About Town with Geno's Garden: a McKinley Park Garden

an (almost) no-lawn landscape ...

How fun for me, an invitation to meet another gardener and her garden! Patty has been creating this garden in McKinley Park for the last 15 years. The first thing I notice is the generous flagstone path. Wide paths have a way of making you feel welcome, don't you think?

Her sun border has some great perennials, like this Bee Balm. Hummingbirds love it!

Ferns in containers are a great way to garden under a large shade tree, especially one with gnarly surface roots like a magnolia!

More perennials ... this one looks to me to be the tall spiky Liatris, with another hummingbird favorite, California Fuchsia,

and a Black and Blue Salvia. Salvias attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Do we see a trend here?

Away to the back yard for more horticultural bounty! Here we have a nice mix of tomatoes and other veg in containers,

and, some member of the squash family with a variety of annuals and perennials.
(Rosalind Creasy would be proud!)

Did I mention the bamboo? Of course there's bamboo! I love the sophistication of these colors and and the variety of shapes.

The bamboo grove extends to 5 neighboring yards and was here before Pat bought the house. She's created a pathway so she can get in there and control it.

What's a garden without some funky homemade art projects? Boring!

... a closer look. I love rusty tin things, and this would be a project any of us could do!

The next project is tackling the remaining front yard lawn, a small skimpy grass having trouble doing anything in the shade and roots of the magnolia. Most likely it will go to be replaced by another lovely border and some paths. Then she's an official "No-Lawn Gardener". No lawn, no mower, no edger for her! Patty says her spring garden bursts with tulips ... I'll be looking forward to seeing that! Thanks to Chris, a Facebook Fan, for inviting me to visit her mom's garden. I really enjoyed it.

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.

Plant I.D. Nerium Oleander

Nerium oleander - Oleander
(Plant Profile Saturday)

Oleander is a native Mediterranean shrub that grows ubiquitously here in Sacramento, especially on freeways and median strips. Here are some of its characteristics:

Size: This is a large evergreen shrub. The species grows rapidly, 4 - 6"/year, until it reaches a height of 18 - 20' and a width of 12 - 15'. There are cultivars, such as Petite Pink, that are much smaller, with a height of 3 - 6'.

Pruning: Because it is so tolerant of pruning, it is frequently seem as a 6' hedge, a lollypop, or a multi-stemmed tree. It may be too top-heavy until its trunk has some girth, so will require some staking. If it has become ugly or too leggy, it can be cut to the ground before new growth in the spring and it will come back. If it is "skirted up" to create a tree form, it will continue to produce basal growth, so you will need to continue that pruning or you could wind up with an oleander bustle at its base.

Poisonous: yes, all parts if eaten. Can cause severe irritation if its smoke is inhaled, so don't burn trimings.

Care: Oleanders like regular water, but are drought tolerant ... can take sun or shade, acidic to alkaline soils. In other words, everything!

Propagation: by seed.

Leaf & Flower: long narrow leaves are 5 - 10", 3 leaves at each node. Red, white and pink flowers bloom from spring to fall (newer cultivars provide additional colors).

The GF (Green Factor): most commonly, "right plant for the right place" is violated with this shrub due to the extra pruning, extra green waste, and, yes, extra work! It is a useful landscape shrub and can provide great background color, but the ultimate size should be considered before planting.

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.

About Town with Geno's Garden: Orange you glad I'm so spectacular?

Today's subject: the color orange. I like my orange-bloomers (ahem) but lately find my attention being drawn to orange houses. In Sacramento's McKinley Park, that's not difficult, orange seems to be the hot color trend. Sometimes it's bold, sometimes subdued, oftentimes Mediterranean, but, never boring. Here's my first ever YouTube video (excuse the photo quality) of my orange flowers and some of the houses I spotted today.



To watch Garden Gate Magazine's slide show on using orange in your garden, Click Here!

I find orange to be up to the task of enlivening our heat stressed gardens in the middle of summer when everything starts looking bleached out. Then, too, for some reason they seem to flower in summer and fall, which makes it convenient. Here are a few other orange bloomers (ahem) you might try: persimmon, canna tropicana, hibiscus, crocrosmia, cape honeysuckle, tiger lily, ca poppies, aesclepius, chasmanthe.

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.

Bradshaw Animal Center Rain Garden

a real time look at a demonstration rain garden

I'm designing a rain garden for myself and have one on the books for a client, so I went out to Sacramento County's Animal Care Facility on Bradshaw Road for a look at their demo garden.

Rain falls onto roofs and pavements...



Fresh rain water drains into the rain garden...

...where it is used by the plants and absorbed into the ground.

Rain gardens help make our environment healthy. A rain garden is a shallow man-made depression that collects rain water from roof tops. A rain garden benefits our environment in several ways,

• Collects rain water and allows it to be absorbed into the ground.
• An average-sized rain garden in Sacramento can potentially retain thousands of gallons of water every year.
• Protects creeks and rivers from pollutants carried by rain water
• Produces beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees.
• Provides habitat for birds and butterflies.

California and Mediterranean natives are great choices for rain gardens, just make sure you pick plants that don't mind getting a bit soggy when it rains!

If a picture paints a thousand words, then what happens when you see it in person? Take a trip out to the shelter. It's lovely, has a big dog park, great examples of drought tolerant plantings

For more about rain gardens and some great links, check out The Great Rain Garden Adventure.

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.

Virtual Wine Tasting with the Bee's Chris Macias

Hi! This is a new thing for me! As you may (or may not) know, I'm part of a group of local bloggers and media types that are part of Sac Connect, an online collaboration, hosted by the Sacramento Bee. It's a new thing for the newspaper, too. It's fun to be part of something that's being created, part of the trial and error, at that malleable stage where input is listened too and you get to be part of the discovery.

Tonight I attended a get-together where we got to meet in person ... bloggers of many persuasions and a whole lot of Bee staff. We had nice wine and food and talked (about ourselves, always fun!) We all went home with a bottle of Zin from Revolution Wines, the urban winery and tasting room that hosted our event. This is my bottle, and my glasss of grapefruit juice ;)

It is thus, in the spirit of cooperation, that I (or my computer) will co-host (sort of) the live virtual wine tasting event tomorrow evening from 6 - 7 pm. The virtual part is I may not be here and if I am, grapefruit juice will be served. This is an experiment for the Bee, (and for me. Who knows, maybe someday I'll host a virtual event of my own ... perhaps virtual snacking? I'll have chips and ice cream from the carton and you can watch!) Seriously though, come on by tomorrow evening while Chris and 3 guests will be sipping and commenting on 3 CA Fair medal winners. If you have the time (and inclination), pick up the wines and taste along with these local wine experts. To find out more, click here. (Note: you can watch on the Sac Bee site or on my site, but, tell me the truth, wouldn't you rather drink wine over at Geno's?)

About Town with Geno's Garden: DIY Ideas from the Fair Oaks Blvd. Nursery

I made a quick stop at the nursery on my way home. It was way too hot to linger, but I made a quick trip to see what I could see. They have always had some great clobbered together elements. In the middle of all that fine elegance they surprise you with concrete steps painted coral and lavender, or a homemade picket fence.

The fence is really simple and fun ... I think I could make one,

and I love this table. Is it made from a packing crate?

Here's an old picture of a hut they had awhile ago. I didn't see it today. I want it!

If you've never been to the nursery it is a treat. I worked there several years ago and people would routinely come by and soak in the beauty as if they were going to a park. In addition to a great selection of plants, they also have a wonderful gift shop. Check out their website for more info.

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 June ... It's Daylily Time!

Daylily Days at Amador Flower Farm this weekend

Hemerocallis, from the Greek, hemera (day) + kallos (beauty)

I love this plant, especially the older ones...the oranges and the yellows.


But, sometimes bolder colors are called for, as in front of this brick wall dividing a lovely house and garden from a busy street.  A nice mix of red daylilies, crape myrtle, dietes (fortnight lily) and boulders (and queen palms in the background).

... a closer look

Daylilies are plentiful. You can easily populate your garden with these day beauties (were you paying attention to the greek translation at the top?) with plants from your gardening friends, as these plants multiply each year and eventually need to be divided. Your friends will be happy to share, especially if you bring over your own spading fork or shovel and help do the work! That's how I feel about it, and I have a bed that needs dividing, ahem...

Back to my Sunset Garden book, "When clumps become crowded (usually after 3 to 6 years), divide them in fall or early spring in hot-summer areas, during summer in cool-summer regions or where growing season is short."

here's a bed that needs some attention ...

and, here's one of the beauties in that bed that I plan to snab for myself!

The daylily is popular, thus much activity on the part of the breeders, resulting in a myriad of sizes, colors, variegation. According to my Sunset Western Garden Book, "New hybrids appear in such numbers that no book can keep up. To get the ones you want, visit daylily specialists, buy plants in bloom at your local nursery, or study catalogues." Now's the time for such shopping/research. Amador Flower Farm is holding its 14th annual Daylily Days this weekend ... Saturday and Sunday, June 26th and 27th from 9 am to 4 pm. Food, tram rides, drawings, and ...

a million flowers in bloom!

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.

About Town: Grass Valley Family Time

We headed up to Grass Valley on Sunday for the 35th Annual Father's Day Bluegrass Festival. The weather was perfect and we were surrounded by Sugar Pines and Redwoods...

...and the sound of bluegrass. The festival had been preceded by a 4 day music camp. It ended with the Orange Blossom Special.

We are quirky, us Hansons. When we camp in Oregon we'll all be found reading. And, I guess, these days, that would also include texting! (I love watching my daughter's fingers moving...they're like dancing kabuki spiders.)

It was a lovely day, hope yours was great, 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.

Remembering Dad

The Backyard Farmer

My dad was really the gardener of the family ... my mom was his weeder. Like my Irish grampa before him, he was a backyard farmer.

We had a lanai in our backyard in Southern California. Dad took our modest single car garage and stenciled cowboys and cactus on the side of it ... bigger than life, bull-riding cowboys. He built a goldfish pond on the opposite side, a brick bar-b-que on the end,  and screened it in so we could eat outside without flies in the summer. We had an orchard behind the patio/lanai, where we had plums and apricots and avocados, corn and string beans. He built a 8' x 8' aviary for our parakeets, and before that, a 3rd bedroom for our little house (his dad was a carpenter, and every week his dad would send him written instructions for the next tasks to get that bedroom done). I grew up amazed at how much my dad knew.

I grew up with vegetables and fruit trees and bull-riding cowboys. When my husband and I bought our first (and only) house, I was, like, instantly a backyard farmer, too. My dad never saw this side of me, he died before this. I wonder what he would have thought about it all.

My dad had a quiet side. In the morning before work he'd watch the sun come up while he drank his coffee and listened to the farm report (he worked for the Dept. of Agriculture). He liked it quiet like that before everyone got up. At night he'd sit outside and look at the stars. Just look. One of the things I loved most about my dad was I could sit with him and be at peace without talking.

My dad was smart, hardworking, creative, opinionated and authoritarian. He was a great story teller. I was born on his birthday, so he was also my twin. I could wrap him around my finger.

Happy Father's Day Everyone!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

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.

About Town with Geno's Garden - Antiques in the Garden

Antiques make a great focal point!

I love going to the Antique Trove in Roseville. In addition to the huge indoor area, there's a garden section in the back with columns, angels, pots, seating, fountains. I find it all rather evocative and inspiring.

I used this gate in my garden display at the recent California Flower & Garden Show. It provided a bit of an enclosure for a sitting area with citrus. In this case it wasn't a focal point, but somehow created a bit of dimension that made the ordinary quite remarkable. Wouldn't it make a lovely trellis for a climbing rose?

I've often seen millstone bubbler fountains advertised in gardening magazines and wondered where they got the millstones. These were in Riley's Antiques, a vendor at the Trove (he loaned me the Spanish bed for my display!).

High Hand Nursery in Loomis is a master at mixing plants with antiques, making wonderful use of old trucks, stoves or sweet fountains like the one above.

Isn't this little boy lovely? He's mine! He sits on my patio and currently has succulents growing in the basin. He was in the back section of a client's garden, neglected and sort of just there, like an old wheelbarrow or broken ladder. I traded some services for him. I feel lucky to have him, and appreciative that the owner was willing to let him come to my house.

For me it's a happy garden combination, plants and antiques. I don't quite know how to describe it but it works!

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.

The Great Rain Garden Adventure

and so it begins...

I have a client who wants to do the modern thing ... rip out the lawn, plant natives, reuse materials when feasible, reduce water use, and ... have a rain garden!

I was on board for most all of it. Through my training and certification as a "Green Gardener", it's become a natural way of thinking, and I guess that's what has appealed to me about the green gardening movement most: it's the natural way to garden. Do what Mother Nature would do!

a photo of the American River near Sac State

The rain garden concept was awkward, however, I just didn't quite get it. In Sacramento we need water in the summer when it doesn't rain, so what's the good of collecting it if it isn't available when we need it most? With some reading, I realized that in our area the main benefits are to our waterways:

• the filtering out of impurities (toxins, fertilizers, whatevers)otherwise sent thru the storm drains to our rivers, by having the rain percolate thru the soil, and
• the reduction of big "water event" system overloads (where all the local rain gets channeled thru our downspouts and drainage systems to our streets to the storm drains to the rivers with a big "whoosh!"), and
• it doesn't hurt that they can be indeed, lovely! Nope!

photo from Spartanburg Water

We're so used to our modern system (take it to the streets and down the storm drains), we're unaware of any other way to deal with rainfall. We've paved over everything, hardscaped our property, built freeways and roads and driveways, there's really not much land to absorb the rain, but we needn't worry, we channel it off our property to the street! So, enter the new/old idea, the rain garden. A simple concept ... a bit of a ditch ... a bit of a swale or a berm, something to channel the water flow and slow it down. Like in the good old days!

I'm new to this, not some enviro-scientist. Mostly a person who loves plants, but I'm learning and I like it! The Sacramento Bee had a super article last January which was a great starting point for me. It had some practical links, including a guide from the River-Friendly Landscaping folk which I'll be using in the creation of my very own, first rain garden! Stay tuned for updates! (And, if you have anything to chime in ... your own rain garden successes, failures and advice, feel free!)

(poster available from the Good Nature Publishing Company)

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.

Introducing "About Town with Geno's Garden"

Nice New Vine at LaBou on Watt  and El Camino in Sacramento

I'm always snapping pictures as I drive around ... sometimes it's something I admire, like a cool landscape or a planting combination ... sometimes it's something I don't like, like a particularly offensive pruning job (a big pet peeve!). So starting today I'm going to have a weekly feature, About Town with Geno's Garden (and, no, it won't always be placed in Sacramento ... I do go other places, you know ...). I've got lots of back stories, but I'll start with a recent vine treatment that caught my eye.

This is Pandora jasminoides, commonly known as Bower Vine. Native to Australia, it likes regular water and some shade in the valley (ain't gonna get it in front of LaBou!). It's not zoned for our area, but it is sold here. I think the main problem is if we have a big freeze. Oh, and too much heat. Besides this white with pink throat version, it also comes in pure white ('Alba') and pink with red-throat ('Rosea')and blooms all season, from late spring to early fall.

Vines hold on to their support structure by twining around things (grapes, morning glories), attaching themselves with little sticky feet (ivy, creeping fig), or with our help or the help of a tree or something (roses).

Evidence of the late occupier of this structure. What vine do you think it was? Also, notice the attachment method (I saw a similar product at Home Depot, a 3' x 50' roll of vinyl-covered 2 x 4" squares for about $50.)

These vines were only planted a couple of months ago, but they're in a race to get to the top!

I'm always on the lookout for ways to create height without taking up too much room. I love the feeling of an enclosed garden, but, most of us don't have enough garden real estate to give up to an 8' wide hedge, and these days I'm looking for plants that work without having to be bullied into doing the job with lots of pruning (I like to save my carbon footprint for something important, like trips to Ben & Jerry's!). I'll be keeping an eye on this vine to see how it does in the long haul and will be reporting back.

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.

Theme Gardens

I love the inspiration of a garden theme. In the past I've blogged about different ideas that caught my fancy ... the Modern Mediterranean Garden, the Half-Barrel Garden, community gardens. The best thing is the list is endless ... wouldn't it be fun to create a Beach Garden, or the Indian Garden above? (Hint: the answer is yes!)
Note: the Indian Summer Lodge is actually in Houston and created by garden designer, Jeff Law, who specializes in xeric, tropical gardens.

I’m fascinated with Rosalind Creasy’s series of books on Edible Gardens(essentially, front yard gardens with an artful mix of ornamental and edible plants). She’s made a career out of writing about her own edible gardens in their various incarnations (The Italian Edible Garden, the Edible Flower Garden), and she’s provided us with cookbooks to go with these gardens, too!

At last night's meeting of the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club, a slide show was presented by the director of the UC Botanical Garden, Dr. Paul Licht. I loved his enthusiastic talk and realized that botanical gardens like the UC garden (and our own UC Davis Arboretum) are great shopping places for plant lovers! Not only do these scientifically minded folk delight in rediscovering ancient plants thought to be extinct and bring them back to life, they also sell them to us! Click here for more info about the Chilean Bell Flowers above and sales info. The 34-acre garden has 9 geographical areas, as well as many indoor and outdoor specialty collections. You could be in a Japanese garden, overlooking a pond and see into Africa! Now there’s some thematic gardening!

In gardens, one needs similarities … of color, of style, region. This creates a feeling for the whole space. And, one also needs differences … provided by leaf shape, contrasting color or form. This sharpens the focus so the individual items can be appreciated. And, one needs focal points! Yep, they do. Something to catch the eye, a reason to linger.

National or regional themes can provide that unifying effect (or similarity) in a garden. On the larger scale (Earth) they provide the contrast. Perhaps someday we’ll graduate to an even bigger arena, where we’ll be showcasing our planet’s garden features in an interplanetary botanical setting. Easy to image a moon garden (dimpled planet, gardeners wearing anti-gravity suits), but just how far does your imagination take 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.

Veggies!

It's Time to Plant Your Vegetable Garden

Song lyrics come to mind, "It's Now or Never", "This is it...make no mistake of it, the waiting is over..." Yes, in this odd-ball weather year, our veggie garden moment is here. Of course, there are many who've been at it for months, but the moment I'm talking about is that moment that says: Listen up! We finally have some warm weather and it's time to get your vegetable garden planted! Now! Come June it will heat up fast and those transplants can't get established when it's too hot! (Fact: cell division necessary for the roots to grow doesn't happen when it's too hot.)

What to grow? Any of the warm season crops, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, beans, melons, pumpkins, eggplant, okra (as if).  Check out your nursery for transplants, and don't forget to look at the seed rack ... many of the warm season veg seeds germinate quickly. Put a bean in the ground, 5 days later it's sprouting. Same for melons, squash and corn.

This year I'm trialing an EarthBox with duplicate veggies in the ground and the box. We'll see how it goes. I'll also have some container appropriate veggies in pots. I have a nice amount of space for my own little mini-farm, but want to see what can be grown in smaller urban spaces, like apartment balconies and courtyard gardens. I'm looking forward to growing this chard, the seed pack says, "thrives in any climate, grows spring thru fall." Pretty good odds on this one.

There's a free e-book, Abundant Harvest, Your Guide to the Home Vegetable Garden, you can download from the website, Growing a Greener World. Easy to read and covers all the basics!

Happy Gardening!

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.