The Green Gardener: a day of rest

Everyone needs a day of rest...a mini-vacation from the tasks and worries of life...the chance to get exterior to what is, and imagine what could be. And, so, the gardener needs this as well.
One of the benefits to green gardening, is reduced maintenance...less pruning, less mowing, less fighting diseases and pests...more opportunity to have that day of rest. Well, I'm not there quite yet, and have garden chores awaiting me. But, here's my "what could be" list:

• an outdoor natural firepit area for my family to enjoy
• a water feature with a loud trickle, to block out the nearby freeway noises
• a shrubby perimeter to my backyard to make the space feel apart from elsewhere.
• veggies, of course
• a solution to the ultra-hot Sacramento summers
• a place to putter in the winter months
• a dedicated doggy doo-doo spot!
• a lawn-free landscape (almost there!)
• a garden that allows me to be at rest

The thing I love about garden design is the creation of a world that isn't there yet. The more I work on it, the more everything seems to fall in place...it all becomes righter and more real. It becomes a vision that's attainable. And, it all starts with the question, "how would I really like things to be?"

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. For more information on our services, click here.

The Green Gardener: Live on TV, Cool Season Veggies & Bedding Plants

Today I had the pleasure of being a guest on Sacramento and Company, Channel 10's morning show. The hosts, Melissa and Guy, are genuinely nice people, so it was fun to talk to them. Turns out he was raised in the country and has a garden and she just started a small raised bed garden, where she gets to play outside with her 5-year old daughter. Here's what we talked about:

Cool Season Veggies (plant in fall,will last thru early spring)
Boy choy, rhubarb,g reen globe artichoke, sweet pod peas, swiss chard, arugula, red kale, lettuce
(forgot and left in trunk of car...carrot, beet seeds, onion bulbs)

Cool Season Bedding Plants (also fall thru spring)
Violas, pansies, chrysanthemum paludosum, mums, snaps, primrose,cyclamen (plus California poppy seeds, also left in car!)

Pumpkins (a warm season crop...plant late spring...in your front yard!!!)
Dark orange french heirloom pumpkin ("Rouge Vif d'Etampes") is also called the Cinderella pumpkin. The other pumpkin had a funny name which seemed unsuitable for such a beautiful plant. So, I ignored and forgot it!

All of these plants were on loan from the Fair Oaks Blvd. Nursery. Thank you! btw, their pumpkins are on a 2 for 1 sale.

And, lastly, an inspiring book that encourages us to create our own gardens, in the front yard and with "all of the above!" The Edible Mexican Garden (The Edible Garden Series)



the loading dock at Channel 10 ... see you next time!

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. For more information on our services, click here.

The Green Garden: A Modern Mediterranean Garden Revisited

This is a reposting from August, 2008. I'm focusing on green gardening this month and that led me to thinking about Mediterranean gardens, which do so well in our California climate...which led me back to this post. I hope you enjoy it, it's one of my favorites!

I'm looking for a way to take the '80s out of a ranch house and give it a modern edge, so I stop by the gorgeous High Hand Nursery to see what they have in the way of pots...

These urns would do, but so would the ribbed ones...

...or these smaller ones...

The house belongs to a Greek artist...she needs a more artistic environment, I think...perhaps a sitting area with these chairs from Pottery Barn, where she can have some coffee and a chat with her cats.

I love the look, the crunchy sound, the color of decomposed granite (DG to the trades)...maybe we'll take the grass out and replace it with DG...and surround it all with lovely mediterranean plants like lavenders, mexican feather grass, purple fountain grass, perhaps a hearty shrub rose, purple smoke tree. Maybe there will be some room for a lemon tree.

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. For more information on our services, click here.

The Green Garden: Right Plant, Right Place

Originally uploaded by scott.zona

Do you have the desire to have a kick-back, lazy hideaway in your own back (front) yard? Do you want to treat your corner of Mother Earth in a responsible way? Do you want to lower your water bill? Try natives! They’ve already proven that they survive where you live under minimally tended conditions. Creating a garden that utilizes natives takes some planning…perhaps some research. But it can be a fun adventure that opens up new and fresh ideas for your landscape. An opportunity for Sacramento area gardeners to learn more (and shop!) is coming up on November 14th, when Cornflower Farms in Elk Grove will have a shopping day for the public from 7:30 – 2.
Cornflower Farms, is a specialty nursery that carries California natives as well as other water wise plants, perennials, general ornamentals and grasses for the nursery and landscape trades. It also grows beneficial insect plants for agriculture and butterfly and hummingbird plants.
Check out their website to see the full list of available plants, costs and directions.


Originally uploaded by scott.zona

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. For more information on our services, click here.

Good Morning Talini's!

"Limes" by pfibiger on Flickr

About a week ago I was asked if I would like to be on Good Day, Sacramento, Channel 31's morning show (seen in Sacramento on Channel 12). The reporter, Julissa Ortiz, is a novice gardener and was especially interested in the Mojito Garden I blogged about a few weeks ago. I thought that would be fun...immensely rewarding and easy as a beginning garden project, but also something any gardener (or cook) would like.

We're going to be shooting at Talini's Nursery tomorrow morning. Talini's is located at 5601 Folsom Blvd. in Sacramento. According to a recent article in the Arden-Carmichael News,

"Founded by the late, Italian-born Pietro Talini, who once supervised and cared for the gardens at the Vatican, the garden center opened after Talini left war-torn Italy for the United States with the dream of opening his own nursery. Now, owned by Talini’s son, Louigi – better known to customers and employees as “Lou” – the nursery continues to have a matchless charm, and prides itself on having products buyers can’t find anywhere else."

It really is a great nursery, lots of veggies, shade plants, annuals and perennials, trees and shrubs. By the way, a great resource for growing and using citrus is the grower's website! Check it out...Four Winds Growers.

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

Red Hot Perennials from Annie's Annuals

Annie's Annuals in the San Francisco Bay area (Richmond) is to gardeners what Willy Wonka's chocolate factory was to, well, chocolate lovers! There's always something happening and always an enormous variety of perennials and annuals not found elsewhere. Their Fireworks for Flower Floozies Sale runs thru July 5th, with a 20% discount for online orders until midnight.

Penstamon eatonii "Firecracker Penstamon" - full sun, perennial, zones 3 - 10
Fuschia fulgens pt. sun/shade, zones 9 - 11
Bomarea species, "Climbing Alstroemeria" - Perennial vine, zones 9 - 11.Take a look for yourself...Annie's Annuals

Have a happy 4th of July!

There are some nursery sales going on....

At Windmill Nursery, some absolutely great deals thru November 30!

Their regularly priced roses (around $28) are 2 for one. Can't beat it!


At High Hand Nursery in Loomis more super deals BUT their sale is only thru this Sunday, November 23rd...a 4-flag Blow-out Sale: yellow = $25, green = $50, orange = $100, blue = $150 (with multi-flag discounts...ooh, the math!). Could these succulents be on sale??????

If their sale discounts aren't enough to get you into action, check out their newly expanded menu which just started November 20th!


On A Final Note: It's not too late, but this really is the last hurrah for fall planting! If you want some daffs or dutch iris, or crocus planted...you can do that as well, and, if you want someone to plant them for you, call Geno's Garden. Yea...that's me. Email me at genosgarden@aol.com, or call (916) 764-5243.

A Trip to the Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA

I was in Davis to pick up some meds for my sick kitty, and dropped by the Redwood Barn. I'd never been there before, but have read some great articles online by the owner.

A small easy-going nursery...lots of succulents (I like that)...picked up some greens for my wheelbarrow salad project...

but, best of all, were these cute outhouses! I want one for my tools, I do!

...or that one I saw at Walmart that looked like a little Nordic ski hut for kids...I think I have a birthday coming up...oh, no, that was last week!

a Modern Mediterranean Garden

I'm looking for a way to take the '80s out of a ranch house and give it a modern edge, so I stop by the gorgeous High Hand Nursery to see what they have in the way of pots...

These urns would do, but so would the ribbed ones...

...or these smaller ones...

The house belongs to a Greek artist...she needs a more artistic environment, I think...perhaps a sitting area with these chairs from Pottery Barn, where she can have some coffee and a chat with her cats.

I love the look, the crunchy sound, the color of decomposed granite (DG to the trades)...maybe we'll take the grass out and replace it with DG...and surround it all with lovely mediterranean plants like lavenders, mexican feather grass, purple fountain grass, perhaps a hearty shrub rose, purple smoke tree. Maybe there will be some room for a lemon tree.

It's "Second Spring"

...or so say the folks at the Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore. It turns out we still have plenty of growing season in California! I'm intrigued...a new solution for the problem of the late summer, heat-stressed garden...fresh plants!
Livermore's a few hours away, so I take my shopping list to my local Home Depot to see what they have...
Lobularium maritima, Sweet Alyssum... looks pretty when the weather is cooler, then starts looking ratty, shearing back 4 weeks after they come into bloom will give them a second chance.
Antirrhinum majus, Snapdragon...a friendly flower, does well in the winter garden here in the northern California, as do pansies

asters

vinca - starts blooming in late spring, and won't quit!

I don't find everything on the list, but enough to make me happy!
11 6-packs for $22...a small price to pay for a second spring.

A trip to the Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery

It's fun to walk thru the lovely Fair Oaks Blvd. Nursery...Always inspiring...

here's an above ground natural waterfall/pond (no digging!)...great water sounds...

...and, of course, the opportunity to buy something for me (Tropaeolum minus "Tip Top Alaska Salmon" and Salvia guaranitica "Black & Blue Salvia")