It's September ... Time to Plant Something!

flickr photo by Tigerzeye

Every fall I write the same thing .... plant now ... plants can settle in before the winter dormancy sets in ... get a head start over plants that don't go in til spring. Mother Nature wrote the rule book and some things don't change! Here are the links to those posts:

• Who Likes Natives? Sac and Co!, talking with Guy at Sac and Co about why fall planting, and why California natives.
• Another pitch from a couple of years ago: Fall is for Planting
• A perfect fall activity to do with kids:Seedy Adventures.

Me:  I'm off to LA Land, for some R 'n R. Got me some tunes, our new convertible PT Cruiser, and it's I-5 all the way. When I get back, I'm gonna be calling you!

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.

Who Likes Natives? Sac & Co!

What better garden for a California native then a garden of the same. My ancestors arrived here from Ireland 100+ years ago, settling in San Francisco. I think I got my "farmer genes" from my dad's family; my music, dancing, party-girl genes from my mom's. Works for me!

Here's the video of yesterday's visit with Channel 10's Sac and Co:







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.

Fall is for Planting ... California Natives (The TV Show)

 

The best laid plans of mice and men, oft go astray Robert Burns

Well, as promised, here are the details from today's TV appearance on Channel 10's Sac and Co. These appearances seem to have a life of their own. (and as an aside, did you know the above line was written by Burns after he ran over a wee mousie's house with his tractor?). So, too, today's show. It was great fun and I loved bringing the plants ... just didn't get to showcase them in enough detail. Lucky for me I have a blog!!!

More about Why Fall is for Planting ...

First I want to say a bit more about why "Fall is for Planting". Getting a plant established in the garden is sort of like getting the baby off the bottle. Until a plant puts its roots into the surrounding soil, it depends on us for it's water and nutrients. Well, we want to get it off that bottle!

How do we do this? The roots have to grow ... the further the better. This takes cell division, and that doesn't happen when it's uber hot or cold. That's why the milder weather in fall and spring is a good time to plant.

Planting in rain-sodden ground isn't good, either, because plants can't take up oxygen when water's taking up all the spaces, and plants need oxygen so they can breathe. Rain fall is iffy in the spring, that's why I say fall is numero uno. You have a few months that are usually light on rain, when the soil's warm and the weather's mild. I find that fascinating, but I'll shut up now. :)

Today's CA Natives

(My thanks to Windmill Nursery in Carmichael for lending us the plants!)

Abutilon palmeri, Superstition Mallow

Lovely yellow cup-shaped flowers bloom throughout the year. Grey-green soft fuzzy leaves, drought tolerant, full sun to partial shade.

Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon

Can be kept to 6 - 8' with pruning, and up to 20' with regular water. White flowers in the summer, red berries in the winter (that songbirds love). Hollywood got its name from this So Cal shrub. Very hardy!

Muhlenbergia rigens, California Deer Grass
Showy native grass whose long spikes move with the breeze. Easy to grow, takes abuse!

Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP', Foothill Penstemon

This photo is horrid, but the colors are real...gorgeous, gorgeous blue flowers tinged with pinks and white. Drought tolerant. Hummingbirds and butterflies.

Arctostaphylos, 'Emerald Carpet' Manzanita

Healthy attractive drought tolerant ground cover, grows 1' x up to 6'

Salvia apiana, White Sage

This plant just smells like the desert. I hear it's used for "smudging" to chase evil spirits away! Very hardy, drought tolerant.

Lassoing filaginifolia var. californica 'Silver Carpet', California Aster

Another great ground cover, growing 1' to about 4' wide.

Juncus patens, 'Elk Blue', California Rush

I would love to use a mass planting of this, a swathe of blue green stems that look great close up.

Artemisia pycnocephala 'David's Choice', Beach Sandwort

This artemisia looks much like the popular "Powis Castle". Soft and grey-green mounds with funky yellow flower shoots!

Ceanothus, 'Julia Phelps', Julia Phelps Ceanothus (California Lilac)

Any ceanothus is a treasure, especially when it's in bloom. This one gets up to 8' so it would be quite impressive covered in early spring with its indigo blue blooms! Drought tolerant.

Calliandra californica, Baja Fairy Duster

Too cute for words with its fine textured leaves and it's plumed wand-like flowers. This evergreen grows up to 6'. Hummingbird favorite.

Mimulus 'Jack', Scarlet Monkey Flower

This unusual monkey flower needs more water and a bit more shade than other monkeys. But, it blooms throughout the year and hummingbirds love it's wine-colored flowers.

Salvia clevelandii 'Allen Chickering', Cleveland Sage
This shrub is a must. Comes in several sizes, with some variation in flower color, but all great! The flowers grow in whorls on upright stems and look good long after they've lost their color. If you drive Greenback near I-80 you'll see them in the median strip. Proud as can be!



Also mentioned in the segment: Tulbaghia violacea, Society Garlic; Lavender; Stachys byzantina, Lamb's Ears, Mediterranean plants that share our growing conditions. A wonderful mix with our CA natives!

Where to Learn More About California Native Plants

Upcoming workshop at Windmill Nursery; Sept 18

California Native Plant Society Sale; Sept. 25 & 25, McKinley Park; 10 - 2

UC Davis Arboretum Sale; Sept 25, UC Davis; 9 - 11 members only; 11-1, public

Demonstration Garden at the Old City Cemetery, Sacramento

Local Nurseries: Windmill and Cornflower Farms are the best providers of CA Natives in our area !

A few of the wonderful on-line purveyors of great info and some mail order ...I'm sure there are more:
Theodore Payne Foundation (mail order seeds, anyone?), Las Pilitas, Annie's Annuals

And, me... I'm really a beginner in this field, but I'm enthusiastic!

Catching the Fairy Dust seed at the Theodore Payne Fdn.

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.

Seedy Adventures

There is a magic and mystery to seeds, but perhaps you haven't noticed it!


One time a friend who's a marvelous gardener was going to do a project at her kid's school on seeds. I said I'd bring my collection over. I had all sorts of seeds to show her that I'd collected. She was a bit dumbfounded...had never thought of starting her garden with her own seeds! She was a smarty, too...(and a gardener!)... which made me realize that if Karen didn't get it, then lots of people didn't get it!


Last spring, I did a seed project with Arthur. We went outside, in his backyard, his front yard and across the street, looking for seeds...we gathered them up and displayed them. He then planted them (which was probably with mixed results, seeing how many of our seeds were not really mature or ripe).


There are seeds all around us...in the refrigerator, at the grocery store, on the dog or our jackets, and at the park. Get some neighborhood kids together and go on a seed hunt. Plant them (the seeds!) in a dixie cup or jiffy pot with some seed starter soil mix, about as deep as they are large, and keep them watered until they germinate. Each seed has it's own germination time (yea Google! Search Shasta Daisy germination time and you'll see how long it will take for my babies to break ground and anything else you might want to know!). Baby them until they're established a bit, and then put them in the ground or a pot where you can watch them grow. They may go dormant over the winter, but next spring, with luck you'll see the rest of the magic!

Fall is a great time to plant, not only your fall vegetables, but perennials as well. For my article at GalTime on this subject AND a great seed giveaway, click here!

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.

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.

Fall is for Planting

flickr photo by Tigerzeye

Fall is the season for planting most everything, especially in the Sacramento Valley where there's a long growing season. When plants newly get plopped into that hole you've prepared, the roots that bring in water and minerals and oxygen (so the plant can breathe) still have the shape of their old container. They dry out faster and can't really do their job to anchor the plant. Planting now allows the roots to get integrated into your soil before the low temps of winter settle in...trees (which soon will be in nurseries showing their fall color), new or reseeded lawns, shrubs, perennials, fall bulbs...can get a head start and by spring will be ready to take off. So, now is really the time! If you need some help, re-designing your garden or planting those bulbs or shrubs, send me an email.
Jeannie (Geno herself)

2nd Thoughts on 2nd Spring

One of the things I love about gardening is the science of it, the gaining of knowledge and competence by trial and error. With that, I have to admit my 2nd spring experiment hasn't gone so well. Like many of you, I don't always get my plants into the ground the minute I get home. And, so, some of those plants I cheerily brought home didn't make it past Sacramento's Second Summer! But, I learned that the asters and the alyssum were the more fragile...and the vinca was quite up to our late-August heat wave.
Lessons learned: 1) the Second Spring isn't quite the same as the First Spring...duh...it can be really hot, so be prepared! 2) plants do better in the ground which stays cooler and more likely to be watered than the small easy to dry out compartment of the 6-pack.