What's happening in your California garden?
I know it's still a little early for interesting photos, but I'm so eager for spring! I'm out every day in my garden looking for new evidence and hoping that our upcoming local forecast for daytime temps approaching 65 and warmer nights will mean a rush of evidence that spring is springing.
Here's what's happening so far in my garden...
Pieris. I can't remember which one it is but it's an uncommon one and it's putting on a spectacular show. Past their prime camellia flowers in the background.
Emerging Brunnera Jack Frost
Heuchera Georgia Peach. I've tried so many Heucheras and discarded most of them, but this one continues to please me.
Mahonia Skylark. This is my first Mahonia ever, planted last fall from a five gallon container, and I am looking forward to watching it grow up and putting on a bigger show.
Left over fall/winter colors from a couple of dwarf Nandina.
Viburnum Sargentii Onondaga just leafing out. Nice spring brownish maroon colored leaves that will soon be green.
Ornamental grasses showing new green are often the first signs of spring in my garden, but they are really slow this year. It's not only been very rainy but it's been cold; perhaps that's the reason. Here's a photo of the one that's most advanced, Pennisetum Desert Plains, but coming along much more slowly are Pennisetum Ginger Love, Deschampsia cespitosa, Calamagrostis Overdam. Really slow are Bouteloua and Panicum. If I look really closely I can see a little green on the Boutelouas but nothing at all on the Panicums.
Lastly (for now) is my amazing Disanthus cercidifolia, which started to leaf out around Jan 29th. Here it is now showing its really pretty Cercis/Redbud lookalike leaves.
Not worthy of photos yet are the newly emerging leaves and flowers of Ribes aureum gracillimum, the aging flowers of Ribes White Icicle, the expanding flowering buds of Ceonothus Concha and various Fothergilla cultivars. The roses and some Japanese maples are leafing out now too, many of them with colorful foliage that looks so pretty.
A few more that are leafing out or shooting: Philadephus Covelo, Physocarpus capitatus, Holodiscus discolor, Heteromeles/Toyon.
Comments (41)
socks
7 years agoThanks for starting this thread.It's great to watch plants emerge in the spring.
Yesterday I chopped back blue chalk fingers trying to smother its neighbors, relocated a few succulents, of course weeded. Hosed aphids off rose bushes. Put in some coleus for color but mostly tidy up chores. I've not had much success with heuchera. I wonder if 10a is too arid.
Heres an easy way to get color in the garden, blood leaf. I started this one from cutting in a glass of water years ago. It has to be chopped back a few times a year. It gets morning sun, afternoon shade.
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
7 years agoecholane thanked melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/Related Discussions
What happens if you ignore your garden
Comments (6)I thought it was going to be a question, so my planned rsponse was "it will start acting out and running with the wrong crowd. Might take up drinking and smoking as a cry for attention..." Not too far off, I see. :)...See MoreWhat's your best garden shrub that happens to be a rose?
Comments (19)Until mine died during a freak winter where the temps. were in the 60's even during Jan., and then suddenly punged to below zero (fahrenheit) in early Feb. (which killed the bush outright) I would have completely agreed with Olga! THE YORK ROSE (Rosa x alba semi-plena) ROCKS OUT LOUD!! For what it's worth, I believe I've read that the Romans grew this rose in their gardens. It also is grown in those places in Europe where Attar of Roses is produced. The aroma of these petals is one of the ingredients in Attar of Roses. (Under normal circumstances it's hardy even into zone 3!) However, it only blooms once per year (in late spring/very early summer), but even after that it is a shrub with a "fountain" appearance. If that style of growth appeals to you, I heartily recommend it to you! (Oh, by the way, it also produces a decent crop of hips, so it also has visual interest in the autumn/early winter, and then later in the winter via its arching branches.)...See MoreWhat's Happening In Your Garden This Week?
Comments (47)Brenda, Hooray for the tiny tomatoes and peppers! They won't stay small for long. If your onions seem behind, try giving them a shot of nitrogen fertilizer. They are heavy feeders. You can give them dried blood/blood meal if you garden organically or any pelleted form of lawn fertilizer that contains nitrogen only. They also need a consistent amount of moisture even if no rain is falling. Otherwise they stall and just sit there and refuse to grow. You can plant garlic this year, but just not right now. In our climate we can start planting garlic in the September-October time frame for harvest next June or thereabouts. I am so glad your husband is hanging in there and making his way through all the surgeries. Hopefully he'll soon be strong enough for the third one. I am glad to hear he's making good dietary changes, and that you make it more fun and more meaningful for him by growing fresh produce yourself. Fresh is so much more nutritious because nutrients degrade as 'fresh' produce is shipped across the country, and even around the world, to reach store shelves. I also think there is something that just "feels right" about eating food you've grown yourself whenever you can. Dorothy, I know. It made me laugh out loud at first, but after a while I was tired of it. When we got married in September of that year so very long ago, it was 102 degrees. I think they thought they'd gotten on an airplane and flown to H-E-L-L. After we moved here, my brother and sister-in-law and their kids came to visit that August. They were here for 3 days and our high temps while they were here were 110-111-112. It was a drought summer, so that year the humidity was very low when they were visiting, but it still was miserably hot, even if it was a dry heat (grinning). They can't stand our heat 'cause they aren't used to it, but then I can't tolerate their cold weather either. We were there on Memorial Day weekend one year, and it was 26 degrees in the morning when we got up early to go trout fishing. Another year, it was 70 degrees and misty on the Fourth of July. I had typical Texas summer clothes with me, so all I remember about the Fourth of July was that I was freezing and that the fireworks show was cancelled because of the rainy, foggy, misty weather. Dawn...See MoreWhat's happening in your yard and garden this week?
Comments (28)I suppose it is an upgrade but that's just a guess....since the situation is progressing in a to a higher level. I hate to hear y'all have progressed to severe. That is not a good sign, particularly in what is normally the wet season. With gardeners, we tend to think of the upper few inches of the soil where we are trying to work the soil, weed, plant, etc. Drought monitoring involves moisture at deeper levels. That's why we gardeners can feel like our gardens are incredibly muddy while the U. S. Drought Monitor shows we are abnormally dry or in one of the drought stages. Your soil type matters too. Our mesonet station has a very different type of soil than what we have, so I have to take those soil moisture measurements with a grain of salt because mine are likely very different from theirs. I tried going shopping and it wasn't fun. I wasn't in the mood to shop for clothes or shoes or anything. It was foggy and misty and icky and chilly so shopping for plants outdoors (I didn't buy any) wasn't fun either. We went to the feed store and bought hen scratch and some sunflower seeds for the cardinals and then stopped at the gas station and at Wal-Mart where we picked up some items to repair the lawnmower's flat tire. That is the extent of our exciting shopping trip. When I cannot be outside working in the lawn and garden in spring, it drives me crazy---but not crazy enough to be out there in the mud and puddles and today's weather. It feels like March today. Maybe that is to make up for some of those March or early April days when it felt like late May....See More
gyr_falcon
7 years agoparker25mv
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRoyal Minnie was grafted onto Bing cherry. Yay, looks like the graft took!
banana in the yard, it doesn't look at its best because it just made it through the winter.
Actually cherries are probably a little bit more difficult in zone 10 than bananas, because of inadequate winter chill and the hot dry summers. I don't recommend trying to grow these for the casual gardener (you will very likely meet with disappointment if you don't know what you're doing).
great climate for roses (though they do require consistent watering for most of the year)
very small Yoshino flowering cherry blooming for the second year.
Again, this is remarkable because Yoshino supposedly requires 500 chill hours. It takes a lot of tender care during the summer to keep the soil at its base from drying out.
I'm in zone denial here, pushing the limits.
That banana is supposed to be one of the best tasting varieties, if you're wondering why not just buy bananas at the supermarket. And of course there's nothing like growing a fresh banana off your own tree. It's probably going to taste a whole lot better than something that was picked unripe so it could survive shipping from Guatemala.
echolane
7 years ago
Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoJasminum polyanthum just opened it's first couple blooms.
Scilla peruviana
Volunteer Freesia. I didn't stake the bed so it's a mess this year. So no pics of that.
echolane
7 years agoecholane
7 years ago
nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Hummingburd nest
Eggs. Blurry.....Trying not to disturb.
Cori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacy
7 years agoBlueberries...
Tulips, a couple different Heucheras (I like Georgia Peach too), ornamental grasses, Breath of Heaven....
Lots of new rose foliage and buds and little native companion plants for the pollinators (Lacy Phacelia) sprouting from seed...
echolane
7 years agosocks
7 years ago
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
7 years agoMost Salvias are pretty easy here. It may have been pushed hard by the grower and that made the stems too soft. It should harden up in the garden.
Plants are all pretty happy with the good rainfall we got this winter.
echolane
7 years ago
kcandmilo
7 years agoMy garden has loved the rain!
Tried these new African daisies, so far other than getting a bit chewed up by something, they have been valiantly flowering for a few months.
Last of the daphne bloom, and the fringe flower in full bloom:
The oak leaf hydrangeas look ready to go:
Going to have to hit up the grasses forum and find out if I should be cutting these back:
And the redbud is starting to contrast with the pluot and plum in bloom at the back!
And lastly: a new plant Digiplexis, the three leafy things in the middle of the roses and lavender, a new climbing rose in the forefront, and some happy lamb's ears after years of looking scraggy.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
7 years agoMy first ever banana harvest, 'Ice Cream'. Grown on just average watering.
kittymoonbeam
7 years agoCori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacy
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoA new Genie Magnolia tree I recently brought home... look at that color! Had to have it!
echolane
7 years ago
Lars
7 years agoHere's my front yard in Los Angeles
Calla lilies are still blooming, but you can't see them in this photo. My front yard is fairly easy maintenance, but I have more work to do in my back yard to make it photogenic. I'm going to start removing some of the chocolate Habanero plants that I have to make room for new ones that I am starting from seed.
echolane
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoWarmer weather and more things happening in my garden!
A wonderful little perennial Silene uniflora Druetts Variegated that looks good all winter, the only difference is that it is trying to bloom..
I have collected quite a few dwarf conifers and this is the first to show some spring shoots, in this case a miniature conifer, Cedrus dedora 'Hedgehog'.
Very floriferous Viburnum tinus 'Spirit'
A brilliant Camellia:
My favorite shrub is Fothergilla and here is one variety blooming already!
And lastly, an unusual magnolia about to bloom.
echolane
7 years ago
otcay
7 years agoWhile people display their pride and joy, mine is spiky interloper, the infamous poisonous Marah.
5birdy
7 years agokcandmilo
7 years ago5birdy
7 years agokcandmilo
7 years agosocks
7 years agoI wanted to cut this one down in the fall, but it just kept on blooming so I never did it. Not sure how it will look this summer or what I should do with it. Mexican sage, right?
echolane
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agonanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agonanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
7 years agoI fear the eggs in the picture from a week ago got washed away in a torrential downpour yesterday.
kcandmilo
7 years ago
Norm Wilson(zone10/Sunset zone24)
7 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
7 years agoMango tree (8') in my yard starting to send out new growth. Give them as much a hot spot as you can find and they will grow in the bay area. Have fruits too.
Josue (Zone 9b, Central, inland California)
7 years agoNice Stan! I have a potted Keitt mango that is starting to push new growth also.
Here is a blooming A. striata from this morning.
drinkmorewater
7 years ago
Pride of Madeiras are in full bloom
Lavenders contrast with orange sedge
Climbing rose is going crazy with all the rain it got this winter. Someone (not me) will have to climb up there and prune it soon
faerygardener z7 CA