.

Happy Springtime!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

It's California Poppy Day - April 6, 2012

Banner photo on the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve Website

I love our bright orange California Poppies! Well ... we all do. Recently, I've seen them here:

McKinley Park - on a "Curb Appeal Drive-By",

  at our historic city cemetary (in the native plant demonstration garden),

 and, in my favorite garden on S. Land Park Drive.

I had wanted to see them this year in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, south of Landcaster. I've read about this poppy show for years, but at the last minute I was tied up and my husband went on his San Diego business trip without me, the cad! But there's still time to make another trip this year, because the low-rain winter has delayed germination. Here's the latest report from the reserve:

Wildflower Bloom Status: 4/5/12: It's been a dry winter so far so not a lot of poppy plants have germinated, but recent rains may encourage a moderate but late season. The hills are currently only tinged green but very few grasses are growing this year, so the poppies that are there are more visible. A handful of fiddleneck, slender-keeled fruit, silver puffs, goldfields, filaree, Mojave suncups, and forget-me-nots are starting to bloom here and there. Grape soda lupines are putting on a nice show, but have already gone to seed on south-facing slopes. See Latest Poppy Reserve Research Field Notes and Observations for more details. (take the above link for more info).

(How did I know today was California Poppy Day? Mr. Google told me! He's a pretty smart fellow!)

Heads up to those who want to buy native, learn native, see native plants! Next Saturday (April 14th) is the Native Plant Sale at Elderberry Farms (sharing space with Soil Born Farms in Rancho Cordova). The nursery cultivates plants that are native to our area. It's a great spot ... away from the traffic noises, where the sky is big and nature abounds, and beautiful CA poppies, too! Here's the info I have:

Wildflower Wonders

Native Plants for Our Healthy Environment

Saturday, April 14 - 10:00-4:00

2140 Chase Dr, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Soil Born Farm, on the American River Parkway

Admission is Free to WW ~ the Public is Welcome

Refreshments Available

Wildflower Wonders is the annual Earth Day event by the Sacramento Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society. What will you see and do this year?

PLANT EXHIBIT & INTERACTIVE FUN: A plant exhibit hosted by expert naturalists will showcase native plants of the American River watershed.

FOCUS ON FLOWERS – Look through a microscope and get lost in the delicate details of flowers and their pollinators

SCAVENGER HUNT with prizes

FREE PLANT: Join or renew your CNPS membership at the sale and choose a 1-gallon plant from Elderberry Farms!

WALKS & TALKS (Family Friendly: ) Each walk will start with an introductory talk!

• Native Plants and Why We Should Care
• Birding Walk
• Bees and You
• Soil Born Farms Tour

 WW's NATIVE PLANT SALE!

During the WW event (see above), Elderberry Farms and Conflower Farms will have plants for sale!

Gardening experts will be there to help you find the best plants for your garden.

As always, a wide variety of gardening books, field guides, and other native plant literature will be for sale.

Please bring boxes to carry home your treasurers and umbrella if it rains.

I'll be there ... join me! let's explore native gardening together!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Sacramento Valley Native Plant Garden Tour - 3/31

Here's an opportunity for those of you who are, or would like to be, California native plant gardeners ...a chance to see some of the best native gardens in Sacramento.

My friend, Darlene, and I went last year and we loved it... sometimes because it was sooo amazing, sometimes because we got to say to each other, "I could do that better, (ahem)". It's this weekend, and you have to email to get a tour map, so act fast!

Event Info

The Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society is having its second annual garden tour this Saturday. This is a free, self-guided tour through a number of native plant gardens and other landscapes in Sacramento and Yolo counties. Gardens will be comprised of at least 50% native plants.
What's special about California native plants? They are adapted to our soil and climate, and are easy to care for. A large number of native plants are naturally drought tolerant. They are unmatched in habitat value, attracting native birds, butterflies, and other forms of wildlife. And, as the gardens on the tour show, California native plants are beautiful; the gardens on the tour display a sense of place that is uniquely Californian.
The tour of home gardens landscaped with California native plants will be open to the public this Saturday March 31st, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Registrations are limited and required. To register for the 2012 Gardens Gone Native tour, email inquiries to Tara at gardensgonenative@gmail.com. You will receive a link to the registration form. Following registration, tour maps, garden addresses and other tour information will be sent out via email.

Some of my pictures from last year

... at the end of a native grass pathway, an artful bench

 Casandra from the demonstration garden at the Old City Cemetary. Great hostess - great cookies!

Flannel bush at the demonstration garden, maybe the  best location to see fully grown natives. Great team of volunteers keep this garden in good shape!

Nice "urbanite" (old concrete) pathway thru this garden. As you can see, there are a few non-native mediterranean plants (lavender) mixed in. It's a great mix for our area!

Call me ... let's explore native gardening together!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Shopper's Guide to the Nursery

I went to Talini's Nursery in East Sacramento today to get some plants to show on Sac & Co (a T.V show! Check it out at 11 am Channel 10)... the topic: Spring Planting. Talini's hadn't gotten all their stock in, but you could feel it in the air. In 2 weeks, they'll be bursting at the seams with gorgeous blooming pretty things. Here are some lessons I've learned (some of them the hard way) regarding how to be a successful plant shopper, and then, a successful gardener. 

 

Plant for the Right Season

The nurseries have warm season veggies and cool season veggies right now. It's not warm enough to plant the warm season fellows yet. Save that tomato for a month or so (When you can sit on the ground and it feels warm, your soil is ready!). But, there's still time for some cool season crops like lettuce. Bedding plants have the same warm/cool season categories ... plants like violas be planted now and will do well into June. If in doubt, ask.

 

Don't Overbuy!

Resist the impulse to just start loading up your cart! You and your plants will be a lot more successful if you stick with what you can actually plant now (or in the next week). Plants do better when they're in the ground.

 

 Read Your Labels!

This was the first plant I spied that I thought, "I want that!" But would it work for me?

 Yes ... I read the label! Sun to part shade, early spring blooming, tends to get a bit floppy so likes neighbors who have a bit of muscle.

 

Try Something New

The hot topics these days: Edible Gardens, Vertical Gardens, Native Gardens.

Meyer's Lemon, already laden with citrus and ready to take home. Looks good in any garden!

California Poppy - I love the standard, ubiquitous orange poppy, but there are sweet variations available as well - proving that you can't have too much of a good thing!

And, the most important rule of all: Right Plant for the Right Place!

Before you head for the nursery, know something about the area you want to plant in. How many hours of sun does it get and is it morning or afternoon sun? How large is the space, not only how wide but how tall? If you buy plants that naturally fit the area you'll save yourself time later on and the plant will be healthier.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Good morning! It's a great day to be Irish!

When I was a young girl, my mother had a dance studio. She had recitals (with the occasional "guest vocalist" - ahem) and this is one of the songs I remember singing. The shamrock of the song has many forms, but all of them, according to my Sunset Western Garden Book, are likely to become weeds. And if weeds they are, so be it...and perhaps it speaks well of us Irish transplants...that we're so willing to grow and so crafty in our charm that we thrive like weeds, and have songs written about us.

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover, that I overlooked before.
One leaf is sunshine, the other is rain,
third is the roses that bloom in the lane.
No use explaining, the one remaining, is somebody I adore.
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover, that I overlooked before.

- Words by Mort Dixon, music by Harry Woods
(Written in 1927 - popularized in 1948 by Art Mooney)

Wordless Wednesday: Love is in the air

Wouldn't you love these heart-shaped stepping stones from Silverado Building Supply in Sacramento?

A day of fun at Whole Foods Market at Arden and Eastern in Sacramento?

Perhaps a sweet Paris Breakfasts watercolor?

ah, you say ... you want all three? Me, too.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

River-Friendly Landscapes for a New Year

Our American River

Green Gardening is all about the wise use of water in our landscapes … for the benefit of our rivers, our air, and even our soil. Oh, yes, and us, too! Green gardening works because it's in harmony with the natural world. Rather than fighting nature, you're working with nature.
The principles are simple:

• Right Plant for the Right Place (How much sun? What kind of soil? Slope? How much space? How is area used?) Example: don't plant cactus by the swimming pool, don't plant a 10 foot holly in front of a window or you'll be pruning it forever ... plant something more compact. Sounds obvious, but think about all the hedged shrubs you see in our neighborhoods and strip malls … there's a reason for all the squared and rounded plants seen everywhere (!) - wrong plant for the wrong place!!! Another example: the lawn! The wide-spread use of lawns in our area and our over-watering of same is the reason lawns have gotten a bad name ... they guzzle water! There are alternatives – wonderful alternatives, even native grasses that require way less water.
• Mulch to keep ground cool and reduce evaporation.
• Prevent Water Run-off and Waste with good drainage, smart irrigation practices, rain gardens and rain harvesting. This helps to filtrate out chemicals and toxins by using the natural purification properties of our soil. It also prevents wasted water from running down the street, and in times of “big water events” (storms), reduces the volume hitting our storm drains and the potential erosion that can cause.
• Reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides by using these green gardening practices.

With metered water around the corner for many, we'll all be looking for ways to manage our home's water budget  I'll be reporting here on all the wallet-friendly (and river-friendly) opportunities being offered, from rebates on smart controllers, to local classes, to "cash for grass" programs. We have 21 waterproviders in the greater Sacramento area ... some using well water, some with river water ... and they all have different programs and their service districts are, literally, "all over the map" (groan). It can be confusing!

California poppies and other natives in Land Park

Here are my gardening resolutions for 2012:

• to make sure you get to take advantage of these incentives.
• to help educate our community about the WHY of river-friendly landscaping.
• to have fun with it! Gardening is a creative, life-giving activity, a combination of art, science and sweat. Let's make our gardens unique! (Go on garden tours or visit the Water Efficient Landscape (WEL) gardens in our area to get some inspiration.)

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Wordless Wednesday: Heavy Metal Water Feature (as seen at the L.A.B. in Orange County)