Gardendelightsnursery’s Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogEasy care plants 8/18/13
Free talk on easy care plants at the nursery, Sunday 8/18/13, 11:00 a.m. RSVP
Trees, Shrubs, perennials, herbaceous plants, bulbs.
mixed container planting (edibles)
Making a garden seems like a lot of work for some people, but if you do it in a container, it becomes easy… and if you also plant for showiness (blossoms and/or foliage interest) the container becomes an accent show piece.
July 13th, (Sunday) 11:00 am at the nursery
FREE to attend
RSVP for the head count
AND a ‘mystery’ prize!
707 773 1133 nursery
or email hanascape@aol.com to reserve your spot
nursery talk 7/13/2013, 11:00am
The next nursery talk will interest everyone. Mixed container plantings featuring edibles and using other plants to make the container more attractive! RSVP
Rhododendron and azalea care now.
Most gardeners have at least one rhododendron or azalea in their garden landscape and if you are a new gardener, this is a tip to ensure good blooming for next year. These plants are prodigious seed setters. But that quality for reproduction takes a lot of energy and food reserves from the plant and next year’s blossoming show. What is needed now is to
‘dead head’ the old finished bloom stalks and leave the leaf bud growth immediately underneath that bloomed out blossom cluster. Gently pinch off the finished blooms soon after the flowering has finihsed. Be careful not to damage emerging leaf growth. Just try it and you will become very good at this…. especially if you have large plants! (that means you have MANY dead heads to do). What azalea growers do is this, either get a broom and sweep off those old blossoms on the tops of the plants, or simply shear them off with hedge shears. (they are efficient since they must do hundreds, if not thousands, of plants!) Don’t worry about the bush. Azaleas will be doing a LONG season of growth from now until fall. In Japan, Kurume and Satsuki azaleas are sheared in June/July and then only lightly pinched back on extra vigorous growth, letting the small branches grow since they will end with a flower bud.
Rhododendrons will respond by using the food reserves in the plant to form next years flower bud at the tip of the shoot. Don’t worry if you break off that growth shoot. Growers often do just that, and what results is many more growth shoots since that often single shoot now pruned off, redirects energy into the neighboring buds in the leaf cluster and you get more shoots later.
Important to keep plants well watered and well fed! Remeber you are feeding the plant for NEXT YEAR’s blooms!
Now is also a good time to cut back a leggy or overgrown plant. You can start by ringing the bark just to the wood about 3/4 around the stems and that will help activate growth in long dormant buds. Do this lower down on the main stems of the plant. That way, when you see new buds forming, you will know where to make cuts and those buds will come into growth. You may sacrifice some/ all bloom next year, but your plant will be short and compact after your prune back. (Important note is that there are a few rhodys that do not break from dormant buds and might die, but the majority of the hybrids will be fine with this treatment. If the resulting growth is leggy, remember to pinch the tip buds to help fatten up the shrub!
Some cvs. are naturally loose and open, just use them in an appropriate setting, such as espallier, trellis, up a pole, etc.
These are mostly shade shrubs. There are sun tolerant cvs. Rhododendron as a genus is very large and extremely variable. There are forest giants to 80 ft in cloud/rain forests, and small ground hugging alpines barely 1 ft tall, and everything in between so you have many choices available for your garden setting!
Garden Delights Nursery has moved.
see the home page
2115 Adobe Rd
Petaluma, CA 94954
707 773 1133
Win a prize!/ free talks at the nursery
Garden Delights is having two free talks. June 2, 2013 is on Japanese maple culture. How to grow a great Japanese maple!
June 9, 2013 tips on growing fruit trees. (remember Fathers Day!) You can order your special tree and have it there for Fathers Day lecture!
Two free ‘mystery’ prizes will be given at each talk.
You MUST RSVP to be qualified to win.
Nursery address:
2115 Adobe Rd
Petaluma
707 773 1133 (there is answering machine there to let me know you are coming, just leave your contact info if I am in the field not able to pick up with your PHONE NUMBER!
or email
Thanks, hope you will enjoy finding out about growing and harvesting your fruits from your very own trees, and take care of any maple problems you might have.
Erik
Tantalizing winter flowers
Camellias are well known to gardeners. However, there are very early bloomers and also new fragrant hybrids. Among the Camellia japonica cvs. I especially like these new varieties. Campfire has bright scarlet red single flowers in profusion and prominent yellow stamens. I prefer this to C. sasanqua Yuletide since the growth is not so stiff and the plant habit quite a bit more attractive and densely bushy. C. japonica San Dimas is another stunning bloom in bright red. Semidouble flowers also generous in their display, come early and are very showy. The scarlet red really stands out in the landscape as well as floating in a bowl. And the bright cheery reds are wonderful for the holidays! A nice change from the ubiquitous poinsettias and they are hardy, so you can plant them in the garden and have them blooming year after year.
Other special early varieties are the picoteed varieties in the ‘tama’ group. Tama no Ura is the parent and unique among camellias with its white edges on red petals. Bell shaped flowers offer a nice display all over the plant for a long time. The hybrids from this are also very showy. Tama Bell, is bright red, single and the edging of white is more pronounced. Tama Electra is also bright red and similar. Tama Americana has more petals, again red and white and very nice with a fuller flower effect. Tama Peacock is a favorite, semidouble flowers in bright red, edged white, profuse and on a pendulous growing plant. Tama Vino is a standout in any crowd. Dark wine red petals highly contrasted by thw white border creates a stunning effect. None are common, but you can order them here.
Fragrance in camellias is rare, but some C. japonica cvs. are lightly fragrant, though most are not early season blooming. The hybrids are early and fragrant. Favorites here are Koto no Kaori, Minato no Akebono, Scented Gem. Koto no Kaori has small single bright pink flowers in profusion. Small fine textured foliage is a nice backround for the profuse blossoms, scented of cinnamon. Minato no Akebono is also cinnamon fragranced, and the light pink single blooms are a bit larger, very elegant growth in the garden landscape. Scented Gem is a real gem. Small pink flowers have white petaloid centers, lightly fragrant too. Cinnamon Cindy is a compact bushy grower, thousands of lightly double white flowers come in great profusion for a very long time, though they do not bloom extremely early, they are highly scented, of cinnamon of course! I wonder why everybody does not have it in their gardens.
Scented Sun is a larger bloom. Here you find mostly white flowers, with prominent stamens and flecks in red, sometimes the plant will produce sports of red to pink flowers. Nice fragrance, and medium to large blooms. High Fragrance is another popular hybrid, lightly peony form double flowers in light pink. Stiff upright growth. These both bloom later in the camellia season.
As with all camellias, partial shade suits them best, ample water ing with good drainage and high humus in the planting mix/ site will grow a good camellia.
Tips for the season, pruning, planting, etc.
Winter is not a slack time for gardeners in our climate. We can take a break but there are plenty of things to do. Planting natives and drought tolerant plants can be done now during the cool rainy period. Getting the site ready for bareroot and potted fruit trees, deciduous species of trees and shrubs can all be done now. Bulbs can also be put in *(wait for soil to warm a bit before planting summer bulbs like dahlias, gladiolous, but ok for lilies), bareroot perennials like daylillies, astilbe, etc. is now a good time as well. Prepare the soil by adding compost (no fertilizer now). Dig when the soil is not excessively wet, if rains have made your soil soggy, wait for a few days, week to allow drainage to happen and then when you dig, test the dampness by observing how wet the soil is after the first shovel. If soggy and muddy, it is too wet, if it breaks apart, then it is ok to dig and make your planting hole. Dig your hole wider than deep and make a central cone of soil. Digging wider than what the spread of the roots is, will allow ample space for them to spread out in the planting hole. You do not want to crowd roots and cramp them up when you plant. (also the reason you cut or untangle them when you plant from containers). They never grow out of that spiral or kink if planted in too narrow a hole. Planting in a wide hole allows roots to be spaced out and then begin new growth freely without being crowded together. You make a cone of soil in the center to allow for bringing the plant height up to grade. You can plant so that grade is slightly high when you are finished. This allows for soil settling down after you plant and water. A firming of the soil BY HAND (not feet) will compact it enough to not have excessive settling after watering in. Too deep final planting height is also not good. Better to allow for slightly higher planting height than too deep. (too deep buries the root crown and that can cause the plant to just rot and die). If your finished planting is high, then you can just add mulch and things should be alright for the plant provided you water regularly until established during the growing season. To guage how wide to make the hole, spread roots out to see how wide they spread and then make your planting hole that wide.
If you are planting a tree, or tall shrub bareroot, you may stake the plant to help keep it upright after planting. Install the stake before you plant on the cone of soil, to avoid damaging the roots after planting. You can use loose ties to gently hold the plant to the stake and later prevent binding from too excessively tight ties. Many deciduous (leaf losing) species can be planted this method). Among the many choices are deciduous trees, shrubs, fruit trees, and even some small evergreens, provided they do not dry out. Many plants are very forgiving during their dormant season in winter. Remeber that immediate replanting will help insur success if you are transplanting something to a new location. Do not delay and have your hole predug and ready to accept the new transplant if you are transplanting.
Other tasks such as general clean up/sanitation of the garden are most effective if done on a regular basis, but the winter clean up will rid the garden of many hibernating insect eggs and diseases.
Pruning can be done on many deciduous plants. Fruit trees commonly come to mind, but other plants can also be pruned now. Remember that pruning stimulates growth, and there will be growth happening as soon as spring comes on the cuts you make now. You can prune now, or wait until just before spring growth comes. Cuts made then (and before the sap starts flowing, heal very fast) Camellias can be renovated now during bloom or immediately after and befoe new growth begins. For spring flowering plants, cut back in bloom. Pruning at the blossom time will stimulate growth which has a long season to mature and that long time for growth will give the best chance for blossoms next spring. You can renew an old tired plant this way also. Spring flowering shrubs respond very well to this kind of treatment. Bridal wreathe (spirea), mockorange (philadephus), deutzia, rhododendron, camellia, kerria, spring flowering viburnums, lilacs, will all respond well to this pruning. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs just yet, wait until in bloom, then prune or just after bloom. (If you prune them now, you will just be removing the spring flowering wood)
Corective pruning on fruit trees can be done now. If you are planting young saplings, prune to give advantageous buds their best position for spring growth. eg.wide angle crotches, buds into the windward side of the plant, etc.
just email me for other questions.
Winter planting
Even with the rains and inclement weather, NOW is a very good time to plant, especially natives and xeriscape(drought tolerant) species. Remember that drought tolerant plants do much of their root growth now, when the weather is cool and moisture abundant. Their growth cycle allows them to do much root growth now to prepare for the coming spring flush of flowers and leaves, and then be well established for the dry summer and fall, (and often early winter) months. Particularly showy species like the native iris and their numerous hybrids (which are amazingly beautiful and bright in colors) are best planted now. They are coming into a natural growth cycle (roots appear first, then leaf and flowers/top growth). I prefer these iris species and hybrids to many others, since their evergreen grassy foliage is attractive once bloom is over. They are very low maintenance. In coastal areas, they are virtually carefree! Plant them, water to get established and sit back to enjoy their flowers. In hot climates, you need to supply additional moisture and they do appreciate partial shade if in very hot areas.
Other natives offer a wide range of easy care plants and colorful flowers in season. Salvias and penstemons are used on a regular basis in the landscape industry, but these are the most available types. If you care to search into the genus of both a little more extensively, you will find wondrous beauties that are not at all commonly available. You have to seek out specialist growers, seed sources, native plant societies and botanic gardens, etc! Here are amazing plants for the drier landscape and garden. They love going drier in summer and fall… water tolerance at those times becomes a survival issue…too much and you may lose the plant. But copious amounts of winter and spring moisture will get the plant well off to good growth in spring and summer drought tolerance. Taper off watering at that time until rains come in fall, winter. Especially important if you are planting wild species that go summer dormant, semidormant due to dry conditions.
Special garden gems coming into bloom now are Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), heathers (Erica and Calluna spp and cvs.) Christmas heather, etc. others have foliage color besides their blooms! , and species with showy bark also come into their own during the winter months.
Don’t forget conifers! They come in a vast array of sizes, colors, textures and growing conditions. Some tolerate boggy soils, others dry and cold tolerance from their alpine habitats. Many make excellent container plants! their special characteristics shine out when they are highlighted with container planting.
Blueberries are the neglected showy shrubs for containers! Their acid soil preferences are easily satisfied with potting mixes in container plantings. They are 4 season plants, having attractive features in all seasons AND they are edibles! Tree ripened fruits are SO MUCH tastier than store bought since they ripen to perfection on your bush, and you pluck those savory blue gems when fully ripe and flavorful from bush to cereal bowl! AND they grow FAST as well… friends planted 2 gallon sized plants and the following year or two, had copious fruits over a long bearing season (months) and plenty for blueberry pies! (nothing compares to ripe blueberries in blueberry pies!, not even in the same catagory as ANY store bought berry)
*A new blueberry of mention is the PINK blueberry! wonderful taste AND in PINK! YES, the berries are PINK, not blue
Additionally, the bush is showy in winter. stems are red with bark colors! (typical blueberries have green bark in winter. noticeable, but not as showy)
So blueberries are the much underused edible plant for the garden. patio. landscape! Regular and consistent crops(more if you have several cvs. to increase pollination), 4 seasons of interest: spring is blossoms, summer has ornamental fruits, fall gives wonderful foliage colors, winter has showy bark.
Easy care, minimal pruning, and you have time to enjoy the garden! Sit back and relax over morning coffee, OJ, cereal / pancakes, waffles sprinkled with blueberries you grew yourself (easy) and tasty! *much better tasting than store bought.
additionally, you know exactly what chemicals are used (or more importantly NOT used) on your plants!
Plant now. for spring blooms, summer harvest!
Garden tasks now
Preparing the garden for winter is important now. General clean up, pruning out of dead growth, clearing drains, weeding are all important for the garden now.
You can prepare for the coming spring by visiting the nursery now to see what is available for winter color, foliage, etc. and spring blooms. You can also think about ordering seeds, and getting prepared to sow them, having all the necessary items for that sowing. Heat mat, grow location, grow iights if you chose to do so, selection of seed varieties, etc.
Division of many clumping plants can be done now as well. Iris, native iris, clumping perennials in general can all be divided now and they will make lots of root growth and ready to bloom heavily next spring, summer.
Camellia species *choice uncommon types)
Camellias are well tried garden favorites. There are great surprises in camellias if you happen to check into the rare/uncommon species. C. reticulata has probably the most spectacular flowers of the genus. Very large blooms with fluted, ruffled petals. Most cvs. are semidouble, but there are formal, rose form, peony form, and singles available. These are not necessarily attractive plants out of bloom. C. reticulata can grow tall, to 50 ft in 300 yrs. so has a gaunt open habit as a young plant.
C. transnokoensis is a gem. Simply wonderful. Fine textured small foliage and white blooms (buds are tipped buff red) are small and profuse. They offer light fragrance as well. Very graceful frondlike branching, giving a slightly arching specimen shrub. Elegant is a good way to describe the plant.
C. tsaii is just a wonderful thing. Here you get narrow long pointed leaves. The margins are wavy and graceful. Small white fragrant flowers in profusion are pendant on the branches. This can mature at 20 ft. and so heavy blooming that you can see a carpet of snowy white flowers beneathe a fully bloomed shrub filled with masses of blooms.
C. nokoensis is similar to C. transnokoensis, but will perhaps a more pendant growth and less shiny leaves (more dull, almost grey green leaf) Small white blooms, wonderful textural specimen plant.
C. assimilis is much admired for its new growth, dainty foliage is bronze red when young. pendant growth habit, very graceful.
C. salicifolia is another in the similar style. narrow small foliage is almost willow like. Small white flowers. Wonderful.
C. cuspidata is a very long bloomer. Rather open growth (sun tolerant too), this has white single blooms that blossom over a very long period, up to 4-5 months) Growth is open and upright, makes a nice backround specimen.
C. synaptica is just this wonderful thing with an exceptional fragrance (think citrus blossom fragranced). It looks similar to C. ssanqua in leaf, and flower, but the white blossoms are nicely scented. upright bushy growth.
C. chekiangoleosa is still rare, but the saturated red blooms make it a standout in any landscape! The color comes through often in the hybrid progeny, so look for new cvs. of this in the future.
All have similar cultural needs to the common camellia (C. japonica) well drained acid soil, lots of organic matter, ample watering and part shade (for most types. some are very sun tolerant)
All make excellent evergreen garden subjects.
See many of them at the nursery!
Gardendelightsnursery's Blog 