How and When to Prune Roses

 

Why You Should Prune Your Roses

There are two main reasons to prune roses. The first is to keep them from becoming huge, ungainly monsters.  If you don't prune, it'll grow easily double the size that it usually will.  The second reason to prune is to shape the rose, remove dead and weak growth, promote new growth, and harvest blooms for vases.

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How to Prune Roses

Wear leather gloves, long sleeves, and use sharp hand pruners. 

For shrub roses and bushy floribundas cut back to the desired size a couple of times a year.  For heirloom and species roses, prune after flowering in spring. Remove a few woody, older canes and open up the centers of dense, bushy plants to let light and air penetrate.

Big-flowered Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras: 

Remove weak, dead, and diseased growth, as well as suckers growing from the base that have different looking leaves than those of the original plant. Shorten the main canes by one-third and up to one-half in spring.

Climbing Roses:

Remove old, woody canes at ground level to promote the growth of new, vigorous ones.  Don't cut back healthy ones.  Train these onto an arbor, trellis, or fence.  If the climber is a repeat bloomer, shorten the lateral branches growing from the main canes to three buds after the first bloom in spring.

When to Prune?

 Major pruning should be done in early spring, after the last frost in colder climates.  You can also let the roses tell you — when they start to bud or leaf out, it’s time.  Zones 3 and 4 in May.  In zones 5, 6, and 7 - in March or April

Dead rose flowers can be cut back at any time in summer.  After the first killing frost, trim longer stems to keep them from snapping in winter storms.  Keep rose bushes from being top-heavy to protect them from being uprooted in strong winds. 

Pruning is vital to the health of the rose bush, it helps prevent disease by removing areas that may harbor infestations and also encourages flowering.  And don’t forget to feed your roses: Roses are “big eaters” and need proper nutrition, so feed them with a long-lasting fertilizer - or even better: ad lots of compost.

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Basic Garden Design - Not Only for Beginners

 

Many garden owners are tempted by the displays or by special sales in garden centers and carry home whatever they find attractive. Often only a single plant of each type. Don't buy plants indiscriminately. One of everything will end up in a visual mess. Save your money until you know what you need.

First Things First
Building a house starts with the foundation!  The same is true for building a garden.  Prep your soil with lots of compost and rotted manure. Unless you are lucky to have fantastic soil, amend it first before planting anything. 
Good black soil is the safest thing to use. Lay a couple of inches of compost at soil level and dress with mulch after you've finished planting.  It will suppress weeds, keep the moisture, and even out temperatures in summer and winter.  From now on the soil should not be disturbed. The first year your garden must be watered deeply twice or three times a week.

Evaluate Light and Sun
Which way does your garden face? Calculate where you have sunny spots for 4 to 6 hours a day and apply this information to plant research.  Read the plant labels carefully and research each plant on the Internet.  Don't bother with vegetables unless you've got sun for more than 6 hours a day, and you are willing to water and weed on a daily basis.  Examine all the contours of the garden and enhance any humps by building a berm — piling up soil and covering it with compost.

Create sections or "garden rooms" 
Have an overall vision of what the garden should look like from specific parts of the house.  Now it's time to choose your trees, shrubs, and plants, and lay them out for maximum visual impact. Avoid planning them too narrow.  Find out the maximum size plants and trees will reach. 

Every garden needs a focal point
It can be a structure, a gazebo, a patio, a beautiful birdbath, or a spectacular plant.  Evaluate the volume of the plant at maturity: how wide and high will it get? Don't forget at least one to two feet of space around it.  Read the plant tags and take them seriously. 

Big structural trees come in every shape, size, and color — they are the most thrilling creatures to plant — never be casual about them.  Trees are crucial for screening, privacy, beauty, as well as creating a vertical element. 

Create layers 
Once you know what trees will grow well, look for large shrubs or small trees as the next level down (2 to 3 meters in height). We often forget this important aspect of design: eye level. You should have the feeling of walking through plants.

Create a mix of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs throughout.  We need the evergreens for winter interest, as well as for bird and animal habitats.  If you want to attract butterflies, for instance, get Buddleia (Butterfly bush), Eupatorium (Bonesets), Ninebark shrubs, Weigela, or a small Hydrangea tree. 

Perennials and annuals add color to the garden  
Get plants with similar hues in the bloom to achieve a drift of color.  Plant hundreds of small naturalizing spring bulbs. They will provide the soil with cover and feed early spring insects.  Their amazing colors are a bonus.  This way you will have something blooming in every season.

Last, but not least: No Plastic in Your Garden!

Plastic is creeping in heavily for years into our personal landscape: Sitting on a PLASTIC deck with a PLASTIC canopy or awning, using a PLASTIC watering can, PLASTIC garden hoses, PLASTIC garden fence, PLASTIC trim edges for the lawn, PLASTIC garden tools, PLASTIC flower pots, and planters…

Mother Earth is precious for all living organisms - and that we need to protect the environment and do something against the thread of a climate catastrophe that is upon us and our children.  Instead of calling for the governments to do something, we should start to add our part.  Fossil fuels, plastic, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides — all that should be banned from our daily life, our families — and our gardens!

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Waterwise Flowers, Shrubs, Grasses, and Trees

 

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Years ago when there was a seven-year drought in California, many municipalities offered incentives for starting water-wise gardens. Do you love to travel? Don't have an irrigation system? Is your garden huge or has many trees? In many areas, record-breaking droughts have resulted in mandatory water rationing and incentives for water-wise landscaping that uses minimal irrigation. Cutting down on or eliminating thirsty turf grass, and introducing drought-tolerant plants is a good start.

Depending on your planting zone and with a little research, there are really a lot of blooming plants out there that are low maintenance.  Once they are established, they don’t need much water. 
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FLOWERS:

Yarrow

Salvia

Lupines

Coreopsis

Sedum (All types) 

Portulaca (All types) 

Lavender

Sage Herb

Coneflower (Echinacea)

California Poppy

Globe Thistle

Russian Sage

Orange Day Lily

Lamb's Ears

SHRUBS:

Oleander

Butterfly Bush

Blue Star Juniper

Barberry

GRASSES:

Zebra grass

Mexican feather grass

Purple fountain grass

Blue oat grass

Porcupine grass

Blue fescue

TREES:

Ginkgo Biloba

Shagbark Hickory
American Elm

Hawthorn

Consider these factors when choosing a plant for drought-tolerance, whether it's a tree, a shrub, a ground cover, or a perennial:

Competition for Resources

When you plant under trees, the available resources are scarce because a tree not only blocks sunlight and rainfall, it also takes a lot of water for itself. Weeds and other vegetation can also rob water from a new plant.

Sun Exposure

Always pay attention to sunshine requirements and/or tolerance when planting. You may think of full-sun plants when you hear mention of drought-resistant plants, but there are also suitable plants for dry shade. Moreover, not all sun-lovers tolerate excessive dryness.

The Soil Type
A drought-resistant plant in a wonderfully loamy soil may struggle during a dry spell if it's growing in sandy soil (through which water pours quickly, as through a sieve).

Save as much water as you can.  Look for plants that don’t require much water.  Why not use rain barrels and misters in the garden and landscaping to help conserve water and save on your water bill.

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Your First Veggies

 

New to vegetable gardening? Or did you try your hands already on some greens, maybe in containers or among flowers? In any case, it is a lot of fun watching them sprout and grow. Here are some tips that might be useful:

Late March/early April is the time where impatient gardeners are sowing heat-loving veggies, like tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and squash, indoors. The little seedlings that grow will be nurtured until the soil warms up and all threat of frost has passed, generally around the May long weekend.

However, once the soil outside has thawed enough to dig — which might be now, depending on where you live — there are cool-weather-loving crops that can be planted from seed right in the garden. These seeds are planted in the soil - they don't need that head start indoors.  However, if frosty nights are predicted, just place a clear plastic container of the soil. I always collect them throughout the year in order to have them handy in Spring.  Here are a few cool-weather crop suggestions for early veggies:

Peas 

They are one of the earliest crops you can grow, and there are different types and varieties to try.  If you are willing to sacrifice a few seeds, plant a few in a pot, so you can snip fresh pea shoots - they're pretty yummy in a salad or as a garnish.  Sow in early to mid-spring in fertile soil that gets full sun.  Also, give them a nice trellis to grow up and out.

Kale

Small-space gardeners should look for container varieties that will do well in pots.  To grow this hardy green, plant seeds anytime during the spring or early summer in well-drained, lightweight soil.  While it thrives in full sun, a kale plant will tolerate a bit of shade, as well. Cooler temperatures, or even a light frost, make small kale leaves taste sweeter - in spring or in late fall.

Beets  

They boast a number of health benefits and are delicious steamed, but you can also grate them raw into a salad.  Wait until the soil temperature is above 10ºC to sow.  Each beet needs to be ten to fifteen centimeters apart, so thin accordingly, once they sprout.  Don't let those thinned beet seedlings go to waste!  Sprinkle them over hearty dishes or in salads.

Carrots 

Carrots are easy to grow as long as they are planted in loose, sandy soil during the cooler periods of the growing season — spring and fall (carrots can tolerate frost).  Depending on the variety and local growing conditions, carrots may take anywhere from two to four months to mature.  Plant them in the spring and summer for a continuous harvest through fall!  They are grown as a cool-season crop which means the seeds are sown when soil temperatures reach about 50 degrees F (ca. 20 Celsius) in early spring. 

Thinning Your Seedlings

As painful as it may be to pull out fresh little seedlings that are eagerly pointing towards the sun, in most instances, thinning will benefit your crop.  Root veggies, like beets and carrots, need space to grow.  Use tweezers or small scissors to eliminate seedlings that might inhibit the growth of where you want your main plant to grow.  Read the seed packet to see how far apart each veggie needs to be spaced.

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Garden Planting of Vegetables

Make sure there's enough light

Before you buy any seeds or place an order for garden supplies, start by calculating how much sunlight is available wherever you're hoping to place your plants.  A good general rule of thumb is to go with leafier plants — things like kale, spinach, lettuce — in shadier spots because they don't need as much sunlight to grow and produce.  How sunny or shady your garden or balcony space is should really guide your planting decisions.  Any hot crops that you want to grow — peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, squashes, corn — need at least seven to eight hours of direct sun a day.  Beans, lettuce, radishes, and onions are other beginner-friendly crops to consider for your first edible garden. 

Protect Your Crops

Even if you think you have planted your crops at the right time, the weather could take a turn for the worse.  There are a few accessories you can use to protect precious young plants and seedlings that have barely had a chance to grow big and strong and healthy.  Cloches, for example, will protect tender young seedlings from harm.

Raised beds, which work well for condos and rooftop gardens as well (just put in a bottom), allow you to control or change the type and quality of the soil your plants will grow in more easily.  Look up plants based on acidic soil, alkaline soil, or just regular potting mix.  For example, if you're growing blueberries you may want to add coffee grounds or pine needles to the soil to make it more acidic.

If you want the best success for your plants, go with the blends of black soil, compost, and rotted manure (chicken, cow, sheep).  Although slightly pricier, the blends incorporate amendments like composted manure or peat moss to offer more nutrients. 

Your raised garden beds can be any size you want. As taller the bed is, the less you'll have to bend over to do work in it.  And each bed can be as long as you want. As a rule of thumb, keep the width to about three feet wide.  Use containers that offer sufficient depth and also drainage (that have one or more holes at the base).  For larger-scale plants such as tomatoes, squashes, eggplants, and peppers, use a planter that's at least two feet deep, both for stability and to give the roots enough space. 

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Read Your Seed Packages 

Read the fine print on each seed package before you purchase!  Make sure your garden or container will offer sufficient space for, and between, your vegetables — you might be able to fit in fewer mature plants than you think.  Some plants can grow quite tall and will require trellises or other vertical supports. 
Seed packages show how many days it takes that plant to grow.  In an area where there are 90 days of summer, so anything that takes more than 95 days, the likelihood of being able to grow that plant before you get our first frost of the winter is probably not very high.  In that case, you would need to start seeds indoors early enough or consider buying seedlings.  

Companion Planting

Companion planting lists can be confusing, but most plants either love tomatoes or beans, but not both.  If you're doing tomatoes, you're not planting any of the bean friends (like cabbages, eggplants, beets, broccoli, or cauliflower) close by. Instead, consider planting onions, garlic, peppers, basil, and herbs nearby.  It also can be helpful to grow pollinator-friendly flowers near crops that need pollination (i.e. tomato, pepper, and eggplant), especially if you have a balcony or rooftop garden that might not normally attract bees and other pollinators.  Marigolds are a really good option that you'll find just everywhere.  They're very cheap, abundant, and easy to start from seed.

Water Judiciously 

Plants need three to four inches of water per week. If you get two inches of rain.  Keep in mind that container gardens tend to dry out a lot faster than regular ground gardens. That might mean watering at least once a day, or two times a day sometimes, whereas, in a regular garden, you might water every other day or every three days depending on rain.  Balcony and rooftop gardens should also be watered more frequently.  You get a lot more sun intensity on a rooftop or balcony, so you want to make sure that your vegetable garden has access to water every single day.

How to Get Rid of Critters

For both urban and rural gardens alike, critters such as raccoons, deer, and rabbits can be a threat. You can surround crops with other plants that the pests don't like.  For example, if you plant onions around your tomatoes it stops the critters because they hate the smell of onions.  Same with used coffee grounds and sliced garlic.  Males can also pee onto the soil : )  It will deter these critters.
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Mix Vegetables With Flowers

Why?  Soften the look of a vegetable garden and many flowers attract beneficial insects.  Plant them in wherever there's space — such as alyssum, sunflowers, agastache, sedums, salvia, and nasturtium.

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Introducing one of my Favored Blooms: Japanese Anemone

Sometime in the past, Anemones were brought from their native China to Japan, where they naturalized in the wild.  There, these lovely fall-blooming plants were discovered by European plant collectors and were mistakenly identified as Japanese native.  These Japanese Anemones are long-lived and relatively low maintenance. 

Charming Late Summer Blooms
They range in height from 2'-3' (60 cm -90 cm).  Gardeners can reduce the plant's height by cutting it back in early June.  One of the great assets of these plants is their blooming time. They begin to flower in mid-to-late August and continue to do so until the first frosts -- covering the time when summer blooms fade until the fall blooms start.

How to Plant and Care
Japanese anemone plants grow in nearly any well-drained soil, but they are happiest in rich, loose soil. Mix a little compost or rotted manure into the soil at planting time. Although Japanese Anemone plants tolerate full sunlight, they appreciate a lightly shaded area where they are protected from intense sunlight – especially in hot climates.  They won’t tolerate dry soil for long periods of time.  A layer of bark chips or other mulch keeps the roots cool and moist.

Japanese anemone plants are spreading by underground runners. It may take a year or two for a Japanese Anemone to get fully established.  A place where the plant is free to spread is ideal, for example, when establishing a new garden bed that hasn't many plants yet.  A large blooming group looks best!  Half a dozen or more is very showy in late summer, early fall!
They are deer and rabbit "resistant" -- but I wouldn't bet on it -- better have a dog around...

Japanese Anemone and Aster Combination

Where to Find This Plant:
Garden Centers may almost never show this plant, but Japanese Anemone may be available at your local greenhouse or nursery. Otherwise, it’s easy to divide mature plants or take root cuttings in early spring.

Spring is in the air! Let Time Stand Still...

 

Time to visit the E.F. Gamble Historic Home & Garden in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley.  I didn't make it in Spring so far, but I was able to stop by for a visit in January and February.  And I was able to find lots of blooming shrubs, such as Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendron, and amazing Magnolias. The property includes a rose garden, cutting garden, formal herb garden, demonstration bed, wisteria garden, and an allée. 
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Gamble has over 50 distinct camellia cultivars or species, including Camellia japonica ‘Kumasaka’, one of the oldest camellias in continuous culture. In fact, Gamble Garden is listed on the American Camellia Society's American Camellia Trail.  

The Gamble Garden Camellia Collection has a total number of camellia plants: 61.  Miss Gamble purchased many of her camellias and rhododendrons from Toichi Domoto, a Japanese-American pioneer camellia grower and world-class hybridizer whose family had a nursery in Hayward, California. The Domotos imported camellias and azaleas from Japan in the 1920s and 1930s under perilous conditions.  In 1939, Miss Gamble purchased a Camellia japonica ‘Kumasaka.’ It is one of the oldest camellias in continuous culture. Kumasaka was clearly recorded in Japan in 1695 and thrives in Gamble Garden today. 

The small botanical garden is a non-profit education center and garden, open to the public. 

The 2.5-acre garden includes formal and demonstration gardens. 

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The Gamble Garden's Spring program includes their famous Spring Tour, and classes to help you prepare your own garden for the coming year.  Don't miss this popular Bay Area celebration, now in an all-virtual format. 
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A ticket to ‘Preview Party at Home.'  The event includes the talk with Jennifer Jewell, (Garden Writer & Editor, Radio Host) and exclusive access to Over the Garden Fence (OTGF), Silent Auction, Vendor Marketplace, and Plant Sales, all online.
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The Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden the perfect setting for your wedding ceremony, reception, rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, baby shower, day-after-wedding brunch, anniversary event, etc.

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The garden is open to the public every day during daylight hours. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. The gardens are not receiving any financial support from the (wealthy) city of Palo Alto...
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Enjoy your visit

1431 Waverly Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 - off HWY 82 or train station Stanford

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Gourmet Spring Fruit & Veggies - in Europe

Embrace the Spring season, enjoy these favorite European spring foods

Italy: Try New Veggies

In Italian spring markets, you’ll find many familiar and many unfamiliar vegetables.  There will still be Artichokes in spring, the spiny artichokes of Sicily and Sardinia - and they will be inexpensive.  "Carciofi Spinoso Sardo", looks distinctly different from other varieties.  Also called the “edible thistle”, they date back to the ancient Egyptians.  Find these delicious fresh Artichokes from January to April. 

Try Agretti, a marsh grass that you saute in a little oil and some garlic.   Season lightly - if at all because it has a saltiness inherent in its place of birth.  Agretti is just perfect for quiches (and frittata or pasta dishes).   Native to the Mediterranean area, it can be easily mistaken for chives, but with slightly thicker and longer leaves. 

There is also Lampascione, really a specific type of hyacinth bulb that was once Cucina Povera.  It means the cooking of the poor and now has become quite trendy.  Check out the recipes and soak them well, changing the water often.   This Muscari (Muscari comosum) has an absolutely gorgeous flower, and the price from a greengrocer is a lot cheaper than one would find in a garden center.  Amazing that gardeners can choose between enjoying lovely spring flowers or food.  Reminds me of the Dutch who ate tulip bulbs during the war - which was the Dutch version of Cucina Povera. 

French Food in Spring

60 percent of France’s strawberry production is grown in the Dordogne Valley and production lies in and around the village of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.  These wild strawberries of France are a must! Even rarer, are the strawberries grown in the Aveyron are special and ripen earlier than garden strawberries.   Sensational delicious Strawberries can be bought and tasted at Farmer Markets in early May.   The "Gariguette" is the absolutely perfect, legendary French strawberry created by those who know everything about strawberries.


UK and Germany

Asparagus Festivals are taking place in the UK and in Germany in Spring.  Late April, early May is the start of a two-month asparagus festival in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire in the Cotswolds.  White asparagus season in Germany and the north of Europe starts in early May and lasts until late June.  The white asparagus is grown underground.  Therefore, the white asparagus is not exposed to sunlight and doesn't produce chlorophyll.   The verdant asparagus pokes through the dirt as it grows, soaking up the sun and producing chlorophyll, which is what turns the vegetable green.  White asparagus is often accompanied by thin slices of ham, new potatoes, and sauce hollandaise.

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Enjoy these delicious European Spring dishes! 

Or grow these veggies and fruits in your own garden!

2021 Perennial Plant of the Year

 

‘Cat’s Pajamas’ Catmint - A Perfect Pop of Color to Any Garden

Plant Breeder Proven Winners explains:  "Give it a year or two to mature and you’ll see that this petite little catmint forms a bowling ball-shaped mound that’s covered top to bottom in splashy blue blossoms that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds adore."

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Two Flowering Seasons

"Catmint blooms first in late spring to early summer, then after a quick shearing, it flowers again from midsummer to fall.  Use it as a tidy, colorful border around your veggie garden where visiting bees will make regular visits and help boost your yields.  Or line your front border with a ribbon of this blue beauty and admire it every time you walk outside.  There are endless uses for this easy-to-grow, hardy perennial!"

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How to Grow

Catmint is hardy in zones 3-8, in full sun, average to poor (low nutrient) soil. 
Allow drying a bit between waterings.  It does not like waterlogged soil.  It grows 12-14” tall 
and 18-20” wide, and is deer and rabbit resistant.

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Christmas Planters

Here are some ideas on how to bring Christmas cheer to your outdoors: