Gardening, and the planted environment, is part of our cultural literacy – I am convinced of this. And local independent nurseries are the equivalent of the local library for this particular (and in my mind critical) aspect of our literacy. Local nurseries are gathering, learning and socializing places that help us live productively and happily in our communities.

Recently, I was visiting the Prickly Pear Nursery in Orland, chatting with Diane Stout, the owner, when three local Garden Club Ladies came by. Their hands were full. One had a large fresh green stem from what looked like a shrub, another had a pot with a small dead-or-dying specimen and the other had black plastic plant pots to recycle. Diane knew the ladies by name and they were hoping she could help them identify the first item, diagnose the second item and make use of the third. She was able to do all three, and the ladies stayed a while, chatting with us and comparing notes on what their gardens were up to just now. Two of the ladies bought something and they said good-bye. The interaction left me with this powerful feeling – the feeling you get when an experience transcends itself and comes to represent something larger. Photo Above: Diane Stout and her dog Bullet.

Diane Stout and her husband, Dave, moved to Orland from Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara, in 2003. Diane had for many years owned Hollyhocks Gardens, a small independent nursery in Carpinteria. When she moved north, she knew she wanted to continue in the nursery world, but was not sure she wanted to dive right in to owning. She spent her first few years in the Northstate working at the Red Bluff Garden Center, followed by Mendons Nursery in Paradise. “Suzy Brooks and Jerry and John Mendon were all great people to work with and learn from,” says Diane. But eventually, she was ready to start again at a place of her own – and in her home-town of Orland. September marked the one-year anniversary of the nursery.
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Most of us gardeners are aware of the concept of invasive plants. We see periwinkle (Vinca major, Vinca minor) blanketing whole swatches of our parks and shaded open spaces, we see yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) running rampant in the dry, sunny open spaces of the Northstate, and we instinctively know that these plants must be damaging the existing environment. While I don’t know of any gardener or nursery that would suggest planting starthistle, plenty will still recommend planting perwinkle. Therein lies just one tip of the confusing iceberg that is the “Invasive Plant” issue for gardeners: What is invasive for my region? What is invasive for other regions? And what of those latter should I be concerned about anyway? What’s the difference between a good, solid garden thug that holds its own and an environmentally damaging invasive plant? Photo above: Ornamental Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) makes a very nice, showy alternative to invasive grasses such as Pampas Grass (Cortaderia jubata).

That’s where we California gardeners are lucky (one of the many ways we’re lucky): we have the California Invasive Plant Council (http://www.cal-ipc.org/) also known as Cal-IPC (pronounced cal ipsee) to help us navigate the invasive plant issue. I recently spoke at length with Heather Brady, Project Coordinator for Cal-IPC about the Council and their upcoming annual Symposium being held in Chico October 2-4th. Photo above: Invasive periwinkle has taken over this roadside verge.

Founded in 1992, the council started as an informal group of “weed-workers” from throughout the state who had the foresight to understand that they could work more efficiently and successfully at managing/eradicating noxious weeds by pooling their individual knowledge and experience. Since then, the council has grown to become a leader in invasive plant issues in the state. One of their early volunteers, Dough Johnson, became their first paid staff member and is now the Executive Director. A registered 501(c)3, Cal-IPC has a small paid staff, legions of volunteers and over 1000 members across the state, who receive the council’s quarterly newsletter and regular email updates. (For individual membership visit the website: http://www.cal-ipc/about/membership/index.php). Photo above: Invasive yellow starthistle is rampant in dry, sunny open areas of Northern California.
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Flower shows have a long and illustrious history for American gardeners - The Philadelphia Flower Show was the first official American Flower show in 1829. I have my grandfather’s 1936 edition of The Garden Encyclopedia published by Wise & Co. My grandfather was a keen gardener and especially loved collecting and caring for camellias and roses in his South Carolina garden. The entry in the encyclopedia about Exhibiting begins with: “Why Exhibit? It is perfectly natural if one has grown a beautiful rose or dahlia, a fine egg-plant or a good bunch of grapes to enjoy showing in competition with similar products grown by others. It is a game of skill, and has all the amusement and interest (of such).” Angie Handy, Vice President of the Butte Rose Society and this year’s Rose Show Coordinator, assures us this “game of skill” is competition of the healthy and fun-loving kind.

Between now and the first week of October, the Northstate will host two regional rose shows with longstanding traditions: On Sept 20th The Butte Rose Society will hold its (www.butte-rosesociety.org) 14th Annual Butte Rose Show at The Newman Center 346 Cherry Street in Chico. Entries will be accepted from 6:30 – 10:00 am the morning of the show, and the show will be open to the public from 1:00 – 5:00 pm.

From October 3rd through the 5th, the Shasta and Humboldt Rose Societies will co-host our American Rose Society NCNH District conference and show in Redding. The District includes all of Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii. The conference will include speakers, seminars, and the rose show itself. It IS necessary to pre-register: for registration and info visit: http://www.ncnhdistrict.org/conference/2008-conference-regform.pdf, or www.ncnhdistrict.org. You can also call Gail Trimble at 415-472-6228.
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Don’t get me wrong – I know it’s still hot – sometimes very hot in the September garden. Summer may be close to officially over, but summer temperatures will persist in the Northstate for another couple of months. But still – September in the garden is somehow different than August. It could be the cultural signs – school busses back on the roads, backpacked children standing by crossing guards, holiday homes and resort towns slowing down.

But beyond the cultural shifts, we – and our plants – know that while it still looks like summer, it feels different. One that’s different is the light. Both the quantity and the quality of the light. Of course the light is always shifting as the planet turns, giving us our seasons. But the shift of light is more noticeable at some times of year than others, Autumn is one of them

The Autumnal Equinox on September 23rd means that by early October we will have lost more than an hour and a quarter of daylight from early September. Our hours of daylight will almost equal to our hours of darkness. And the sunlight we get will come to us at more of a slant – which is softer and cooler. While this may not seem like much, it is enough to trigger that get-ready-for-the-coming-winter response in the deepest recesses of our brains. And the deepest recesses of our plants.

This primal response is all about storing food for winter and producing seed for future generations. With somewhat cooler temperatures coming and softer light, my energy has rebounded and I feel like making stews all of a sudden, the hummingbirds and quail, squirrels and wild turkey seem more voracious than ever, and my plants are putting on their end of season blooms and seeds. Plants with really noticeable seedheads – like the ornamental grasses -are outstanding right now gathering and reflecting light. Acorns and rose hips are beginning to take on their burnished fall colors. Roses, dahlias and lavender are blooming or re-blooming and will keep going until first frost. So remember to keep watering and weeding as needed. Almost like a bonus Spring, now is also a good time for most of us to plant: vegetables and herbs for Fall and winter harvest, perennials, shrubs and trees which will appreciate the extra time to get established before next summer’s peak heat, and, of course, plant bulbs now for the spring show.

The full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox is called the Full Harvest Moon and this year it falls on September 15th. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the Full Harvest moon is thought to be bright enough to finish harvesting.
Some upcoming events of interest to gardeners in the Northstate in September include The Butte Rose Society’s 14th Annual Roase show on September 20th in Chico, and Turtle Bay Exploration Park is hosting its annual Arts & Crafts Festival the last weekend of the month. More information and more garden related events visit the Events Calendar. As always, if there are events you would like to see listed, or topics you would like to see covered, send me an email: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com. And thanks to all of you who do email, it is always good to hear from you.

Finally, as of this month In a Northstate Garden is proud to announce that it has joined the family of educational outreach programs of The Northern California Natural History Museum. As such: This has been a co-production of Northstate Public Radio and the Northern California Natural History Museum.

Until next week – enjoy life and early September in your Northstate Garden. I’m Jennifer Jewell.