Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Petunias can be planted now. Their bright flowers will bloom all summer in hot, sunny locations and they will take a light frost.

• “Topsy Turvy”®Tomato and Pepper Planters are a fun and convenient way to enjoy these popular vegetables hanging right outside your kitchen door.

• The average date of the last frost in Willits is May 12. So protect young flowers and vegetables on clear, cold nights.

• Begin spraying roses now for insect and disease problems. Neem oil is a good product for a less toxic solution.

• Put up hummingbird feeders now and enjoy these colorful and entertaining birds.

Squash, Anyone?

The squash family provides us with such a wide variety of vegetables that differ so greatly in size and shape that it is sometimes hard to believe that they are related. They are divided into two groups: summer squash and winter squash.

Summer squash are dominated by the ever popular zucchini. Available now in both green and yellow as well as black, gray and striped, they each have a slightly different flavor and each have their followers.

Other summer squashes include scalloped squash or Patty Pan or sometimes Scallopini. This easy-to-grow and prolific squash is round and flattened like a plate with scalloped edges, and white, yellow or green in color.

Round bush zucchini has numerous ball-shaped fruit that are perfect for stuffing. And the well-known yellow crookneck is a delicious squash. Plants will bear continuously when regularly harvested at 5 to 6 inches long.

Summer squash are wonderful picked fresh from the garden, but the fruit can only be stored for 1 to 2 weeks. So-called winter squash are types that develop a hard shell and can be stored for many months and used throughout the winter.

Winter squash include varieties such as Butternut, Buttercup, Spaghetti, Acorn, Delicata and Banana.

Acorn squash is a winter squash with distinctive ridges and sweet, yellow-orange flesh. The most common type is dark green in color and it is a handy smaller size for baking.

Banana squash is the king of squashes growing up to 4 feet long and anywhere from 10 – 70 pounds, though they average between 10 and 20. It has an elongated shape, with light pink or orange skin and bright orange flesh and will provide dozens of winter meals.

Buttercup squash has a turban-shape (a flattish top and dark green skin) and deep-orange flesh with a sweet and mild flavor.

Butternut is one of the most popular varieties. They have a smooth, long-necked bowling pin shape with tender flesh that offers a creamy flavor. This old favorite offers fine eating and consistent flavor.

Delicata, also known as the sweet potato squash, is creamy and sweet with a mild aroma. Oblong and cylindrical, it is creamy-yellow with green, sometimes orange, vertical stripes.

Hubbard squash is a large dark blue to green squash with a tear-drop shape, very hard and bumpy skin and tender yellow flesh with a rich flavor. There is also a golden-skinned variety.

Spaghetti squash have a hard rind, and unique flesh that separates into strings when cooked for a “spaghetti”-like dish. It makes a low-calorie substitute for pasta.

Make room for some new varieties of squash in your garden and enjoy their many flavors all summer and through the winter months.

• Hang up Codling moth traps now to reduce the number of wormy apples in your harvest this year.

• Tomatoes and peppers can be set out now, but be ready to cover them if cold weather returns.

• Azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias provide lots of beautiful flowers for the shady spring garden. Choose them now.

• Bleeding hearts are charming perennials for the shade garden. Look for them now for a special accent.

• Enjoy the bright yellow colors of goldfinches outside your window by putting up thistle feeders for them.

Glorious Gladioli

Gladiolus has long been a favorite flower in the florist trade for its stately beauty in arrangements. But it also lends an air of dramatic beauty to the garden.

These magnificent flowers originated in South Africa and are members of the iris family. They come in almost every color, except true blue, and stand tall on 3 to 6 foot stems.

They grow from a corm, like a bulb, that needs to be planted in the spring for flowers this summer. The orchid-like blooms are often ruffled at the edges. They open from the bottom up, and all face in one direction. The leaves are shaped like swords and arranged in narrow, upright fans.

Glads make excellent cut flowers. Cut the stems when the bottom flower is fully opened. Most of the remaining buds will open, a few at a time, almost to the tip. Pick off the faded flowers and they will last for about 10 days in the vase.

Plant gladioli in full sun now through June. Dig in a generous amount of compost, add bulb fertilizer or bone meal in the bottom of the hole and mix it into the soil. Then plant the corms 6 inches deep and 6 inches apart. To have a succession of blooms this summer, plant some corms every 2 weeks from now through June. This will produce blooms from midsummer into early October.

Water regularly throughout the dry weather until the leaves begin to turn yellow. Then withhold water and let the foliage yellow completely. If foliage doesn’t turn yellow before frost, cut leaves and stems down in the fall after frost.

You can also grow gladioli in containers, but they will need to be fertilized regularly through the season. Fertilize when the flower spikes first appear and after the flowers are picked or done blooming.

Glads need to be staked or tied up to a fence to keep them from falling over when they bloom. Grow them in rows or in clumps and stake or tie them accordingly. You can also stick a few in here and there among perennial flowers where they make a fine accent.

Gladiolus flowers come in red, pink, rose, orange, yellow, white, lavender and purple as well as bi-colors. Choose corms now to match your indoor decor or coordinate with other flowers in the garden.

Glads add a wonderful vertical dimension to the flower border. You’ll be glad to have glads in your garden this summer.

• Plant summer-flowering bulbs now. Glads, dahlias, callas, cannas and lilies will bloom this summer if planted soon.

• Attract birds to your feeders to enjoy. Delightful gold finches will be happy to visit your thistle feeders, and rufous-sided tohees will visit seed feeders.

• Fertilize established roses now and begin spraying them for insect and disease problems. Neem oil is a very effective, less toxic spray that works against both insects and diseases.

• Begonias bulbs can be started indoors now and set out after danger of frost. You’ll enjoy their beautiful flowers this summer.

• Last chance to plant asparagus roots this year. This delicious vegetable will keep producing for up to 20 years.

Gardening with Kids

There are many fun ways to interest children in gardening. Whether you’re a parent or a grandparent, having children enjoy their time with you in the garden can be an experience they will remember all their lives.

One successful way to pique a child’s gardening interest is to have a few unusual or fascinating plants around the garden. Snapdragons are an old favorite, and many of us still remember pinching the blossoms to make them “snap”. Bleeding heart has an intriguing flower as do fuchsias and balloon flowers before they open up.

Children love the papery “silver dollar” seed heads of Honesty, a dried flower used in arrangements. And who doesn’t love to “pet” the furry leaves of Lamb’s ears?

Tall plants hold a particular fascinating for children, especially fast growing ones. Sunflowers are fun to grow because they get taller every day. Large marigolds, zinnias and cosmos and “dinnerplate” dahlias, tall gladioli and lilies will capture their interest.

Planting potatoes is a good activity to do with children. Plant a sprouting potato and check every few days to see if the green shoots are emerging. The real magic comes at harvest time, when large round potatoes are dug up out of the earth. Digging for potatoes is like digging for buried treasure, and potatoes come in some amazing colors and shapes too.

Plants that children can eat are a good way to interest them in the garden. Sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and strawberries are probably the favorites. Searching through the dark green leaves looking for a bright red, ripe berry is almost like hide-and-seek. This delicious fruit is its own reward. Strawberries planted now will bear fruit this summer.

Kids enjoy garden structures like a bean teepee or a sunflower house, where they can have a secret hideaway. Other plants that are good for tall garden structures are scarlet runner beans, morning glories (in red, blue and purple) and white moonflowers.

Don’t forget to plant some fragrant flowers for them to pick and enjoy. Sweet peas make the perfect bouquet and honeysuckle flowers can be enjoyed for their sweet nectar as well. Oriental lilies have a lovely scent as do lavenders, which are fun to make into sachets or lavender wands.

When kids are a little older, they will enjoy having a garden space of their own. Let him plant what he wants in his own way. If she plants an entire seed packet in one square foot, she will see the results and may decide to spread the seeds out better next time. Encourage the planting of flower bulbs. It’s wonderful to see what grows out of a hard, dry bulb.

If you love to garden, chances are that your children will grow to enjoy being outdoors and may develop an interest in gardening if you help them discover the joys of the plant world.