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Garden of Delights Blog

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Carpenteria Californica in Bloom

10 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by ninagarden in California native plants, drought-tolerant

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

California native plants, drought-tolerant, flowers

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Finally, one of my Carpenteria has bloomed. I planted these plants up on my back hill almost two years ago–here’s a picture of it when I first planted. I don’t know if the warm, dry winter encouraged it or not, but I’m glad it finally bloomed.  I noticed little pods forming all over the bush a few weeks ago and finally they opened to reveal a white flower with a bright yellow center. I see one of my other Carpenterias now has pods too so another one will bloom any day.

This California native has dark green leaves. They are shiny and waxy looking. The plants are shrub like but mine grow taller than wider. You might say they are a little spindly, but they are a nice bright spot of green in the landscape. They are supposed to grow 4 to 8 feet high and five feet wide. (Mine are maybe two feet wide.)

The blooms are pretty and almost look like roses. I think in a few days, the shrub will be covered with blossoms.

I don’t even water it! Very drought tolerant! Keep that in mind! (They were very hard to find at a nursery. I think I had to order them and no one even knew what they looked like.)

The soil up on the top of the hill is not too bad, but not too good either –patches of clay everywhere. The description of this plant says it lives in clay or loam soil, tolerant of sun or shade. Flowers May through August–yipee! And they are supposed to be fragrant.

I guess I better go smell the Carpenteria Californica!

 

 

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Serious Drought Stuff

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by ninagarden in California native plants, drought-tolerant, garden, Southern California Rain

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

drought-tolerant, planning, succulents

Note: of course, I started writing this last week and now that I have time to finish, it is raining :-0

I heard the governor on the radio the other day, and it made me realize my yard might not get much water this summer.

This is serious stuff. And it is likely to continue into the future. I might as well face the facts.

I have decided to delay planting our front yard. Why plant, if I can’t water or shouldn’t water? I am going to wait until the fall when it is cooler.

That said, I am also going to plant even more drought-tolerant plants. This poses a problem for my style of gardening — I love cottage gardens. I am not a fan of a cactus or succulent garden; I have seen enough of those growing up in the desert!

I am going to search for cottage plants that don’t take water. The one that comes to mind is lavender. My lavender on the “hell strip” by the street never gets water. I spray it for a second or two once in a while to wash off the salts. I think the morning mist waters it.

I could plant my whole fountain area in lavender and have a few of those succulents that have the hot pink flowers–Calandrinia spectabilis. It is supposed to be indestructible, which is good.

Sage (the herb), salvia, alstoemeria, moonshine yarrow and a native verbena like De La Mina also might be good. I rarely water my alstoemeria once established and it still blooms. I also think artichokes would be nice–of course, they will likely need a little more water. That is one thing I have learned that can be difficult about mixing low water plants with ones that need more water–if you water too much, you kill the drought tolerant ones and if you water too little, well you know.  I think you have to pretty much go whole hog with drought tolerant! At least zone your plantings to match your sprinklers so you can have a low water area, and if you need it, an area that needs more sprinkling. Usually the plants will live without water but they just won’t bloom. I have found this true with day lillies.  They like water to flower.

Of course, grass falls into this category. We have a tiny figure eight of grass, which is ugly anyway due to other grasses mixing in and compacting of the dirt (and holes the dog dug).  We could brick it over or try a native grass–no more mowing. Another option is to make the grass even smaller and edge each border with a gravel or river stone then have the grass. I have seen this in larger yards and it looks beautiful.

In the shade, I like drought-tolerant ferns: here is the article I have been searching for in Sunset Magazine on ferns that like it dry. And this article has some other ideas for “wild and romantic” drought tolerant designs. Some of those look pretty.

Better Homes And Gardens has some other good garden ideas for drought-tolerant plantings. This page for Intermountain Nursery has a lot of the plants I like. You can see moonshine yarrow, mimulus, and other plants here, including Carpenteria Californica, which is planted on my hill and is about to bloom for the first time. (Maybe it needed a really dry year to bloom.) I am really excited to see it and will post a photo.

Looks like I will have time to plan this new drought-proof garden all through the hot, long summer.

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Seed Library–Awesome Idea

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by ninagarden in Arizona, garden, Tucson, vegetables

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Seeds, vegetables

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Pima County Public Library Seed library in Tucson, Arizona–drawers full of seeds for the taking. What a great idea for a public library!

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Opening the seed library with great excitement. The girls did not know what they would find inside.

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Grandpa Karl studies the seeds. He is looking for something specific. Maybe melons or lettuce–the crops he used to grow the farm at Picacho Peak. Oh yeah, cotton too. We found cotton seeds in the seed library.

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At this library, you can check out books and seeds, too! By harvesting seeds from your garden and bringing them back to the library, you are creating a community, encouraging gardening and fostering sustainability. The plants that grow and thrive in your garden are the strongest for your region. It makes sense to harvest them and plant them again. This practice is ancient. We develop seeds better adapted to our climate and save money too.

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The harvested seeds are brought back to the library and shared with others. You can “check out” five seed packs a month. Hopefully, you will collect your seeds at harvest and bring them back to share with others. At the library, you can learn different seed harvesting techniques. Also try http://www.seedsavers.org.

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There are three ways to save seeds: dry seed processing for plants that grow seeds on the outside of the plant such as sunflowers or peas. Wet seed processing is for seeds that grow inside the fleshy fruit of the plant. Rinse them off and let them dry. If the seeds have a gel-like coating, then use the fermentation process. This requires mixing them with water in a jar and allowing them to ferment (grow mold.) It’s a little complex but sounds fun to try. This is for tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc.

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For more information, contact Seed.library@pima.gov. Also try http://www.library.pima.gov/seed-library I wish I had this at my local library!

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