SUN, NOV 22 2009
2:53:38
Monday March 16 2009
By Val Whitmyre, U.C. Master Gardener
I have often wondered what the first flower looked like and where it came from. So I was pleased when PBS aired a documentary called “First Flower.” According to the narrator, the origin of the first flower is an ongoing mystery.
If it weren’t for flowers, we wouldn’t be here. They are the source of almost all of our food, including corn, wheat and rice, and the source of our medicines from earliest times until the present.
Before flowers, there were wind-pollinated plants called gymnosperms that produced unenclosed seeds found on scales in cones. These plants were needle evergreens like pines, firs and cedars and included ferns, ginkgos (a prehistoric tree) and cycads.
Gymnosperms do not produce flowers, but angiosperms (flowering plants) do. One team of paleobotanists, working with ancient plants and fossils, claims to have found the first angiosperm, encased in a red rock fossil in northern China. They named it Archaefructis (ancient fruit). It had no petals and wasn’t beautiful, but it had enclosed seeds in structures topping two branches.
An enclosed seed, as opposed to the open, unenclosed seed of the gymnosperm, defines a flowering plant. The sole function of Archaefructus was to grow to maturity, producing seeds enclosed in an ovary to insure the continuation of its species. And so it goes today.
Evidently, Archaefructus met all the environmental needs of a flowering plant. But other scientists aren’t so sure that Archaefructus was the first flower. Other fossils containing parts of Archaefructus were found near the original site, but other types of flowers growing at that time may not have been found. Evidence is rare because plants decompose rapidly, lessening the possibility of fossilization. And so the hunt continues.
China has often been called the mother of all gardens because of the diversity of plants in some areas and because of its temperate climate zones.
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Monday March 16 2009
By Val Whitmyre, U. C. Master Gardener
Napa County Master Gardeners tend two demonstration gardens in Napa Valley to educate residents about the plants that thrive here. Because the valley encompasses multiple microclimates, the two gardens include a variety of plants. Both sites welcome visitors.
At the entrance to the community garden in Logvy Park in Calistoga, Master Gardener Ray Sittig, a blue-ribbon winner at local fairs, has turned a small plot of hardpan soil into a beautiful small garden. He grew most of the plants from cuttings.
According to Ray, spring is the best time to propagate plants.You will save money by doing so, and you will experience a sense of accomplishment.
All you need is a sharp knife and some storebought rooting hormone. For the rooting medium, Ray recommends equal parts of peat moss, potting soil and sand. A clean pot is essential. Choose a warm location protected from hot afternoon sun.
Ray makes cuttings from the mother plant about five inches in length and one-quarter inch in diameter. Strip the foliage off the lower few inches of each cutting, leaving two to three leaves at the top. If the leaves are large, cut the remaining ones in half to reduce moisture loss. Dip the end of the cutting into rooting hormone and then carefully place it in the moistened planting mix. Ray says his success rate is about 60 percent.
Some of the easiest plants to propagate from cuttings are geraniums, chrysanthemums, phlox, succulents and begonias. The easiest shrubs include California lilac (Ceanothus), honeysuckle, trumpet vines, wisteria, butterfly bush, lavender and forsythia.
Come visit with Ray at Logvy Park. You can usually find him working in the garden every other Saturday, weather permitting. He loves to talk about gardening.
Master Gardener Matt Jones chairs an eager group of 12 volunteers at the demonstration garden at Napa’s Connolly Ranch (at the corner of Browns Valley Road and Thompson Avenue). The volunteers lovingly tend the hillside garden almost every Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon.
This garden incorporates several small beds that reflect the diversity of Napa Valley plant life. Here you will find a rose garden, herb garden, vegetable garden, field-trial plot, lavender and salvia gardens, succulents and a composting area. A new bed features flowering plants with low water and nutrient requirements and staggered bloom times. The selections inclu
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Monday March 16 2009
By Jodie Young, U. C. Master Gardener
Spring gardens are coming up irises—perennial bearded irises to be exact. Look for their multi-flowered stems with outstanding three- to five-inch blossoms in single or multi-colored hues with smooth, ruffled or crinkled edges.
Each bearded iris flower has three inner petals that may be erect, arching or flaring and three outer sepals, known as falls. Each sepal has a short tuft of hair down the center, hence the name “bearded iris.” The leaves are sword like, pointed and grey-green. These leaves grow in a fan shape from the fleshy rhizome. Most bearded iris hybrids have a delicate scent.
All bearded irises require good drainage. They thrive in soil amended with organic matter such as aged manure. The amended soil provides excellent drainage, basic nutrients and oxygen.
Plant bearded irises in full sun for best flowering or in dappled shade. They come in a range of heights, so be sure to put tall varieties in the back of the border, medium-tall irises in the midsection and dwarf types in front. Pair irises with plants that have similar low summer water requirements.
Ideal planting times vary depending on summer heat and severity of winter cold. In locations where the ground freezes solid in winter, iris rhizomes should be planted in July or August. Where summer temperatures are high and winters mostly mild, the rhizomes can be planted in the fall.
Plant rhizomes horizontally with the tops just below the surface of the soil. Irises grow from the leafy end of the rhizome, so point that end in the desired direction. Figure 12 to 18 inches between rhizomes to allow for three to four years of growth before you need to divide clumps. Water well after planting to settle the soil and initiate growth.
After about four years, clumps may become crowded, resulting in fewer stems and flowers. You can reinvigorate the plant by digging up the clumps, dividing them and replanting the divisions in freshly amended soil.
It is possible to enjoy a long bloom time by choosing hybrids carefully. The first irises to bloom in the spring are standard dwarf bearded varieties. Second to bloom are the intermediate bearded irises, some of which bloom again in autumn. Tall bearded irises bloom mid-
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Thursday February 26 2009
Diane Flyr - UC Master Gardener
Get out your calendars and mark down Sunday, May 3, for the Napa County Master Gardeners’ biannual garden tour. This “Down the Garden Path” tour will feature six of the Master Gardeners’ own gardens, as well as our demonstration garden at Napa’s Connolly Ranch.
This event offers a rare opportunity to see how Master Gardener volunteers put their education and training to work at home. You will also have the chance to learn from the educational displays and garden docents at each site.
This event offers a rare opportunity to see how Master Gardener volunteers put their education and training to work at home. You will also have the chance to learn from the educational displays and garden docents at each site.
“Down the Garden Path” is a tour different from most, in that these gardens are planned and nurtured by avid gardeners. Each garden demonstrates the style and heart of the owners, not someone else’s vision.
This year, the tour takes place in and around the City of Napa and will showcase a range from intimate city gardens to an elegant vineyard estate. Now, all the garden owners are busy with preparations, getting ready to invite you into their private spaces and preparing to show them at their best.
This year, the tour takes place in and around the City of Napa and will showcase a range from intimate city gardens to an elegant vineyard estate. Now, all the garden owners are busy with preparations, getting ready to invite you into their private spaces and preparing to show them at their best.
Two of these special gardens are in the East Napa/ Hagen Road area, and they could not be more different. The first surrounds a contemporary Mediterranean home built in 2001. The owners bought the 15-acre property in 1999 to realize their dream of planting a vineyard for a Bordeaux-style wine similar to those they had enjoyed over the years in their visits to France.
The couple enjoy gardening together and envisioned a landscape that would combine fruit trees, flowers and a vegetable garden, as well as seven acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and one acre of Merlot. Through the years, the garden has grown, not by a grand plan but by decisions made as they worked and got to know their property.
The couple enjoy gardening together and envisioned a landscape that would combine fruit trees, flowers and a vegetable garden, as well as seven acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and one acre of Merlot. Through the years, the garden has grown, not by a grand plan but by decisions made as they worked and got to know their property.
Starting with rock walls, pillars and planting beds, the garden was developed section by section. Espaliered fruit trees cover several walls, providing color, texture and fruit. Highlights of the tour will include many climbing roses and clematis, a raised-bed flower garden, a charming stone and brick barbecue area, and a peek into the gorgeous potting shed designed by the owner and built from reclaimed wood, including antique doors purchased in New Orleans.
Master Gardener docents will be on hand to explain aspects of the garden and provide educational materials about the art of espalier.
The second garden is a remodel of an older home on just over one acre. When the owners purchased the property in 1991, there was a small 1920s farmhouse close to the street and an old barn in back, with the rest mostly asphalt and dirt. A knoll with a large Valley Oak at the back of the propert
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Master Gardener docents will be on hand to explain aspects of the garden and provide educational materials about the art of espalier.
The second garden is a remodel of an older home on just over one acre. When the owners purchased the property in 1991, there was a small 1920s farmhouse close to the street and an old barn in back, with the rest mostly asphalt and dirt. A knoll with a large Valley Oak at the back of the propert
Tags: Connolly Ranch (1), Demonstration Garden (1), Down the Garden Path (1), Edible Landscaping (1), Garden Tour (1), Napa (1), Workshop (1)
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Friday January 30 2009
By John Hoffman, U.C. Master Gardener
Every experienced gardener knows that spring is the time to plant. So why, on this end-of-January day, am I saying, “It’s time to plant”?
I am referring to deciduous fruit trees. I know you can buy them in nursery containers, ready for planting, at any time of year. But when you buy them now, you can buy them bare rooted—which is to say, unpotted. You can inspect the root system and select only those with strong, healthy roots.If the roots are kinked or girdling, you will be able to see that and reject that specimen. You will also find a larger selection of fruit-tree varieties in nurseries now.
These bare-root trees were dug up when they were fully dormant in January. All the dirt was washed off the roots. They were then rushed to the retail nurseries where the roots were covered, or “heeled in,” usually with wet sawdust, to prevent them from drying out. They are sold in this condition until they start to bud out, usually before the end of February.
Almost every garden has room for one or two fruit trees. In a home landscape, they can serve double duty as shade trees. I have a persimmon tree for shade on my patio that provides brilliant fall color, both in its leaves and fruit. I also shade my yard with large, spreading ‘Hartley’ English walnut trees and harvest their nuts off my lawn in October.
Everybody enjoys home-grown, tree-ripened, pesticide-free fruit.
My friend Bill Pramuk, the arborist who writes a semi-monthly column for the Napa Register, says that if you are growing apples for home use, the only pest control you need is a sharp knife. With that tool, you can cut the worm out of the apple before you eat it. Forget the chemicals.
I have been growing fruit for home use—for apple pies and peach cobblers, jams and jellies, and for canning—ever ever since I married my farm girl, Margaret, in 1940. That’s when I planted some pear and peach trees on our quarter-acre mini farm in San Anselmo.
When we moved to our
Tags: Bare Root (1), Fruit Trees (1), John Hoffman (1), Master Gardeners (1), Napa County (1), Newspaper Articles (1), Varieties (1)
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