Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Cool season vegetables should be planted right away to insure good crops this fall. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and kale can be planted now.

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with a “bloom” fertilizer to encourage flowers for next spring.

• When perennials have finished blooming, cut them back by about one third, or to a flush of basal growth, to promote repeat bloom on coreopsis, lavender, penstemon, phlox, salvia, scabiosa and Shasta daisy.

• Plant snapdragons and stock now for for cool season color this fall and winter.

• Sow these vegetable seeds directly in the soil: carrots, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radish, spinach and root vegetables. Keep the surface of the soil moist until the seedlings are established.

Look What’s Blooming in August

In the months of May and June our gardens are bursting with colorful perennials. There’s no end to the variety of flowers that are blooming in early summer. But by mid-summer, the garden may start to look a bit “over the hill.”

There’s really no reason why your flower beds shouldn’t look wonderful all summer. Except that most gardeners do most of their planting in the springtime and end up choosing plants that are in bloom at that time. August is a month for “late bloomers.”

Bursting onto the scene are the sky-blue, spherical flower heads of Lily-of-the-Nile, or Agapanthus. This handsome landscape plant, known for its light blue or white flowers, now comes in a rich dark blue as well.

A nice complement to the upright stalks of Agapanthus is Gaura, nicknamed ‘Whirling Butterflies.’ This wispy plant sends up slender spikes of starry white or pink blooms in a vase-shaped fountain. The white form reaches four feet tall while ‘Siskyou Pink’ only gets two feet tall.

Hummingbirds will be attracted by the bright red blossoms of ‘Lucifer’ Crocosmia, or Montbretia. It forms clumps of sword-shaped leaves with sprays of flowers on 3 foot stems. This is a striking improvement over the traditional orange flowers.

‘Goldsturm’ Rudbeckia is a golden yellow, black-eyed Susan on a truly perennial plant. It makes clumps of 2-foot stems that are covered with daisies for many weeks, and it comes back year after year. It is a great companion plant for ornamental grasses. Try it with Mexican Feather Grass, Stipa tenuisima.

Gerbera daisies are grown for their bright and cheerful daisy-like flowers. They are native to South Africa and come in many colors including pink, yellow, salmon, orange, red and white, with flowers up to 5 inches across.
Gladiolus, with their tall spikes of flowers in almost every color, make wonderful cut flowers. Plant the bulbs in the back of the perennial border as they grow 3- to 4-feet tall.

Asters come into their own in late summer and fall. Michaelmas daisies are the old-fashioned asters that cover themselves with blue, purple, red or pink flowers and attract butterflies to your garden.

Butterflies will also enjoy the airy purple blooms of Verbena bonariensis. It makes a dramatic statement with its slender, willowy stems that stand up to 6 feet tall and do not need staking.

With their large, ball-shaped flower heads, hydrangeas flaunt an old-fashioned charm that is hard to resist. Their clear blues, vibrant pinks, and frosty whites add a coolness to the shady garden on hot summer days.

Don’t let your flower garden slip into the summer doldrums. Plant some lovely “late bloomers” now.

• Tree collards make a delicious winter vegetable. Set plants out now to give them time to grow before the winter chill that makes the leaves so sweet.

• Trim grapevines to allow more sun to reach the fruit and sweeten the grapes, if they are being shaded heavily by the foliage.

• Sow lettuce seeds now for a fall crop. Set out broccoli, kale and cabbage plants too.

• Feed fuchsias, begonias, summer annuals and container plants to keep them green and blooming right up until frost.

• Take care of your roses: feed, water, weed, mulch and remove faded blooms regularly. Spray if necessary at first sign of insect or disease problems.

Drought Tolerant Plants

What makes a plant drought tolerant? How soon after planting will it be able to survive on its own? In our dry California climate, understanding drought tolerance is an important part of designing a landscape, and never more important than now.

A drought-tolerant plant is a plant that can survive with little or no water other than available rainfall. Varying locations and soil types affect drought tolerance, and different plants vary in their ability to withstand drought. Whether a plant is in full sun or in some shade will often make a difference as to whether it will be able to withstand drought.

Drought-tolerant plants are able to cope with scarcity of water in various ways. Some plants, including many trees, survive dry conditions with the aid of large, deep root systems that tap water stored deep in the soil. Once they have sent their roots down deep and wide, they will need little or no artificial irrigation. Cedar trees, pineapple guava, olive, oaks and ornamental pistachio trees have deep root systems to survive in dry landscapes.

Many plants have developed leaves which resist drought conditions. Some have developed thick, leathery leaves that reduce water loss. Toyon, manzanita, madrone, wild lilac and oleander are some examples.

Others have succulent leaves that store water and are waxy to prevent water loss. These include Sedums and Sempervivums. Sedums come in many forms from groundcovers, like the blue-green-leaved ‘Cape Blanco’ and golden ‘Angelina’ to the tall ‘Autumn Joy,’ which blooms in late summer and fall. Sempervivums, or hens and chicks, are also extremely drought tolerant and have colorful flowers.

Some plants have hairy or fuzzy leaves. The fine hairs keep moisture trapped at the leaf surface, which reduces the evaporation. California fuchsia, lavenders, rockroses and santolina survive this way. So do perennials like lamb’s ear, coneflowers, pincushion flower, wooly thyme, snow-in-summer and many Artemisias.

Plants with fine lacy foliage, designed to reduce leaf surface, lose less water through surface evaporation. These include Russian sage, yarrow, some verbenas and coreopsis.

A few plants, which are the lowest water users, drop their leaves and go dormant for the summer. The California buckeye drops its leaves in July or August and the flowering currant will go dormant in the summer if not irrigated.

It is important to remember that most plants, even drought-tolerant ones, need water initially in order to become established. Generally, they will need to be watered through one growing season. But if you plant in the fall, they will need less water the next summer than if they are newly planted in the spring.

There are water-conserving ground covers, shrubs, flowering plants and shade trees available for most any situation. With proper planning, you can enjoy a beautiful landscape without using a lot of water.

• Set out starts of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and lettuce for a fall harvest. Spray weekly with BT to keep the cabbage worms at bay.

• Replace codling moth pheromones now to make your apples as worm-free as possible. Replace the sticky papers at the same time.

• Roses have more flowers all summer long than any other shrub. Plant them in a sunny location and feed monthly for continuous blooms.

• Impatiens will give you instant color in shady areas and continue blooming right through the fall.

• Mottled leaves are often a sign of spider mites. Check for them with a hand lens or bring a leaf in to your nursery, in a plastic bag, for identification and treatment options.

Coping with Summer Heat and Your Garden

This is the time of year when our gardens can get a little less than bright and fresh looking due to the summer heat. The combination of high temperatures and lack of water can stress plants, and especially fruit trees.

By far the easiest and most effective way of keeping your garden looking fresh is by mulching. It is most effective in areas where the direct rays of the sun are baking your soil. As the sun beats down on bare soil it just pulls the water right out of it.

This harsh drying of the soil surface can also result in a “crusting” of the soil so that it has difficulty absorbing water or actually repels water. This can be devastating to your garden causing you plants to stress each hot day during the warmest part of the day.

When plants wilt due to this heat, tissue damage occurs, and each time this happens the plants become weaker and have more trouble recovering. When plants are stressed for any reason they emit chemicals that may attract insect pests as well.

Some symptoms of heat stress on fruit trees are sunburn on the trunk and branches, branch dieback and the presence of bark beetles. Healthy, well-watered trees are more resistant to beetle attacks. Painting the trunks with white latex paint will reflect the hot sun and prevent sunburned bark.

For well-drained sites, apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch around trees. If there are drainage problems, a thinner layer should be used. Avoid placing mulch against the tree trunks, but spread it out to the tree’s drip line or beyond.

Runoff water is a real problem for many home gardeners that live where soils are heavy. It can also be a problem for owners of new homes where the soils have been mechanically compacted. A layer of organic compost over the top of your soil will significantly reduce runoff. Mulching will also keep valuable plant nutrients in your soil where they belong.

Organic mulches placed on your soil regularly also build the overall quality of your soil as the mulch breaks down. It feeds the billions of beneficial microorganisms that help to increase humus formation while it also feeds such valuable garden friends as earthworms.

Composted wood chips make a good mulch, especially when they contain a blend of leaves, bark, and wood. Fresh wood chips may be used around established trees and shrubs. Bagged decorative bark also works well.

Monitor soil moisture and check your drip system for clogged sprinklers and emitters. If plants are doing poorly in spite of watering, make sure that you are not overwatering. Poke your finger down into the soil to test.

When the forecast is sizzling, plan to rise early and work during the cooler morning hours or in the evening. Keep a sharp eye on plants’ water needs, take good care of your soil and your plants will flourish in spite of the summer heat.