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Flowering bulbs brighten the garden better than incandescent bulbs.

Daffodil bloom from bulbs that were installed last autumn.

The elegant white callas that are just about to bloom in my garden have their origins in the ‘old country’. I obtained them from the garden of my great grandfather Tomeo in my ancestral homeland; Sunnyvale, near San Jose. I am told that my great grandfather planted them decades ago, and had been trying to get rid of them almost as long. I suppose that means that these callas are easy to grow.

My belladonna lilies that got planted two autumns ago are about as old, since they came from the garden of my mother’s mother in Santa Clara, right near Sunnyvale, and were in her mother’s garden prior to that. These bulbs just keep on growing, blooming and multiplying. Although I do not like their bright pink color much, I can not argue with their reliability.  

Bulbs and bulb like plants that can take care of themselves and thrive with minimal or no attention are always welcome in my garden. Bright orange crocosmia is perhaps just as reliable, or should I say ‘persistent’, as callas are, and like callas, should be planted about now. Yellow, red, and orange with red flowering varieties are also available. Pink, red, orange, yellow and salmon cannas are in season too. They are easier to contain, but are likewise prolific.

Some of my other favorites that get planted about now for summer bloom want more attention, but are certainly worth it. Dahlias can naturalize if conditions are right for them, but will more likely do better if dug, divided and replanted in enriched soil at least every few winters. They are remarkably easy to propagate. Asiatic lilies likewise prefer to be dug and replanted as their soil becomes depleted, but are not likely to regenerate year after year if ignored.             

Honestly though, some of the other summer blooming bulbs and bulb like plants that get planted about now are rather risky. I like to grow gladiolus because they happen to be among my favorite flowers. However, unless they get well amended soil and fertilizer, they do not perform very well, if at all, after their first year. Liatris is not much more reliable. Tuberous begonia is still a mystery to me, since I have not been able to prevent them from rotting in their first year!

Of the many bulbs and bulb like plants that get planted in autumn that are now blooming, grape hyacinth, snowdrop, watsonia, bearded iris, daffodil and narcissus are the most reliable and likely to naturalize, particularly with rich soil and regular watering. Daffodil and narcissus do not spread as well as the others, but are probably the most resilient. With a bit more effort, freesia and crocus can be persistent. In some situations, freesias have actually been known to naturalize as effectively as grape hyacinth.

Other early bloomers (that get planted in autumn) are more demanding. The anemones that I planted in about 1990 survived neglected in my garden for nearly a decade, but probably produced more flowers in their first year than in all subsequent years combined. Ranunculus and hyacinth may do the same if conditions are not just right for them. Tulips are perhaps the most profusely colorful of spring bulbs, but are sadly grown mostly as annuals, since they rarely do much more than produce foliage after their first year.

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Rotation Makes Gardens Go Round

Corn is a consumptive summer vegetable.

Vegetables are greedy as they grow. They crave rich soil. They exploit it and abandon it at the end of their season. Nutrient depletion can be a problem for subsequent phases of similar vegetables. In other words, vegetables of any particular family consume the same nutrients. Each phase leaves a bit less for the next. Crop rotation disrupts this process.

Different types of vegetables deplete different types of nutrients. This is an advantage for a vegetable garden. Tomatoes can deplete soil nutrients for subsequent tomatoes. Corn, however, may not notice such depletion. It craves different nutrients, so may be content with what tomatoes did not consume. This is how and why crop rotation is so effective.

Crop rotation is simply a technique of not growing vegetables where similar types grew. Vegetables grow better where different types grew previously. Their formerly depleted but vacated soil can recuperate in their absence. They can return to the same soil after three years or so. Other vegetables that grow there for that time accelerate recuperation.

Warm season vegetables are generally more consumptive than cool season vegetables. That is because so many of them are actually fruits, such as tomatoes, corn and squash. More cool season vegetables are truly vegetative, such as lettuce, cabbage and carrots. Because they produce no bloom, seed or fruit prior to harvest, they need less resources.

Therefore, warm season vegetables are more responsive to crop rotation. Most are not relatives of the cool season vegetables that they are now replacing. Similar vegetables of the previous few summers are more of a concern. Tomatoes, eggplants and chilis are all of the Solanaceae family. They should avoid soil that their relatives used previously.

Similarly, if possible, corn should not grow where it grew within the past few years. Nor should beans. Fertilizer can compensate somewhat for soil depletion where rotation is impractical. For example, a fence may perpetually be the ideal support for pole beans. Spring lettuce, carrots and other vegetative vegetables may be less reliant on rotation. Although most squash benefit from rotation, zucchini seems to be productive regardless.

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Spring Blooming Trees

Silver wattle is an aggressively invasive exotic species, but certainly is pretty in bloom!

From my window, I can see across the way to one of my all time favorite weeds in my neighbor’s garden. A healthy acacia tree is nearly in full bloom! Throughout the year, I occasionally remind my neighbor that we really should cut the tree down before its seedlings overwhelm the neighborhood. This time of year though, I am secretly glad that we have not gotten around to it yet.

Even though most people find the fragrance objectionable, I actually find it appealing. It reminds me of Southern California, perhaps because, even on a cool wintry day, it smells like a sun roasted freeway on a hot smoggy day. I suppose that its pollen is a problem for anyone with even mild allergies; and after all, it is still a major weed.

Other trees that are now blooming are not so problematic, or equipped with a petroleum based fragrance. Shrubby forsythia and flowering quince were the first to bloom. Forsythia is the best bright yellow besides acacia. The most popular flowering quince are rich pinkish orange. Apricot, cherry, peach, plum, prune, nectarine, almond and a few other fruit trees, as well as their fruitless ‘flowering’ counterparts, including purple leaf plum, are blooming about now. (Flowering apricot, peach, nectarine and almond are rare.) Fruiting pear and apple trees typically bloom a bit later; but flowering pear and some flowering crabapple are already blooming. Later, redbuds bloom bright purplish pink.

When pruning fruit trees during winter, I sometimes leave a few branches to cut and bring inside while in bloom. Fruitless flowering trees do not need to be pruned like fruiting trees, so can provide even more flowering stems with more flower variation. Stems of forsythia, flowering quince and flowering cherry are often ‘forced’ into bloom by getting cut and brought in just as flower color start to become visible, so that they can finish their bloom inside. Except for redbud, any of the other spring bloomers can also be forced, but are more likely to get desiccated by the dry air inside.

As red maple and red oak begin to break dormancy, they develop delicate pendulous ‘blooms’ that are not very colorful, but might be interesting enough to add to more colorful cut flowers. Of course, pussy willows are always traditional.

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Vegetables Change With The Seasons

Zucchini seed can be sown now.

Annuals are not all that change with the seasons. Vegetables do also. After all, with few exceptions, vegetable plants are also annuals, or perform as such. Most of those that are biennials are edible only during their first year. They bloom and become inedible if they survive for a second year. Most perennial vegetables are easier to replace than recycle.

As with annuals, it seems to be a bit too early to replace cool season vegetables. Some continue to produce, and may do so for a while. The weather still seems to be a bit too cool for warm season or summer vegetables. Technically, it actually is too cool for some. However, some must grow from seed. The weather will be warmer by the time they do.

Most cool season vegetables are actually vegetables. In other words, their edible parts are vegetative rather than fruit. Conversely, most warm season vegetables are actually fruit. In other words, they contain seeds. Tomato, chili, eggplant, cucumber, squash, corn, okra and bean are familiar examples. Some but not all continue to produce until autumn.

For example, zucchini and other summer squash produce until frost. So do pole bean, some cucumbers and indeterminate tomatoes. However, winter squash only grow during summer to ripen all at once for autumn. Okra, eggplant and various chilis should produce throughout summer, but likely will not. Secondary phases can prolong their production.

Determinate tomatoes, bush beans, and corn benefit most from phasing. They produce all their fruit within a brief season and then produce no more. Subsequent phases should start before preceding phases finish. Some can eventually replace lingering cool season vegetables. With good soil, fresh new tomato plants can start below aging tomato plants.

Seed for corn, beans, root vegetables and greens prefers direct sowing into their garden. Seedlings are stressed by transplant, and too many are needed. Cucumber and squash grow as well from seedling as seed, and a few should suffice. Tomato, chili and eggplant prefer to grow from a few seedlings a bit later. Some varieties are available only as seed, though. Such seed should be sown by about now, directly or within cells, outside or in.

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Annuals Change With The Seasons

Several perennials are useful as annuals.

Winter continues. It will not end until March 19. Wintry weather is unconcerned with such dates though. It could end at any time, or continue a bit later. Vegetation is more aware of this than we are. It wants to be ready regardless. Cool season annuals linger as long as they can. As they no longer can, warm season annuals should be ready to replace them.

Warm season annuals, or summer annuals, include both bedding plants and vegetables. They perform seasonally as cool season annuals do, but through warm seasons instead. They perform for only one annual cycle, although several have potential to be perennial. Removal of perennials is necessary only because subsequent annuals need the space.

All sorts of annuals are available in cell packs from nurseries. They become available as they become seasonable. Those that bloom for late winter and early spring are available now. More of those that bloom best during warm weather should become available soon. It is still a bit too cool and early for most of them. It is not too early for their seed, however.

Although plugging cell pack seedlings into a garden is easier, some prefer to sow seed. Those who do so should begin about now so that the new seedlings are ready by spring. Many seedlings require the warmth and shelter of a greenhouse to grow. As they mature, and the weather warms, they relocate into their garden. Other seed prefer direct sowing.

Many more varieties of annuals are available as seed than as seedlings from nurseries. Even if only a few varieties of seed are in nurseries, countless more are available online. Also, some flowers from previous seasons provide viable seed for subsequent seasons. There are a few reasons to justify the extra effort of growing annual seedlings from seed.

Sunflower and nasturtium are among the warm season annuals that prefer direct sowing. Their roots dislike confinement within cell packs. They recover slowly from transplanting. Cosmos and alyssum do not mind transplanting, but also grow easily from direct sowing. Seed for many varieties can start now because the weather will be warmer as they grow. Petunia, impatien, zinnia and lobelia are easier from cell packs later.

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Arboriculture Is Horticulture Of Trees

Many trees grow out of reach.

Recently wintry weather is a reminder that large trees require maintenance. Otherwise, some are likely to eventually drop limbs or blow over. Even some of the most stable and structurally sound trees benefit from maintenance. Otherwise, they can become shabby, overgrown or obtrusive. Such maintenance is what constitutes the basis of arboriculture.

Arboriculture is, most simply, the specialized horticulture of trees. Of course, it is not as simple as its definition. It is as complex as the diversity of the countless species of trees that it involves. In some gardens, particularly within rural regions, it may involve forestry. For small trees, such as citrus or Japanese maples, it may be comparable to gardening.

Garden enthusiasts are likely to maintain small trees within their gardens. Those who do not enjoy gardening may rely on maintenance gardeners to do so. Unfortunately though, very few maintenance gardeners are qualified for arboriculture. Many commonly damage or ruin trees by attempting to maintain them improperly. Arboriculture is very specialized!

Arborists are specialized horticulturists of trees who perform arboriculture. Most prefer to work with large trees that are beyond reach of garden enthusiasts. Many also work with small trees for those who do not enjoy gardening. Information about arborists is available at isa-arbor.com. This is the website of the International Society of Arboriculture, or ISA.

Garden enthusiasts who maintain their small trees may not be able to do so forever. Only a few of the smallest sorts of trees will never grow beyond their reach. Most trees that are manageable while young eventually mature. Taller types of palms grow too tall to groom within only a few years. It becomes more practical and much safer to rely on arborists.

Trees are the most substantial and permanent of vegetation within home gardens. They are not as temporary or disposable as annual bedding and vegetable plants. Some can survive for centuries. Within most municipalities nowadays, mature trees are protected by ordinance. Trees are commitments, which are certainly worthy of proper arboriculture.

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Raspberries Are Similar To Blackberries . . . But Different.

Like these dormant fruit trees, raspberry canes should go into the garden during bare root season.

            My grandmother would have gotten better results by sending me out to the garden for zucchini. She should have known better than to send me out for raspberries. I could have brought in as many zucchini as she wanted in a short while. With raspberries though, I was gone too long, and returned with meager spoils and diminished appetite.

            Neither raspberries nor zucchini will be exploitable for a few more months. Raspberries though, can get planted about now. Also, established raspberry canes should be pruned about now to promote abundant production later. Just like most deciduous fruit trees and blackberries, raspberries are not ‘low maintenance’, and require intensive specialized pruning.   

            New bare root plants should be spaced about two to three feet apart and mulched to insulate the soil until they develop enough foliage to shade their own roots. Their canes can then be cut back so that only a single bud is visible above ground. Because raspberries spread, root barriers are sometimes useful to keep them out of neighbors’ gardens.  

            Through summer, new plants should produce three or more new canes. These canes should be able to support themselves, but are less rampant if tied to a trellis or wire. I like to train them onto a fence like grapevines, because there are not many other uses for a fence.

            The more popular everbearing cultivars like Heritage, September, Summit, Golden Summit and Fallgold may develop fruit on the tops of their new canes during their first autumn. During the following winter, the tops of the canes should be cut back as far down as fruit developed. The remaining lower portions of their canes that did not develop fruit in the first year will do so during their second summer, and should get pruned out as they finish producing.

            At about the same time, about five to ten of the best new canes should be selected, and trained if desired. Superfluous canes should be cut to the ground. Like their predecessors, the remaining selected canes should fruit on top during autumn, get pruned in winter, and fruit again during the following summer before getting pruned out. This process should be repeated annually.

            Summer bearing cultivars like Willamette, Canby and Tulameen should not fruit in their first year, and should be pruned to about five feet tall during the following winter. Every subsequent summer, many new canes emerge as the older canes bloom and fruit. Every subsequent winter, about five to ten of these new canes should be selected, tied to support if desired, and pruned to about five feet tall, as all spent canes and superfluous new canes get cut to the ground.

            Black and purple raspberries are shrubbier, so get pruned differently than the more traditional red and yellow raspberries do.  During their first summer, canes should be pruned back to about two feet to promote branching. All except about six or seven of the best of these canes should be removed over winter. The side branches of the selected canes of black raspberries should then get pruned to about half a foot long. Side branches of purple raspberries can be twice as long. After these canes finish fruiting during the following summer, they should be cut to the ground. New canes can then be pruned like during the first summer so that the process can be repeated annually.  

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Wind Is Messy And Hazardous

Trees lose limbs to strong wind.

Arborists become more popular after storms. That is when consequences of negligent tree maintenance become more apparent. Wind dislodges limbs and destabilizes whole trees. Unfortunately, the most diligent of tree maintenance can not prevent all damage. Trees and other vegetation are naturally vulnerable to frequently stormy winter weather.

Deciduous trees try to be less vulnerable to wind by defoliating prior to winter. Without foliage, they are less resistant to wind. In other words, they are more aerodynamic. Wind blows through them rather than against them. Some unfortunately defoliate slowly within the mild climate here. With such minor chill, some retain foliage until spring replacement.

For example, some sweetgum still retain much of their foliage. That is an advantage for the display of their autumn foliar color. It is a major disadvantage for their aerodynamics though. As a deciduous species, it does not expect to be so vulnerable to wind through wintry weather. What is worse is that sweetgum trees are innately structurally deficient.

Evergreen trees and other vegetation seem to be less concerned about wind. Actually, they merely employ different defensive tactics. Most cypress and some spruce are too dense and sturdy for wind to penetrate. Many pines develop sparse canopies that wind blows through. On the coast, coast live oak stays low and broad for wind to blow over.

Regardless of their efforts, trees of all sorts are vulnerable to damage from wind. Falling limbs or entire trees are very hazardous. Also, they can damage or destroy what they fall onto. That is why timely maintenance of trees is so very important. Any tree that becomes too hazardous to salvage necessitates removal. All trees eventually age and deteriorate.

Also, all trees, as well as all other vegetation, are messy. Some are messier than others; and many get messier as a result of wind. Some of such mess clogs eavestroughs and downspouts when they are most helpful. Detritus fills curbside gutters also. Actually, it gets everywhere. Its removal will be easier between the windy storms that generate it.

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Blackberry Canes Need Specialized Maintenance

Dormant blackberry canes are now available with other bare root stock.

            One of my favorite modern California impressionistic paintings depicts suburban gardening of the post agricultural period in the Santa Clara Valley. It is a finger painting that I made in kindergarten at Bucknall School in about 1972 or 3, to illustrate some of my favorite features of my grandparents’ garden in Santa Clara. To the left is a vertical brown stripe below green squiggles with black spots; the avocado tree. To the right is a similar image with red instead of black spots; the cherry tree. Between and below these, and lacking a vertical stripe, is a flurry of green squiggles with more black spots. These are blackberry canes.

            Blackberries are not at all ‘low maintenance’ since they require rather intensive specialized pruning. Most of the work that they need gets done during summer; but bare-root blackberry plants become available and get planted this time of year with other bare-root plants. Blackberries produce fruit on biennial canes which grow during their first year, and then bloom and fruit during their second year before dieing out.

            Once the tough roots are established, there is no shortage of fresh new canes to replace the old canes. In fact, surplus young canes can be dug and divided with roots to propagate new plants during winter. Because they have a way of spreading outward, blackberries should not be planted too near to neighbors’ fences without root barriers to keep them contained.  

            The most popular blackberries locally are ‘trailing’ types such as ‘Boysen’, ‘Marion’ and ‘Olallie’, which are also known as ‘Boysenberry’, ‘Marionberry’ and ‘Olallieberry’.  Less common ‘erect’ types, such as ‘Arapaho’, ‘Chickasaw’, ‘Choctaw’ and ‘Navaho’, are more tolerant to cold winter weather, so are more popular where winters are more severe. Hybrids of trailing and erect blackberries are ‘semierect’, and are generally treated like trailing types.

            After they get planted in winter, trailing and semierect blackberry canes can do whatever they want to through their first year. In their second year, canes should be trained onto trellises or wires until they have finished fruiting in summer. When the fruit is finished, these canes should be cut to the ground.

            Some of the canes that were growing on the ground below the trellises while all this was going on should now be trained like the canes that were just removed. For trailing types, about ten to fifteen of the best canes should be selected, trained and pruned to about six or seven feet long. About half as many canes of semierect types should be selected and pruned about a foot shorter. All remaining canes should be cut to the ground. (A few of the smallest remaining canes may be left intact through summer to be divided for propagation in winter.)     

            Side branches grow from the pruned canes through late summer and early autumn. At the end of the following winter, these side branches should be pruned to about a foot long. New growth from these stems blooms and fruits during the following summer. Again, when fruit is gone, the spent canes get cut to the ground so that the process can be repeated.

            Erect blackberries do not need to be trained onto support. Canes that develop during their first year can be cut to about two and a half feet tall in the middle of summer. Resulting branches should be cut about a foot long in winter. During the following summer, these fruiting canes should be cut to the ground as fruit is depleted. New canes can then be pruned like the previous canes were.

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Summer Bulbs Begin In Winter

Summer bulbs bloom after spring bulbs.

Spring bulbs begin to go into the garden during autumn to benefit from the chill of winter. Summer bulbs begin to go into the garden during late winter to avoid the chill of winter. Spring bulbs know to remain dormant through winter. Some summer bulbs do not. If they grow prematurely, they can be vulnerable to cool wintry weather. Late is better than early.

Frost is still possible within some climates. However, summer bulbs are now in season. That is because, like spring bulbs, they disperse roots prior to developing foliage. By the time they extend foliage in a month or so, the weather will not be so cool. Later phases of a few sorts bloom later to prolong bloom for the first season. They synchronize afterward.

That is because they establish themselves within the garden. Once they do, some types of summer bulbs become hardy perennials. Some might try to grow prematurely during subsequent winters. If they incur frost damage as established perennials, they can easily replace the damage. Ornamental gingers and cannas do so regularly in inland climates.

Ornamental gingers and cannas may eventually benefit from division. Even if they do not become too crowded, they can migrate where they are not wanted. Their surplus is easy to relocate or share while dormant for winter. Their foliage becomes shabby or dies back during dormancy anyway. Even if mostly green, its removal stimulates healthy refoliation.

Ornamental gingers and cannas also are oblivious to phasing. Gingers bloom only once for late summer or autumn. Cannas bloom randomly from spring until autumn. Gladiolus bloom only once like gingers, but are more conducive to phasing. Early planting allows early bloom. Late planting delays bloom. Unfortunately, they are much less sustainable.

If summer bulbs do not look like bulbs, it is because few actually are. Most are rhizomes. Dahlias, which, like cannas, bloom from spring until autumn, grow from tuberous roots. As the name implies, tuberous begonias grow from tubers. Crocosmias grow from corms. So do taros, which are large foliar perennials. Gingers and cannas are familiar rhizomes. Although alliums bloom as summer bulbs, they go into the garden along with earlier spring bulbs.