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. Photo: The dry creek bed and its planted edges in Michael Cook’s Sense of Place and Lawnless garden in Chico.

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. Photo: Garden designer Michael Cook.

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. Photo: Front pocket garden with ornamental grasses and regionally inspired fence, gates and gabions in Michael Cook’s Sense of Place and Lawnless garden in Chico.

“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.” Photo: California fuchsias and Nasella are some of Cook’s plant selections for this Chico garden.

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.” Photo: Front pocket garden with ornamental grasses and regionally inspired fence, gates and gabions in Michael Cook’s Sense of Place and Lawnless garden in Chico.

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.” Photo: Gaura and ornamental grasses catch the light and add nice movement and drama in 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.” Photo: Entrance bridge and recirculating water gardens.

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. Photo: Rusted metal fence designed and built by landscape designer Michael Cook.

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. Photo: Dry creek bed swale and its plantings looking over one end of a little water garden designed and built Cook.

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. Photo: Lovely and regionally inspired metal work details on entrance gates and gabions.

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. Photo: Young ornamental oregano lawn flanking a Chico pool. Lower: Creeping thyme ‘lawn’ in a Chico front garden.

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. Photo: Upper: Feather grass, gaura and Russian sage along a border in this lawnless Chico garden designed and built by Michael Cook. Lower: Cook chose to include this New Zealand Flax (Phormium spp.) as a nod to the home country of own of the garden’s owners. A dragon fly takes suns himself on one of the leaf tips.

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. (more…)

Ahhh, long hot days, coolish nights and the plump, fragrant flesh of tomatoes. August is the iridescent shimmer of sunshine along the edge of the scented foliage of exuberant tomato plants – running wild in the vegetable garden. It is the salads and soups and sandwiches made of this most anticipated summer fruit/vegetable. Photo: Fragrant tomato leaf glistening in the early morning sun.

Photo: The wide variety of tomatoes in my garden this year - seedlings of which I got from Brian Marshall and Nancy Heinzel of Sawmill Creek Farms in Paradise (marshall-n@sbcglobal.net) - if you ask me, the little purple red ones are the very best - Black Plum, they’re called. (more…)

Rich, minty, sagey and earthy pine fragrances waft around you as you walk through Nancy and David Schleiger’s 2 acre plus, close to 26 year old garden. Beneath the sheltering canopies of stately old oaks and black walnuts, native plants and aromatic, blooming herbs line the walkways and borders in room after garden room of the long narrow property. The front garden, which greets visitors and acts as a bridge between the quiet street and the Schleiger’s house, is just the beginning. Cross the threshold of the back garden gate and you find yourself craning to see beyond the next gate, around the next corner, over the next border. “How far does the garden go?” you might ask in anticipation, “Oh, a ways,” Nancy might reply, modestly. Nancy Schleiger likes her garden plants to smell good, to taste good, to feel good and to help you to feel good. And whether its the herbs she has been cultivating and selling in our region for so long, or the many, many natives she now cultivates as well - both for her home garden and for her Native Springs Nursery- her plants generally fill all her requirements. Photo: Ornamental oregano.

Nancy, and her husband David, an architect, started working on their Durham garden in the early 1980s, and Nancy first started going to local farmer’s markets shortly thereafter. “I first became interested in herbs as I got to know more growers - especially those from different cultures such as some of the Hmong gardeners - I began to learn how other people use different plants - for food, for medicine. I started to experiment with different herbs and growing new ones each season and soon people started to seek me out for interesting herb selections,” Nancy explained to me as we wandered from the back deck garden, through a native and perennial border room and through a gate into the official Herb Garden. Photo: Nancy Schleiger standing beneath an old oak which reigns over her front garden, much of which is planted with native shrubs and perennials as well as hardy and drought tolerant herbs. (more…)

With summer’s heat upon us, I am once again amazed at the resilience and beauty of succulents in our North State gardens. I was inspired to revisit this piece on Claude Geffray’s Gardens in Chico.

Look up the word “succulent” in the dictionary and as an adjective you will find something like: juicy, thick and fleshy; from the Latin succus, meaning “juice.” The designation “succulent” describes any plant that “stores water against times of drought in specialized tissues,” according to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens’ Crazy About Cacti and Succulents. Succulents such as jade (Crassula ovata) or Aloes, store extra water in their leaves, others, including most cacti, store water in their stems, and still others store water in their roots or bulbs. While all cacti are succulents, not all succulents are cacti, but almost all succulents are low-maintenance, drought tolerant, relatively pest and disease free and darn good looking - in or out of bloom, year-round. Photo: A view down a covered shade area to one of Claude Geffray’s demonstration succulent and cacti gardens in Chico.

Claude Geffray, a Frenchman by birth, now longtime resident of the North State is founder/owner of Creative Cacti and Succulents, a landscape design business specializing in inspiring succulent and cacti designs, and Geffray’s Gardens, a specialty grower of a head-spinning array of succulents and cacti and based in Chico. Photo: The sculptural leaves of an Agave attenuata .

I have been aware of succulent plants and their specific beauty since I was a girl growing up at 8,000 feet in Colorado and my best friend’s mother – Janet Findling, a woman of the American West born and raised – had a large collection of potted cacti and succulents. My mother was a world-class professional gardener, but she had a decidedly East coast aesthetic and succulents were not for her – Yuccas were yucky and pokey and hostile, in her mind. But my best friend’s mother adored them. She saw in them the sculptural beauty and built-in strength that draws gardeners to them today – from the very small, candy-colored Sedums to the immense and architectural Yuccas and Agaves. To Mrs. Findling – and thousands of gardeners like her today, succulents and cacti were iconic plants of the American West. Thanks to many good books and many good growers, the array of succulents (from around the world) that are available at nurseries and which we can grow in our gardens today is breathtaking. Succulents from Africa, Australia and South America as well many, many good North American natives are now easily available in the trade. Photo: A typical ruffled Echeveria, which needs some protection from winter frosts - simply placing them in pots beneath the eaves of your house or garage should do the trick.

Claude Geffray’s interest in succulents began in his early twenties when, as an art student in San Francisco, he bought a succulent plant at a flea market. Coming from France, Claude had not seen many plants like this before and its shape and texture caught his artist’s eye. As a group, succulents and cacti have held his fascination ever since. Wanting to settle down from the pace of the city, Claude moved to Chico in 1985. By 1988 he had started his small specialty nursery, Geffray’s Gardens, which is now a premier retail and wholesale provider of cacti and succulents for “interiorscapes, landscapes, and specialized xeriscapes gardens for the Northern California region.” Photo:French-born Claude Geffray at one of his Open Garden days this past summer.

I have heard Claude speak to groups of gardeners about growing, caring for and arranging succulents and cacti - his soft french accent roundly describing the plants of which he is so fond. I have visited his nursery and gardens on open days and each time I have come away with treasures more numerous than I care to admit. The wonderful thing is, the plants I bring home from Geffray’s Gardens don’t die. Which, if you happened to have been seduced by the loveliness and drama of wonderful cacti and succulents from - perhaps - slightly more glamorous environs and vendors in the Bay area or in Southern California, you will know that plants from these locales often don’t take well to the North State - it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too dry, it’s too shady, it’s too windy. It’s not the Bay area or Southern California. When you visit Claude’s displays, it will be clear to you if you live in the Valley or foothill portions of our region that if he has it covered, you should probably have it covered, if it is growing outside for all the heat and cold to bear down on in his garden, then you are pretty safe to plant it outside as well. Photo: A selection of the many colors and shapes of succulent treasures in just one of Claude Geffray’s hoop houses at Geffray’s Gardens in Chico.

Succulents and cacti are available for almost all elevations and gardening zones. Hens-and-chicks (Sempervivums) happily flourished, put off pups (as it is called when a rosette-forming succulent plant has a little baby-version of itself appear and grow along its side), and even bloomed at close to 6,000 feet with plenty of winter snow in my last garden, and there are a handful of Agaves and many Opuntias, Yuccas and Hesperaloes that will thrive in the high country as well. But watch for the gardening zone marked on your plant and if you garden in zone 4 and you’re smitten with a zone 8 succulent - put it in a pot and move it into a protected position or indoors for the winter. For some good succulent how-to books, see this week’s Book Recommendations below. Photo: A pathway through one of the succulent and cacti demonstration plantings at Geffray’s Gardens.

Many things endear succulents to a gardener, not the least of which is that they are almost foolproof - perhaps the greatest cause for failure is OVER WATERING or not providing them with enough drainage, which amounts to the same thing. In general, most cacti and succulents - once established - only want water when they have dried out, once a week, or maybe twice in summer sun. They dislike too much water pooling around their crowns and so, especially in areas of heavy winter rain or wet snows, a mulch of fast draining gravel or sand will be appreciated. Originating from areas where water conservation is necessary for survival, succulents tend to like lean soil, very little if any supplemental food (if you have your plants in containers, Claude recommends half concentration fertilizer every other month during the bloom season), they are not susceptible to most pests or diseases, and they are easy to propagate - they practically root themselves from almost any cutting (or inadvertently broken-off-segment). Try it. Cut off of piece of your succulent, let it sit for a day or so allowing the cut to “heal” over, then stick it in the ground. Water it in a few days. Voila! New succulent. Literally. Photo: Left: Agave victoriae-reginae, Right: Echeveria imbricata in bloom.

An important thing to ask as you search for the perfect succulent or cacti for your garden is this: Where did this plant come from? Sadly, many cacti and succulent are collected illegally from the wild, which does not improve our gardens but rather diminishes the beauty and integrity of our wild lands. Make sure that the plants you are choosing have been grown responsibly and legally. Photo: Cascading Echeveria in a pot on a covered patio.

Claude sells his plants, his specially formulated cacti and succulent planting mix and his bold and interesting container designs year-round at Chico’s Saturday Market. He also holds Open Days at the nursery a few times a year. Not only do you get to peruse the wonderful hoop houses full of succulent treasure, but you also get to walk Claude’s succulent and cacti display gardens - well worth a wander. They give you a good idea of the outdoor drama that these plants provide as well as which ones are hardy. Photo: A row of potted Flapjacks (Kalanchoe thrysiflora) in a Chico garden.

More Info: Geffray’s Gardens also has Black Bamboos, Sago Palms, Hardy Palms, and miscellaneous plants on sale. Hardy Cacti and Succulents can be bought bare root from the growing beds, or in different size containers. They also offer an assortment of clay and ceramic pots as well as our own cactus mix. Geffray’s Gardens is located on Carper’s Court, in Chico. From Esplanade take East Avenue toward Hwy 32. Turn right on Alamo, cross Henshaw, go another 150 yards, and find Carper’s on your right. There will be signs in the adjacent streets. Photo: A tray of small succulent plugs at Geffray’s Gardens.

For further information and dates for upcoming open garden days, please call Claude at 530 345 2849.

Here are a few good books on selecting and growing cacti and succulents. All of my reading recommendations are available in stock (or by special order for the more expensive ones) at Lyon Books in Chico. You can order on-line and Lyon Books is happy to ship. You can also try our wonderful public libraries for these books: Photo: A display garden at Geffray’s Gardens.

A few years ago I read Debra Lee Baldwin’s book entitled Designing with Succulents, and became completely inspired. The book took my schoolgirl-crush on succulents and showed me that it could survive the step-up to a long-term adult relationship. Designing with Succulents convinced me that succulents are not only wonderful as showcase elements in ones or twos, but that you can in fact landscape an entire garden with lush, colorful succulents as the very backbone of your design. The trouble was that a lot of the plants featured in the book were not hardy for me. Photo: Calandrinia grandiflora in a Bay area garden. This wonderfully flowering plant is hardy in the north valley, but will need some protection from very hard frosts.

Then alpine plant expert Gwen Kelaidis, based in Denver, published Hardy Succulents, Tough Plants for Every Climate (Storey Publishing, 2007). It covers a wide range of cacti and succulents good for colder or more extreme climates and gives good advice on how to make the most of microclimates. My favorite photos in the book are those with snow capped cacti. Photo: Mature Agaves punctuate and frame a classical threshold between one garden space and another at the famous Lotusland gardens in Santa Barbara.

Debra Lee Baldwin has recently published Succulent Container Gardens (2009, Timber Press), which is also excellent.

Another good book is The Garden Succulents Primer (Gideon Smith, Ben-Erik van Wyk; Timber Press, 2008), an extensive listing of succulent plant genera and families, with identification and cultivation information.

Many good succulents and cacti are native to our region, are available from accredited growers and are worth trying in your garden. To learn more about these, try looking through: Cacti, Agaves and Yuccas of California and Nevada (Cachuma Press, 2008). Photo: Northern California native canyon Dudleya (Dudleya cymosa).

For the academic and devout, the truly awe-inspiring tome to own would be The Cactus Family (Edward Anderson; Timber Press, 2001). Almost everything you would ever want to know about Cacti is here. And, as a bonus, you could use it as a booster seat for the smallest of your family.

And finally, The Garden Conservancy has a wonderful workshop - Making Room for Succulents in Your Garden - coming up on July 16th:

WALNUT CREEK
2010 Ruth Bancroft Horticultural Series
Make Room for Succulents in Your Garden

Friday, July 16 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The Civic Arts Education Center, Walnut Creek
Co-sponsored by the Garden Conservancy and The Ruth Bancroft Garden

Morning Talks | Picnic Lunch | Lunchtime visit to The Ruth Bancroft Garden | Afternoon Talks | Reception in extraordinary Lafayette garden

The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a garden of succulent plants that are masterfully intertwined with other plants. As garden makers we may not know how to introduce the architecture of these special plants into our gardens. This seminar begins with succulents but mixes them with a broad palette of other trees, shrubs, and perennials that provide backdrop or bring an intensity of their own. Our speakers will set your mind on fire with a wonderful assortment of plants and design ideas. The synergy of the conversation will be top notch!

Lectures/Speakers include:

RBG Beauties: “fat plants” you’ll love!
Brian Kemble, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek, CA

Succulent Stars: where to get them, how to use them, how to take care of them
Robin Stockwell, Succulent Gardens: The Growing Grounds, Castroville, CA

Perennial Bedfellows: perennials that embrace succulents
A conversation amongst:
Deborah Whigham, Digging Dog Nursery, Albion, CA
Brian Kemble and Robin Stockwell

Partners in Design: small trees and shrubs that offset succulents.
A conversation between:
Davis Dalbok, Living Green Plantscape Design, San Francisco, CA
Flora Grubb, Flora Grubb Gardens, San Francisco, CA

Drama in the Landscape: Using Succulents in Broad Strokes
Jarrod Baumann, Zeterre Landscape Architecture, Saratoga, CA

Register on-line at: www.gardenconservancy.org

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. Yum.

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