An arid summer is a fact of life for North State gardeners. It’s the dry side of our Mediterranean climate. But ever-increasing awareness around the need for water conservation and creative use and re-use of water (as well as all of our resources including time and money) is a fact of life no matter where you live or garden.

Northern California-based landscape designer Michael Cook recently completed a sweeping overhaul of the front yard of a Chico home at the end of a cul-de-sac in an older Chico neighborhood. And for it he transformed 10,000 square feet, 7,000 square feet of which was sad-looking, resource guzzling and unused sod into a naturalistic, habitat garden of light, movement and beauty - and which requires far less water, far less maintenance time and money. On top of that, the garden also incorporates many of the on-site materials into its design and creatively re-uses rain when it does fall. All told - this approach creates not only a beautiful garden, but a garden with a strong and compelling sense of place - our place - the North State garden.

When Michael Cook was first approached about working in this Chico garden, the owners made it clear that they both work full-time and commute in and out of the area so they had little time to spend on the garden. Nature lovers both, they also made it clear that they wanted a space that was pollinator friendly, low-maintenance, but lovely. The wanted to have the garden design work for them well into their retirement years and so the garden and its pathways, entrances and exits needed to be fully accessible. They did not ask Michael to remove the 10,000 square feet of sod, but that’s the proposal he brought to them and they were thrilled.

“I started with the idea of a sense of place,” Michael told me as he walked me through the project. “I wanted materials and a plant palette that very clearly spoke to where the garden is located and the agricultural and natural history interests of the owners. I also wanted it to conserve as many resources as possible.”

A young married man, Michael is quick to acknowledge that lawn has its place. “Lawns are cooling, that fresh dark green color in the midst of our summers can be very refreshing aesthetically as well,” he said, “but there should be a specific reason for sod - for your kids to play, your pets to play, as a frame or a border to other plantings. You should not just SETTLE for sod because you have no other idea what to do. We are on the edge of a great paradigm shift in terms of how the mainstream of people see their gardens/yards, and projects like this help to push us as a culture closer to that edge of more thoughtful, resourceful and beautiful expectations.”

For the Chico garden project, Michael and his crew, including Alvaro Garcia of Nayo’s Landscaping, started with removal of the old sod, which had been left unwatered for several months before work began. He then began a process of forming swales and topography of the otherwise flat space to create some visual interest as well as good drainage for dryland plants at the tops of the swales and water efficient micro-climates at the lowest points in the swales. It was at this land-forming stage in the garden that Michael installed low-water use drip emitters and landscape lighting. But not too much landscape, lighting: “Just enough to give a sense of safe passage at night. Light pollution with a lot of up-lights, etc. would have been inconsistent with the goals of the garden.”

“The suggestion of water is always a good idea in a dry garden, and of course this garden will indeed have water sometimes pouring through it during the winter months,” Michael points out. With both the dry months and the wet months in mind, he designed a series of two pools on either side of the entrance ‘bridge’ to the front door of the house. “The bridge helped us deal with the stair issue at the front entrance, and the two small ponds which recirculate water allowed for a feel of water and lush plantings year round in a small and contained way.” Flowing ‘down stream’ from the two self-contained pool gardens, is a long rock arroyo or dry creek bed, which is in fact the outlet for water from the roof which is piped from the roof gutter, under a garden pathway and over to the rock bed. “The winter roof water fills this creek bed, which then filters and allows the water to percolate slowly into the ground, rather than eroding the front garden area and being wasted run-off in the street and into any storm drains.”

The swales and berms and dry creek bed all have a nice curvaceous feel to them and reflect and work visually in harmony with the way the lot sits at the end of its cul-de-sac. As some of the land work was being done, and the many, many tumbled rocks from ancient creek beds were exposed, Michael determined that he would incorporate the rounded rocks into gabions as fence posts throughout the garden. Harkening back to the rounded rock walls that punctuate our countryside in the North State, these gabions look both rustic and agricultural at the same time as they are have a modern, urban feel with their nicely proportioned metal framing - all built by Michael with the help of his father. The now rusted metal rail fencing that marks the front of the garden provides a similar look and feel, and was also designed and constructed by Michael. Metal artist Jeff Howell added other metal touches such as the oak leaf emblazoned metal bands across garden gates.

When it came to choosing plants for the garden, Michael knew he wanted to incorporate a lot of natives as well as other year-round Mediterranean/drought-adapted plants. “The key is massing and repeating colors and shapes. When you have such a big space and close to a blank slate - if you are working on lawn overhaul in your garden, putting one of each thing you like will result in a disjointed and choppy feeling. Put 3 to 5 of each plant type in 3 to 5 different areas throughout your space. This will lead to a sense of flow. And spread them out - give them room to breath and show off as specimens.” Michael’s plant choices for this garden, which gets a lot of full sun each day, include: California fuchsia (Zauschnaria), achillea, bunch grasses, such as: Nasella tenuissima, Muhlenbergia, Calamagrostis x acutlflora ‘Karl Foerster’, and Fescue.

Many gardeners I know have taken the leap and transformed unused sections of lawn into something more. One gardening friend has experimented with a few lawn alternatives, bit by bit over time so that now all of her garden looks decimated at once. She does not love just silver plants, and really wanted a lawn alternative that was a fresh green most of the time. In the front of her subdivision home she removed a large section of sod and planted out a low-growing creeping thyme ‘lawn,’ which takes very little water relative to a traditional sod lawn, needs no mowing and keeps a nice deep green color year-round. In the back of her home, she removed close to a quarter acre of lawn surrounding her swimming pool and planted the space in a spreading and low-growing oregano. The variety she chose was supposed to be a non-flowering selection, and while several of hers are flowering, they still look wonderful and though they started as 2 inch plugs spaced about 18 inches apart on center, they have filled in the space almost completely in less than 6 months. She is watering 1 to 2 times per week this first summer, but intends to cut this back to 1 or 2 times every other week as of summer 2011, when the plants will be nicely established. “The color is that rich green that I wanted, and when the plants are mowed every two to three weeks, the scent is fabulous and the clippings break down into amazing compost,” she enthused. Walking on the oregano in bare feet is also a pretty nice sensation, “although just after it’s been mowed, you can get a woody stem that’s less than ideal,” she admitted.

Another gardening friend, Gwen Quail, is deep into a long process of removing the sod from a sloping hill-side front lawn in a very traditional little development neighborhood. “I wanted to decrease my water use, by half and increase the visual interest of my front garden,” she told me. Trouble is, the sloping and highly compacted soil of her front garden meant that not only did the developer-installed sod do poorly because of low water absorption and high water run-off, but other plants were having a hard time surviving the situation as well. Gwen had the sod removed earlier this summer, and then had a load of rich compost delivered and spread it over the entire area. She has been watering this in lightly in the hopes of lightening the compaction below, but so far to no avail. She has also had three different reputable landscapers give her proposed designs and bids on solving the front slope and compacted soil, and got three very different solutions back - only one of which adequately solved the drainage issues in her mind.

So while Michael Cook’s words of wisdom stand: Don’t settle lawn; additional advice would be, especially if you are taking on the project yourself, consider the technical aspects of the area - including drainage, exposure and your personal goals and be realistic and patient - biting off only as much as you can handle in the time you have.

To contact Michael Cook: michaelcook21@yahoo.com

Jewellgarden.com’s new line of lovely little note cards are bite sized and ready to enjoy on-line or at local fine shops near you. As spring turns to summer and summer to fall, look for Edibles in the Garden blank journals, note cards featuring seeds and fruits as well as 2011 calendars and blank journals. A portion of all sales of the Edibles in the Garden note cards goes to Slow Food Shasta Cascade and the many projects it supports. All of Jewellgarden.com’s cards are printed in Chico by Quadco printing using 100% recycled paper and vegetable-based ink.

Follow Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook - become a fan today!

To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

September is a transitional sort of month – has a difficult time making up its mind – am I Summer? Am I fall? Am I hot? Or am I cooling? No matter what the weather and the inevitability of the quite beautiful waning light of September making our way towards the Autumnal Equinox on the 22nd -– it is one my favorite times in the garden. Plants have mostly set their seeds – and we gardeners are ready to plant them once more - giving us a happy feeling of anticipation for the rains and fall and winter gardening seasons to come.

There’s lots of work to do out there still, keep watering but be careful not to overwater at this time of year. Cut back spent flowers and keep weeding and mulching. As you work, look around your ornamentals and make your lists of plants to add, transplant or edit out all together – and don’t forget your fall bulbs. In just a month or so you’ll be ready for this kind of planting in earnest.

In the edible garden, Market gardener and author of “Sacramento Valley Feast,” (available at Lyon Books in Chico) Wolfgang Rougle advises that ‘as soon as it cools down here, which it seems about to do, direct seed beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, choy, lettuce, etc. and to start in cells (or buy as transplants) kale, cabbage and broccoli. You can wait to sow cover crop, garlic and shallots until just before the first rain. Other than continual summer harvesting (still plenty of time to save seeds, even make crosses) it’s really just plant, plant, plant until early November! (garlic and cover crops can be last to go in.)”

Pam Geisel, Statewide Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program reminds us to: 1. Harvest and cure green ripe olives later in the month. You can salt cure, brine cure, lye cure and water cure olives. For complete instructions on safe pickling of olives and the details on all these methods, download our free 26 page publication at: http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8267.pdf.

2. Fertilize your fall garden two times this month lightly (every other week) to promote good growth of the vegetable plants prior to flower formation. Most people plant their gardens and then don’t fertilize until it is almost too late in the season to gain much effect. You can use any material that contains nitrogen such as manures, composts, fish emulsion, blood meal, or synthetic fertilizers etc. The key is that the plants must have adequate nitrogen to increase the vigor and size of the plant prior to colder weather setting in and before the spring flower development.

3. Plant garlic and onions. Some of the best varieties for our climate zone include: California Late White and California Early white http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/garlic.pdf
California Late is particularly good because it stores well. However, personally, I really like the flavor and color of “Music”, which has large reddish tinged cloves.

In the Monthly Calendar of Regional Gardening Events – August is not quite done with us and September has a lot in store:

August 27 - 28 - Corning: Corning Olive Festival! Friday night kicks it off with a parade down Corning’s main drag, Solano Street, at 6pm and don’t forget the bed races! Saturday continue the festivities all day at Wodson City Park with vendors, food, talent show, cook-off, music, arts & crafts, and much more. 530-824-5550 corningchamber@sbcglobal.net.

August 28 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Field Trip: Cedar Basin Shasta Trinity National Forest 8:00 am meet at Chico Park and Ride (Hwy 99/32). ADrive I-5 north to the Lake Siskiyou exit near Mt Shasta and up into the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Cedar Basin contains the highest stands (up to 6400 ft) of Port Orford-Cedar. Lakes, bogs and open forest give a nice variety of species including the insect eating pitcher plant, (Darlingtonia californica) and the sundew, Drosera. Also see Sierra laurel, Leucothoe davisiae, and American twinflower, (Linnaea borealis). Walking distance is 3 to 4 miles. Bring lunch, water, sun/insect protection and money for ride sharing. Call for an alternate meeting place. Leader: Marjorie McNairn 530-343-2397.

August 28 - Redding: Shasta Community Teaching Garden: Edible Native Plants 10:30am to 12:30pm, Room 822, Shasta College Main Campus. Ted Dawson will present information on how to identify and find native edible plants, as well as go over some herbal preparation information. Based on Wintu tradition. Fee $20. For registration information call: 530-225-4835. Register by going on-line to: www.shastacollege.edu/EWD and then click on Pathways. For workshop information: 530-242-2248 or email: teachinggarden@shastacollege.edu.

August 28 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay 9:30 am. A Walk with the Horticulture Manager, Lisa Endicott. Bring your notebooks and cameras for this participant-driven program. We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! There’s something new to see every month! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

August 31 - Chico: Butte Rose Society Regular Member Meeting: 7:00 pm Regular Member Meeting, Little Rose Show and Program by Joan Goff on Shady Ladies - good roses for partly shady locations. Goff is past president of the Marin Rose Society, a rose and gardening consultant and coach. Public welcome! Chico Veterans’ Memorial Hall on Rio Lindo Avenue. More Info: www.butte-rose-society.org

SEPTEMBER 2010

September 1 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society, Regular Member Meeting 7:30 pm Butte County Library. Begin our new season with a program of member photos as well as an overview of desertland plants of the South Western US. Public welcome! More information contact President Janna Lathrop: jlathrop4mlc@comcast.net

September 4 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay: Charlie Rabbit and Friends 9:30 AM. An interactive program in the Gardens (or Greenhouse in rain) for children, their siblings, parents and grandparents. Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

September 4 – Durham: The Worm Farm - Build Your Own Worm Bin Workshop 10 am - 1 pm; $50. Information provided at The Worm Farm workshops include, construction of your worm bin, instruction on proper drainage and ventilation techniques, covering the bin, identifying the best location, prevention of pests and parasites, and selecting the best bedding for your worm bin. Other knowledge you will obtain is the anatomy, regeneration, longevity, and feeding of your worms. The Worm Farm, 9033 Esquon Road, Durham, CA 9593. Price includes materials & 1 pound of special composting worms by The Worm Farm. More Info: www.thewormfarm.net/workshops-build_bin.html or call: 530-894-1276

September 5 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Field Trip: Green Lake Island 8:30 am meet at Chico Park and Ride (Hwy 99/32). OR meet at 10:30 at the Sunflower Flat trainhead (Jonesville, Humbug Summit Road, LNF Roads 26No2 and 26N31.) We will see many asters as we hike down to Soda Creek and then to a beautiful little lake with a unique floating sedge island. Lake is rimmed with huckleberries, potentilla, and buckbean. On the way back we stop at tiny frog lake - we have seen Pileated Woodpeckers on this hike in the past. Bring lunch, water, sun/insect protection and money for ride sharing. Call for an alternate meeting place. Leader: Leader: Wes Demspey: 530-342-2293

Monday Evening September 6, I will be hosting Northstate public Radio’s I-5 LIVE! Featuring Pam Gesiel – Statewide Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program talking all about bugs – We can’t live without them! But sometimes it helps to get thoughts on how to live with them more peacefully.

September 8 - Magalia: Magalia Beautification Society Regular Member Meeting 1:00 pm POA Racine Center at Wycliff Way and Racine Circle in Magalia; 12:30 for lunch, 1:00-3:00 for business. For more information: http://magaliagardeners.webs.com/

September 10 – The Gateway Science Museum is opening two new ehhibits – Natures Numbers and A forest Journey in which visitors will will eplore the amazing math built into nature.

September 11 - Sacramento: Fair Oaks Horticulture Center/Sacramento County Master Gardeners OPEN GARDEN 8:30 am - 11:30 am. Drop in to see the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center gardens on your own. Ask Master Gardeners questions about the FOHC and see how we make every drop count. Fair Oaks Park, Fair Oaks, Ca. More info call: 916-875-6913. Or: http://groups.ucanr.org/sactomg/Fair_Oaks_Horticulture_Center/Workshop_Schedule.htm

September 13 - Paradise: Paradise Garden Club monthly meeting 1:00 pm at Terry Ashe Recreation Center, 6626 Skyway, Paradise. The speaker will be Monty Malden from Mendon’s Nursery who will share his love for Japanese Maples. Additionally, he will give advice on choosing the right location, pruning techniques and the care of Japanese Maples. He will also have information about Mendon’s Fall Sale.

September 14 - Sacramento: North Valley Orchid Society General Member Meeting 7:30PM CARD Center “Arts & Crafts Room” 545 Vallombrosa Ave., Chico Marni Turkel - Miniature Orchids. More Info: North Valley Orchid Society NVOS2010@gmail.com

September 15 - Chico: Chico Horticulture Society Regular Member Meeting 9:45 – Noon. Regular Member Meeting and Program. Chico Library 1108 Sherman Avenue in Chico. More info: email President Jon Bennet at: ChicoGardenClub@yahoo.com.

September 15 - Redding: Shasta Rose Society - Regular Member Meeting and Mini-Rose Show, Public Welcome! 7:00 p.m. City of Redding Corporation Yard On Viking Way. More Info: http://www.shastarosesociety.org

September 16 - Redding: Shasta Chapter Cal Native Plant Society: General Member Meeting Chapter Meeting: Welcome back to the first meeting after the long summer! Meet Greg Suba, Conservation Director for CNPS. Greg will come up from Sacramento to inform us of some of the statewide conservation programs and conservation goals of CNPS, including the progress of the proposed massive renewable energy projects on thousands of acres in the Mohave Desert and other areas of California. Greg may also address a proposed wind generation facility on Walker Ridge, where north state Chapters of CNPS conduct fieldtrips. Greg has strongly and effectively represented CNPS at all levels of government, with politics and the media, and we appreciate his willingness to travel to the north state to share his knowledge and experiences. Meet at our new time and location: 7 PM at the Shasta College Health Science & University Programs building in downtown Redding, 1400 Market Street, Community Room 8220 (clock tower building at the north end of the Market Street Promenade; enter on south side of building). A Board meeting will be held before the regular meeting, at 5:30 PM at Angelo’s Pizza Parlour in the Foundry Square, 1774 California Street, Redding.

September 18 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay Fearless Pruning 9 am - 11 noon. Core Gardening Series: Are your plants growing amuck? Knowing how to prune plants for structure, strength, and overall health is an essential gardening skill! Join us as we practice specific pruning techniques for both young and older plants. Members and Turtle Bay volunteers FREE, nonmembers $3 Meet at Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office - 1135 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery) Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Nursery on immediate left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

September 18th, 2010 FREE and open to the public 1 pm Tour of our 100 year old Mission Olive Orchards at Chaffin Orchards hosted by Kurt Albrecht (farm owner) and Don Landis (606 Coal Canyon Rd, Oroville, Ca 95965) 6 pm Natural Olive Curing Class – We’ll go over to the Grange building in Chico (2775 Old Nord Ave, Chico, California 95973) where Don Landis will be demonstrating old world olive curing techniques including dry salt cure, water cured, and the Greek style brine cure. All cured without using lye. Samples of the cured olives and tapenade will be available at the end of the demonstration. Raw organically farmed olives for home curing will be available for purchase or to be sure we’ll have enough email to pre-order. Email chris_kerston@chaffinfamilyorchards.com to RSVP – its not required that people RSVP to attend but it would help us tremendously to be able to prepare enough samples if we knew how many people were coming especially since it’s a free event. Chris Kerston Chaffin Family Orchards 606 Coal Canyon Rd Oroville, Ca 95965 530-533-1676 Ranch Office 530-370-6432 Cell http://www.ChaffinFamilyOrchards.com/http://www.twitter.com/ChaffinOrchards

September 19 - Chico: Mt Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society - Field Trip: Forest Lake Lassen Volcanic National Park 8:30 am meet at Chico Park and Ride (Hwy 99/32). We will follow a small creek bordered by mountain alder into a magnificent old growth red fir and western white pine forest to a small lake at the base of Mt. Brokeoff. Salt lupine, aster and arnica should still be in bloom. Only 1 and 1/2 miles but at that elevation (7300 ft) we will take it slow. Bring lunch, water, sun/insect protection and money for ride sharing. Call for an alternate meeting place. Leader: Wes Demspey: 530-342-2293; Gerry Ingco: 530-894-5123.

September 23 - 26 – Red Bluff: Slow Food Shasta Cascade’s Olive Festival at the Tehama County Fair’s 90th Anniversary Come celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the fair with, among other great displays, Slow Food Shasta Cascade’s 1st Annual Olive Oil Festival and Tasting of regional oils and olives. Yum. Tehama District Fairgrounds Antelope Blvd. Red Bluff. More info: http://www.slowfoodshastacascade.org/5.html or http://www.tehamadistrictfair.com/

September 24 -October 3 – Redding: Wyntour Gardens ANNUAL FALL Sale! All nursery stock in one-gallon size and larger is 40% off! Shop early for the best selection! 8026 Airport Road (1 mi. S. of the Redding Airport, next to Kents Mkt) Redding, CA Phone 365-2256 visit us on the web @ wyntourgardens.com or email inform@wyntourgardens.com.

September 25 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Turtle Bay 9:30 am. A Walk with the Horticulture Manager, Lisa Endicott. Bring your notebooks and cameras for this participant-driven program. We’ll make our way through the Gardens with frequent stops for discussions about (what else?) plants! There’s something new to see every month! Free with Park or Garden admission. Meet at West Garden Entrance. Take N. Market Street, turn on Arboretum Drive. Take the right fork. Parking lot and entrance are on the left. More info: 530-242-3178 or www.turtlebay.org/nursery

September 29 - Chico: Chico Horticulture Society Evening Gardeners 6:30 pm. Evening Gardeners Program. Chico Library 1108 Sherman Avenue in Chico. More info: email President Jon Bennet at: ChicoGardenClub@yahoo.com.

Jewellgarden.com’s new line of lovely little note cards are bite sized and ready to enjoy on-line or at local fine shops near you. As spring turns to summer and summer to fall, look for Edibles in the Garden blank journals, note cards featuring seeds and fruits as well as 2011 calendars and blank journals. A portion of all sales of the Edibles in the Garden note cards goes to Slow Food Shasta Cascade and the many projects it supports. All of Jewellgarden.com’s cards are printed in Chico by Quadco printing using 100% recycled paper and vegetable-based ink.

Follow Jewellgarden.com/In a North State Garden on Facebook - become a fan today!

To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

It’s August. It’s hot and dry in interior northern California and in most cases, our gardens are looking a little…worn, a little worse for the wear of our long, hot, dry summers. Every gardener I know, prefaces a high or late summer visit to their garden with the warning: “You can come, but you won’t be seeing the garden at its best, you know.” Photo: Eriogonum umbellatum and coyote mint (Monardella spp.) in the wild of California’s Monitor Pass. Photo courtesy of John Whittlesey, copyright 2010.

High summer and late summer are when many of our native or drought tolerant and heat loving plants can and should shine. Especially those plants adapted to the arid North American West, are just such plants. And for me, the wild buckwheats, of the Eriogonum genus, are top choices. Photo: Eriogonum species feeding native butterflies in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Read the rest of this entry »

The time has come again to plant for fall and winter vegetables. I love this time of year! George Winter of Wyntour Gardens and Red Bluff Garden Center gave us this advice last year:

Planting a vegetable garden just seems to go along with spring, doesn’t it? Like an instinctive and seasonal rite of passage. But, says George Winter, owner of Wyntour Gardens in Redding and the Red Bluff Garden Center in Red Bluff, “if you want a vegetable garden, the fall and winter garden is generally easier and less maintenance than the spring and summer one. Time seems more measured in the fall garden - not so hectic,” in George’s opinion. “Temperatures will still be hot when you plant your garden planted in late August early September, but they cool off pretty quickly so you won’t be working in blazing heat; the lower temperatures also mean fewer bugs, and of course your chances of rainfall are much better. So if we have a normal fall and winter, you will be watering your fall-planted garden far less than you had to water your spring-planted one. Planning and planting a fall and winter vegetable garden is very similar to planting your spring/summer one, except the odds are stacked in your favor, so your chances of success are very good.” Read the rest of this entry »

“I think I might like the yellow tuberous ones the best - they are common but so consistent and cheerful,” Sally Greenwood, Head Grower at Chico Propagators tells me as we scan the multitude of begonias growing in her care at the Chico Propagators greenhouses in Chico. Sally, a respected regional plantswoman (who even has plant hybrids named in her honor, such as the Salvia ‘Sally Greenwood’ bred by another regional plantsman, Mike Thiede), has been growing specialty plants for the past 30 years (which is a little hard to believe given her youthful appearance). For close to a decade of that time, the CSU, Chico and Butte College Horticulture graduate has been smitten with the many interesting, exotic and often heirloom varieties of begonias. Photo: While you may think of small candy-colored flowers on begonias, many types have delicate but dramatic flowers, such as this Begonia ‘Mrs. Ludwig’.

The Begonia genus comprises some 1300 plus cultivars, most originating from the tropics or subtropics, and most are tender, succulent perennials. Begonias are commonly divided into several overarching groups based on foliage and growth type - the best known groups are perhaps the Rex begonias (technically: Rex-cultorum begonias), marked by their multi-colored foliage, the Tuberous begonias, which include the stocky little succulent bedding plants loved for their brightly colored single or double flowers, and the Cane begonias, which given some protection from wind and frost can grow to be very tall shrubs with nobby stems. Photo: Left: a cane type begonia almost 3 feet tall, Right: A diminutive but cheerful yellow long-blooming, roseform tuberous begonia.

Sally’s collection of now more than 30 different Begonia species and varieties ranges from the very large, showy, tropical and sometimes rare, to the very small, sedate and familiar. The collection has grown one variety at a time in a very old-fashioned way in the form of “passalong plants,” brought to Sally at the greenhouse by gardeners young and old who wanted help propagating their old or hard to find plants for their homes, gardens or to give to other family members or gardeners. Photo: Sally Greenwood standing at the end of one section of her begonia collection at Chico Propagators.

“I have a lot of interesting begonias from Donna and Dick Murrill of Durham, as well as from a handful of other regional gardeners. Each time I am given a plant to grow on from an older plant, I keep one plant as a ‘mother’ or ’stock plant’ in order to keep the variety available. This helps to regenerate the stock and provide gardeners with plants that are not so woody or overgrown.” Photo: Rhizomatous Begonia ‘Black Coffee’.

Sally’s “mother-plants” are mostly fairly big stately specimens in large pots clearly marked NOT FOR SALE. The rest of the collection - in hanging baskets, in 4 inch pots, in gallons, and some even rooted into the gravel floor of the greenhouse, overflows many shelves within the greenhouse and calls out for attention to their bright and delicate flowers or their textural and interestingly colored foliage. Photo: A curvaceous so-called angel wing begonia.

“The tuberous begonias can of course be planted outside and in many cases they will last over from year to year in valley gardens,” Sally says. “Most of the other begonias that you would grow in pots indoors are very happy to go outside in our summer heat as long as they are in dappled shade with regular water. They don’t want to be sitting in water,” she warns, “but they don’t like to dry out either, and you will need to bring them back inside before the first frost.” She adds that with their often dramatic foliage, “they make nice accents in container plantings all summer or even in your flower border with similar conditions. Photo: The low growing and rounded, translucent-leaved Begonia ‘Cathedral’.

Sally grows her plants in a rich but well draining planting mix and for best results recommends a balanced liquid fertilizer once a month. “Some begonias can get leggy over time, but you can easily prune them back to a node and then try to root that cutting - in water or with rooting hormone in a planting mix,” she explains. Most begonias are fairly easy to propagate by stem cuttings, leaf cuttings or from seed. Photo: A distinctive dragon wing begonia.

According to several sources, the Begonia genus was so named in the early 1700s by French botanist Charles Plumier in honor of botany enthusiast Michel Bégon (1638 - 1710), born in San Domingo, later governor of Canada. After being introduced to horticulturists in europe and England, begonias were crossed and hybridized and feverishly collected. The history of begonias and their interesting looks has long meant that as a genus they appeal to serious collectors. Photo: An ‘eyelash’ begonia, so-called for the rim of lashes around the edge of each leaf.

The more academic and unusual of the begonias notwithstanding, an equal number of begonias are “universally appealing and easy to grow,” Sally tells me with enthusiasm. “I try to propagate plenty of the more interesting tuberous and rex begonias, which are good looking and easy. I want people to be successful and not get discouraged.” Photo, Left: B. ‘Bulls-Eye; Right: B. ‘Green Swirl’.

If you are interested in adding some cheer and color to your late summer pots and gardens, begonias make a great choice, and can then be brought indoors in pots to brighten your winter as well. If you have old or unknown variety begonias that you would like help rejuvenating or propagating, Sally Greenwood can help - email her at: sally-chicoprop@sbcglobal.net.

Dick and Donna Murrill have been members of the Sacramento Begonia group for years: Joan Coulat - Sacramento Branch American Begonia Society, which meets on the Third Tuesday night of each month at 7:15 pm except for February and November. They meet at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center, 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento. Sacramento Branch: Shelly Berlant 916 486-9505

American Begonia Society is hosting their 2010 National Convention and Show
August 17 - 21, 2010
Embassy Suites
San Francisco Airport
250 Gateway Boulevard, South San Francisco, California 94080
Telephone: 650.589.3400 Photo: Rex Begonia ‘Escargot’.

The National Begonia Society of the United Kingdom: http://www.national-begonia-society.co.uk/

Begonia ‘Hazel’s Front Porch’

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