http://ucanr.edu/blogs/USS/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Seasonal observations of the Master Gardeners en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Thu, 23 May 2013 09:54:45 PST Thu, 23 May 2013 09:54:45 PST UC ANR In my last blog, I talked about my struggle with the chemistry, the science of gardening, the bones that make it all work--not my forte. However, I decided to face it as a mature gardening adult, and learn, for starters, my N-P-Ks, those three mysterious numbers found on boxes of fertilizers and bottles of plant food. As I mentioned in my last blog (May 1), the first number listed stands for nitrogen, "N", which is essential for for healthy leaf growth. I discussed what your plants might...
]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 09:54:44 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10452&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Cheryl A Potts http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10452 Lately I have been enjoying learning about edible flowers. It started about six weeks ago when two different customers (I am the seed buyer at “Orchard Nursery and Florist” in Lafayette) asked me about seeds for edible flowers. I knew a few of them such as nasturtiums, pansies and chives, but I needed to know more. Fortunately one of the other nurserymen was scheduled to give a class to our customers on the subject which added more to my list. Then there was a great article in the...
]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 09:37:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10266&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Libbey McKendry http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10266 Below you will see my beautiful blooming Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii Variegata’! Beautiful blooms this year anyway. For the last few years it was merely an interesting shrub with lovely variegated foliage. Now don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with lovely variegated foliage. But one does not simply plant a Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii Variegata’ for lovely foliage. One wants blooms and preferably lots of them! Well, let this...
]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 18:43:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10428&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Teresa Lavell http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10428 In September 2012, I wrote about our Passion Flower vine (Passiflora caerulea 'Blue Crown'). I referenced the Agraulis vanillae (Gulf fritillary) butterfly, which has no native host in California and is entirely dependent on the genus Passiflora. Last year we had 4 butterflies. This year we already have 8, and more are on the way. It is awesomely- exciting to discover multiple pupa/cocoons and caterpillars. Here are several photos as well as the fritillary mating on Borage (Borago...
]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:07 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10420&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Susan Croissant http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10420 Have you ever been out on a sunny day, walking barefoot happily through the clover when suddenly you yelp and begin to jump around trying to ease the sudden stinging pain in your foot? Yes, so have I. Well, the culprit is most likely the gentle little honeybee, one of nature's hardest working and least aggressive little beings. However, if a giant were going to step on me I'd use all my weapons to protect myself, too! Thus, the sad, negative reputation of the honeybee (Apis...
]]> Mon, 20 May 2013 09:11:55 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10394&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Marian I Chmieleski http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10394 Succulents, ahhh succulents … the subject of my final presentation for my Master Gardener certification. It seemed like such a simple straight-forward topic. But once my ‘presentation partner’ and I started delving into details, it became quite clear that it is a very HUGE and broad topic! So then our task became, “how do we narrow this down to focus on something informative and interesting?” So after much research, including nearly every book about the broad...
]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 16:37:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10417&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed JoEllen P Myslik http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10417 During my teenage years, the head lifeguard at the pool that I volunteered at, used to bring a group of us teenagers to picnic and swim at Heather Farm in Walnut Creek each summer. As such, I have always associated Heather Farm with those memories, not realizing that Heather Farm also included a beautiful 6-acre garden, which I had the pleasure of visiting recently. Like The Ruth Bancroft Garden that I blogged about recently (also in Walnut Creek, just minutes from The Gardens at Heather...
]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 09:11:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10391&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Betty Homer http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10391 The Children’s Memorial Garden is a small garden (17x27 feet) in front of the Solano County Health and Social Service Dept. on Beck Avenue in Fairfield. Solano County Master Gardeners created this lovely garden in 2007. Carolyn Allen designed the garden and a crew of Master Gardeners dug holes and placed 1 and 5 gallon plants. The garden has evolved into a mini-sanctuary which the Solano Master Gardeners maintain. It is an educational garden with signs naming unusual plants and pests...
]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 16:39:20 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10387&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Sharon L. Rico http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10387 Almost by accident I have a multi-stemmed clump of artichokes growing at the front of my yard. This great big shrub was a transplant from an awkward space right at the edge of my driveway. I think it was a donation of a bird passing by, or some long lost endeavor from a previous homeowner. Anyway, it is thriving and continues to surprise me. I was asked the other day by one of my neighbors what kind of fertilizer I use. Pause, kind of an awkward moment, as I am sort of a lazy gardener. In...
]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 11:37:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10328&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Trisha Rose http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10328 Every yard has its microclimates, pockets of sunlight or shade, dry or wet soil, wind exposure or calm. Learning the microclimates of your yard takes time and watchfulness, and maybe the guidance of certain plants. Take the bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae), for instance. We have several of the evergreen perennials planted hither and yon in our back yard. Some were here and already established when we moved in back in 2002. Some I have added over the years. And, quite honestly, some are...
]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 09:05:15 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10348&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Kathy Thomas-Rico http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10348 ]]> Thu, 09 May 2013 11:34:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10347&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Betsy Buxton http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10347 Initially the strawberries started off planted around my grape vine planted in a a half wine barrel. But as strawberries do, they formed runners and clambered out of the barrel. Over the years they had formed a little area at the foot of the barrel, just off the corner of the patio. Unfortunately at the same time, the vinca minor had spread from its intended area. At first I thought everything would be okay, the strawberry plants were sort of growing on top of the vinca and it looked kind of...
]]> Wed, 08 May 2013 08:22:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10327&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Karen Metz http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10327 The March issue of Sunset Magazine has an article on growing productive gardens in a small back yard area, using 4x4’ pre-fabricated beds made of milled cedar boards. This inspired me to try it myself, and my partner and I designated a small sunny area on the north side of our lot next to a concrete patio. I ordered two of the 4x4’ beds, each with 6” height extensions, to make it easier to work. Minifarmbox.com is the source, and before long, a UPS truck stopped in front of...
]]> Tue, 07 May 2013 08:09:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10325&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Bud Veliquette http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10325 I love watching the occasional jack rabbit run across the field behind my house. But that love quickly turns to dismay when the rabbit heads toward my yard to feast on my bean seedlings. Although cute, they can do a lot of damage in your garden. Back in the 1880’s to 1900 California was overrun with wild jack rabbits. Settlers, who cleared the land of chapparal and brush planted crops across vast areas and provided an abundant food source for the rabbits. This new abundant food...
]]> Mon, 06 May 2013 08:54:34 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10294&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Kathy Low http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10294 McKinley Park, in Sacramento on McKinley Blvd. is a 36 acre community park. Within this park is the Frederick Evans Memorial Rose Garden. The rose garden in the park is listed as one of Sacramento’s historical landmarks. In 1928 Mr. Evans was Sacramento’s first parks superintendent as well as a known landscape architect for this park. In 1946 after his death the Sacramento City Council renamed the rose garden in his honor. This garden is set up like a maze and is over 80 years...
]]> Fri, 03 May 2013 08:29:42 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10288&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Betty Victor http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10288 Call me old-fashioned, but the way I view tomatoes, any plant that survives a Vacaville summer and any fruit that clings to its vine long enough for me to pick is a hot commodity. However, after reading a March 7, 2013 article in USA TODAY, I discovered that change was taking root in the industry. With consumers looking for bigger and better, good-tasting, longer-producing tomatoes, breeders and growers are working overtime to combine the taste of heirlooms with the hardiness and production of...
]]> Thu, 02 May 2013 09:24:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10289&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Launa Herrmann http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10289 I love pouring over seed catalogs and gardening magazines. I greatly enjoy picking my sweet peas and harvesting my chard and lettuce. I relish writing about gardens and sitting at our Master Gardener's table at the Vacaville Farmers Market on a sunny Saturday morning, talking with home gardeners about their plant problems and chatting with fellow Master Gardeners. What I do not love has been trying to learn the technical side of gardening--the chemistry, the science of what makes it work....
]]> Wed, 01 May 2013 08:50:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10286&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Cheryl A Potts http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10286 While running errands in Walnut Creek several years earlier, I drove past a seemingly large public garden nestled in a residential neighborhood, the location of which seemed oddly out of place to me at the time (it turns out that the garden’s location made perfect sense, for the reasons discussed herein). I learned that the name of this garden was, “The Ruth Bancroft Garden,” which caught my eye. Having graduated from UC Berkeley, the name "Bancroft" meant something, as it...
]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:01:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10283&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Betty Homer http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10283 Earlier this month, my partner and I jumped into the car and took off to Healdsburg to the Russian River Rose Company, where we arrived just in time for their 10AM talk on “Having a Happy Rose Garden”. This is a rose and iris nursery in the middle of wine country, in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek area, with a view of lush green hills in the background from the recent rains. We had been there a few times before, but each time I always pick up some new piece of information or...
]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:32:18 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10269&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Bud Veliquette http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10269 When I moved to my current home, I had never heard of clematis.  But a colorful package at a big box store caught my eye and I planted my first two plants in my backyard.  I had misgivings because the planting instructions made the plant sound a bit fussy – “feet in the shade, head in the sun?” Protection from strong winds . . . in Benicia?!  Not likely!  So I wasn’t terribly optimistic about the plants’ survival, but the pictures were pretty and the price was right.  (I have justified many...
]]> Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:06:55 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10242&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Erin Mahaney http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10242