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White Flowers Attract Pollinators Also

Phlox happens to excel at white.

Floral color attracts pollinators. Hummingbirds mostly prefer bright red, pink and orange. Butterflies mostly prefer bright orange and yellow. Bees prefer bright blue and purple, but are less discriminating than other pollinators. Of course, these are mere generalizations. Otherwise, the majority of pollinators might ignore species that bloom with white flowers.

Realistically, most flowers do not rely on pollinators for pollination. They rely exclusively on wind, so are just green or brown, and not visually prominent. These include flowers of grasses and conifers. Otherwise, small but prominently prolific white flowers are the next best option. They rely on either or both wind and pollinators for very effective pollination.

For example, firethorn bloom is very appealing to bees and other pollinators. It is also so prolific that some of its pollen disperses into the wind. Its tiny but abundant white flowers can not avoid pollination by one means or the other. Most orchard trees, such as apricot, plum, apple and pear, use the same technique. So do viburnum, photinia and elderberry.

This should not imply that white is a substandard color, though. After all, white flowers do attract pollinators. Several pollinators, such as nocturnal moths, prefer luminescent white flowers. More importantly, many pollinators see more than white. Several types of Insects see ultraviolet. What seems to be white to us can actually be elaborately colorful to them.

Furthermore, white needs no justification. It happens to be the best color option for some garden applications. It brightens visually dark situations, and mingles well with almost all other colors. A few types of flowers, particularly those with distinctive form, excel at white. Calla, camellia, lily of the valley and various lilies are only a few of numerous examples.

Cool season annuals for autumn and winter will soon replace old warm season annuals. White busy Lizzie, petunia, cosmos, alyssum, snapdragon and zinnia are finishing soon. White pansy, viola, dianthus and wax begonia may replace them. Later in autumn, white cyclamen will become seasonal. There are always enough white flowers to choose from.

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Protecting Fruit From Birds and Squirrels

Squirrels can be quite destructive.

Ecological balance should be an asset to the garden. Good insects eat bad insects. Certain birds eat more bad insects. The problem is that some visitors to the garden are not so beneficial.

Besides the bad insects that can damage various plants in the garden, there are several types of birds and squirrels that compete for nuts and fruit. Birds and squirrels are much more aggressive in their tactics than insects are, and are often more difficult to control.

Some people like to provide alternate sources of food for hungry birds. However, birds that crave fresh berries are not so likely to be distracted by dry birdseed in a bird feeder.

Flash tape (which is strips of silver Mylar) or unwanted CDs hung prominently in fruit trees repels birds for a while, but  eventually fail to impress. Such bling should be put out in the garden only as fruit starts to become attractive to birds. If hung out too early, birds become accustomed to them and will not be deterred by the time the fruit ripens.

Flash tape or CDs should be placed where they will flutter in the breeze and can be seen from most perspectives, and may be more effective if moved every few days. Scarecrows are much more work to move about, but are no more effective. Besides, they can be unpopular with neighbors.

Bird netting is more effective to keep birds away. It can be installed over fruit trees a week or more before the fruit ripens. It should be tied around the trunk below lower branches or extend to the ground if birds are persistent enough to look for access through it. Netting should be removed when the fruit is harvested, so that stems to not grow through it.

Squirrels are more of a challenge. They have no problem getting through netting, and do not mind flashy bling. Squirrels may temporarily avoid dummy owls that repel pigeons and rats, but eventually realize that they are not a threat. Poison baits are dangerous to cats or dogs or anyone else that may be interested in poisoned squirrels, particularly since squirrels are so easy to catch as they succumb to poison!

Plastic rodent guards (or even sheet metal) wrapped around the trunks of fruit trees block access to squirrels because they are too smooth for rodents to get a grip into. Some types flare out too far for rodents to reach around. Others are too wide (from top to bottom) for squirrels to reach over. They should be located at least six feet above the ground so that squirrels do not simply jump past them from the ground.

However, rodent guards are only effective if all other access is also blocked. Lower limbs should be pruned about six feet above the ground, as well as six feet from roofs, fences, other trees or anything else that squirrels can jump from. This can be somewhat of a hassle when it is time to harvest ripe fruit that is out of reach.

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Late Summer Flowers Bloom Now

Pot marigold is an autumn annual.

Spring is the season with the most flowers. Winter is generally the season with the least. That is, of course, a generalization. There are plenty of flowers that bloom exclusively for winter color. Plenty more bloom randomly throughout the year, regardless of season. For now, late summer flowers are the most prominently colorful. Autumn flowers will be next.

Realistically, no bloom is random. Even flowers that bloom randomly throughout the year do so only because they can. Such flowers are mostly from mild climates where they can disperse seed at any time. Any pollinators that they rely on are also active throughout the year. Many randomly blooming flowers can effectively conform to more distinct seasons.

Most flowers bloom within a distinct season because it is most convenient for them. Most bloom for spring to maximize the time for their seed to develop before winter. Many of the earliest are tiny but abundant because they rely on wind for pollination. Later flowers can be bigger and more colorful to attract pollinators. Late summer flowers are no exception.

Different flowers have different priorities. Some of the earliest spring bloom needs time to produce seed after bloom. Several late summer flowers conversely need time to develop their blooms. Then, they produce seed relatively quickly before winter. This is why some late summer flowers are bolder but less abundant than spring flowers. They require time.

For example, sunflowers with relatively small blooms may bloom as early as late spring. However, those with bigger and bolder blooms are more familiar as late summer flowers. Such big blooms do not grow quickly, but are ready for their late pollinators nonetheless. They compensate for their lack of abundance with spectacularly grand individual bloom.

Many late summer flowers happen to be related to sunflowers. They include coneflower, dahlia, zinnia, sneezeweed, aster, and cosmos. Dahlias with larger flowers are later than those with smaller flowers. Marigold and chrysanthemum will become more seasonable later and into autumn. Unrelated canna and various sages are blooming well about now.

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Gophers

Do not underestimate the destructive potential of gophers!

Many of the yuccas that naturally live in deserts where forage may be scarce are equipped with an efficient defense system. Each leaf terminates with a nasty spine. Leaves are so abundant that the spines are impossible to avoid. It is amazing that these yuccas are as vulnerable as they are to gophers, who simple burrow below all the advanced defense technology to eat the starchy roots and any subterranean portions of stems.

Some of the techniques sometimes used to get rid of gophers are too dangerous to even discuss. Rodent poison (for rats and mice for example) is not only dangerous to other animals that may dig it up, but not often effective since gophers prefer to eat fleshy roots and stems. The only practical poisons can only be applied by licensed pesticide applicators.

New plants can be installed within ‘gopher cages’ that should exclude gophers from the root system at least long enough for the plants to get established. Gopher cages can be purchased ready-made, or can be constructed easily from chicken wire. They only need to be as deep as the planting hole, but can be wider for perennials that spread.

Gopher cages do not protect all roots, since some extend through the cage to disperse; but should protect enough roots to keep plants alive if outer roots get damaged. By the time the cages deteriorate, the plants within should be established enough to survive gopher infestation for a while; although even large plants can be killed by unrestrained gophers.

Properly used traps are the most practical means of controlling gophers. Traps should be installed in pairs, even though each pair typically catches only a single gopher. If possible, traps should be installed away from any gopher cages that may be present, since cages are difficult to work around, and nearly impossible to release from a sprung trap.

Once the entrance to a gopher run is found under a mound of freshly excavated soil, the entrance, which is typically filled with loose soil, should be excavated back as far as the main run, which extends perpendicularly to the right and left. The main run should be cleared of loose soil.

Each of the two traps can then be set and gently placed within the main run in each direction. A trap should be held by the spring end so that the claws and lever extend into the run. Wires attached to the spring end of the traps are easier and safer to pull the traps out with later, instead of digging the traps out. These wires can be attached to a stake to make them easy to find later.

The entrance hole should then be buried. Air circulation from outside will prompt the gopher to collect loose soil to plug the hole, and push the loose soil ahead, springing the trap prematurely.

The gopher within may not be interested in using the same entrance to expel soil, but will likely use the same run. Two traps are used because there is no way of knowing which direction the gopher will approach from. The unfortunate gopher can be removed in a day or so; so that the traps can be set into another run where fresh excavation has been observed.

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Binding For Straighter Tree Trunks

Proper binding promotes straight trunk growth.

Staking is not quite the same as binding with stakes. It is more for the benefit of the roots than the trunks, which is what binding is for. Staking should support new trees only while such trees disperse roots for adequate stability. As trees do so, stakes become obsolete. Actually, stakes that remain for too long may be detrimental to healthy tree development.

Binding with stakes promotes straight trunk growth. It is particularly practical for trees that naturally develop crooked or multiple trunks. It is a technique that is quite common within nurseries, although not home gardens. However, many trees retain binding stakes when they arrive from nurseries. For a while after planting, some continue to benefit from them.

However, binding may be more detrimental than staking if it remains for too long. Trunks that become reliant on any sort of supportive stake remain weak or limber. Also, tape that binds trunks to stakes can become constrictive as trunks grow. It is important to remove it before it begins to interfere with trunk expansion. Looser tape can be useful if necessary.

For example, California pepper tree naturally develops a few irregular and limber trunks. To produce trees with single and straight trunks, nurserymen bind single trunks to stakes. They then prune out other trunks and low limbs until main trunks attain an optimal height. Because they are still limber, trees remain bound to their stakes while available for sale.

However, such stakes provide only support for trunks. They do nothing for stability while trees disperse roots into their new gardens. Additional staking with heftier stakes may be necessary for that. Such stakes must extend into undisturbed soil below the roots of such new trees. If possible, it is better to merely replace binding stakes with supportive stakes.

The next best option is to replace tape that binds young trunks to stakes with looser tape. This maintains the straight form of such trunks without inhibiting their growth. Supportive stakes, in addition to binding stakes, maintain their upright posture. Most trees need only supportive stakes, realistically. A few trees, especially new palms, need no stakes at all.

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Sun Scald

Vegetation needs sunlight, but sunlight can be excessive.

It was sad to see the removal of a rather mature but unstable Italian stone pine from the neighborhood. Fortunately, the arborist who removed it was careful to avoid damaging the garden below. Yet, after all the effort, the garden did not remain undamaged for long. The healthy bear’s breech (acanthus) and young Australian tree ferns that had been shaded by the dense canopy of the pine got roasted by the first warm weather.

These perennials got roasted because they were adapted to shade, but could not adapt soon enough to exposure to direct sunlight. This illustrates one of the main problems of topping trees and exposing the interiors of formerly shaded canopies. (‘Topping’ is the disfiguring removal of major portions of the upper canopies of trees.) Like perennials on the ground, foliage as well as stems and main limbs within the canopies of topped trees gets damaged by increased exposure. Although most perennials eventually adapt and recover, topped trees are often damaged too severely to recover.

Foliage can be replaced, but stems and limbs are not so expendable. Deciduous trees and most evergreen trees will replace damaged foliage within the first year. Deciduous trees that get topped while dormant in winter actually do not exhibit foliar damage, since foliage that emerges in spring will be adapted to the exposure that they grow into. However, formerly shaded stems that suddenly become exposed by topping are easily damaged by sun scald, which is like sunburn of the bark.

Sun scald deteriorates into open wounds which leave inner wood susceptible to decay. Minor sun scald of small limbs can eventually be compartmentalized (healed over) before it becomes too much of a problem. Major sun scald can destroy main limbs and even trunks, causing additional disfigurement to trees that were already disfigured by topping! Even if sun scald does not develop, the open wounds left from topping are often too large to be compartmentalized, so remain open to decay.

Regardless of sun scald, topping is more directly disfiguring, by removing well structured limbs and trunks, and causing the development of disfigured and structurally unsound limbs. Secondary growth that emerges in response to topping or severe pruning is weakly attached to the mature limbs that it emerges from because it did not grow together with the mature limbs. It breaks away easily in wind, or simply because it grows too vigorously and soon gets too heavy for weak unions.

Topping actually causes more problems than it is thought to remedy. In some situations, it is actually more practical to remove potentially hazardous trees than to make them more hazardous by topping them.

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Feral Flowers Are Not Wildflowers

Most nasturtium varieties will eventually revert.

Feral flowers are technically not the same as wildflowers. As their designation suggests, wildflowers grow wild. They always have, without intervention. They are naturally native. Their native ranges can fluctuate, but do so naturally as associated ecosystems change. Their status as wildflowers does not change within home gardens or refined landscapes.

Feral flowers are progeny of cultivated flowers. Almost all are exotic, or nonnative. Some are true to type, which means that they are indistinguishable from the originals. However, because of extensive breeding, many revert to a more genetically stable state. Some can naturalize, or perpetuate without intervention. Then, they seem to behave as wildflowers.

For example, most home garden nasturtiums begin as garden varieties. They bloom with particular colors because of their breeding and selection. Their progeny, however, bloom with more natural floral color. After a few generations, they may bloom only basic orange and yellow. Such feral flowers can naturalize within riparian ecosystems like wildflowers.

Because they are not native, naturalized nasturtium are technically not wildflowers. They are merely naturalized feral flowers. Although they are rarely aggressively invasive, they can interfere with natural ecology. They might compete with native species for resources and space. They can sustain organisms that are pathogens to native vegetation species.

California poppy is a genuinely native wildflower. However, a few home garden varieties developed from selection and breeding. Initially, such varieties bloom with unusual floral colors like white, lavender, pink or red. After a few generations, though, their colors revert to their more natural orange. Although wildflowers, they are also technically feral flowers.

Many of the most noxious weeds here escaped from home gardens and naturalized. For example, common pink pampas grass became popular during the Victorian Period. Now, it is quite naturalized and compromising ecosystems throughout the West Coast. Its feral flowers are appealing, but perpetuate infestation. They are surely not native wildflowers. Water hyacinth and yellow flag are other examples.

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Shade Trees

Trees are the most substantial components of a landscape.

Shady characters inhabit some of the best gardens. Actually, most of the best gardens have some sort of shade tree. There are so many to choose from for every sort of garden. Some stay small and compact enough to provide only a minimal shadow for a small atrium. Others are large enough to shade large areas of lawn.

Like every other plant in the garden, shade trees should be selected according to their appropriateness to particular applications. Favorite trees are of course welcome, but should be placed in appropriate locations where they will be less likely to cause problems later. For example, those of us who like silver maples should only plant them where they will not crowd other trees, and if there is sufficient area to accommodate them when mature. Southern magnolias are bold shade trees, but create too much mess for infrequently raked lawns, and create too much shade for many other plants around them.

Shade trees near to the home should be deciduous if possible. This means that they will drop their leaves to be not so shady when it would be good to get more sunlight through winter. Honey locust, red oak, Raywood ash, tulip tree and many varieties of maple (except Japanese maple) are some of the best. Silver maple gets a bit too large for small gardens, but is an elegant shade tree for large lawns. Japanese maple and smoke tree are small trees that fit nicely into an atrium or a small enclosed garden.

Evergreen trees also make good shade trees, but should be kept farther from the home if possible, in order to avoid shading too much through winter. Besides, most evergreen trees are messier than deciduous trees so are not so desirable over lawns, patios or roofs. Camphor tree and several of the well behaved eucalypti are delightful shade trees where their litter will not bother anyone. Mayten tree is a smaller tree for more confined areas. Strategically placed evergreen shade trees can also function to obscure unwanted views.

Every shade tree creates a specific flavor of shade. Honey locust makes just enough shade for summer weather without making the garden too dark for other plants and lawn grass. Silver maple is a bit shadier. The shade of redwood and Southern magnolia (when mature) though, is so dark that not many other plants want to get close to them.

Remember that appropriate shade trees may be in the garden for decades or even centuries. It is best to select them accordingly so there will be fewer problems in the future.

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Soil Amendment Might Be Overkill

Excessive soil amendment may be unnecessary.

Planting should not be complicated. The primary objective is to settle formerly contained roots into the ground safely. It includes motivating roots to disperse into surrounding soil. This might involve disruption of constricting or congested roots. It may involve addition of fertilizer. Soil amendment such as compost is likely useful to entice root growth outward.

For almost all substantial woody plants and most large perennials, this is only temporary. Their roots disperse faster than their original soil amendment decomposes. They require no more soil amendment incorporated into their soil afterward. Such incorporation would damage their dispersing roots. This could defeat the original purpose of soil amendment.

For such substantial plants, soil amendment only provides a transition into endemic soil. Without it, roots may be tempted to continue to grow within their original potting medium. If endemic soil is less appealing to them, they might lack motivation to disperse outward. Soil amendment mixed with their endemic soil provides them the motivation they require.

Mulching with soil amendment over the surface of the soil is a different procedure. Since it requires no incorporation into the soil, it severs no roots below the surface. Yet, it helps retain moisture and insulates the soil. As it decomposes, mulch adds organic nutrients to the soil. For established plants, mulching is a noninvasive technique with a few benefits.

Vegetable plants and annuals enjoy soil amendment more than more substantial plants. Proportionately, they consume much more of the nutrients that the amendments provide. Yet, they do not inhabit their soil long enough to crave more than they start with. Addition of amendment during their replacement damages no roots. It provides for the next phase.

Soil amendment is available either bagged or in bulk from nurseries and garden centers. Home garden generated compost is less expensive, since it costs nothing but effort. The process of composting is involved, but it utilizes otherwise useless garden detritus. Many home gardens generate more compost than they may use. Neighbors sometimes share.

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Advice From reneesgarden.com

When is the best time to pick the perfect tomato?

My colleagues and I are rather proficient with communicating with the plants in the garden. Plants let us know when they want a particular nutrient, or are getting hassled by a particular pest. Those that produce fruit and vegetables also tell us when it is time to harvest. The only problem is that some horticulturists are not quite as receptive to information about ripening produce as we are to problems.

As my tomatoes ripen, I eat them whenever I want to, even if they are warm from hanging out in the sun. Any fruits or vegetables are fair game as soon as they are ready to get eaten. Although I will grow just about anything in my garden, I never bothered to learn how cook or even handle fruits and vegetables properly. For me, the best time to harvest is when I am hungry.

Those of us with more discriminating taste eventually become acquainted with the produce that we grow, so that we know when and how to harvest it to achieve the best quality. We learn how to translate the fragrance of a ripening melon, and to tap to determine density and consistency. Maturity of corn can be determined by their drying tassels, and confirmed by puncturing a few kernels. Color and texture of pea pods let us know when the peas within have achieved their optimum plumpness.

Renee of Renee’s Garden, which is perhaps my favorite supplier of vegetable and flower seed, describes some less obvious recommendations for harvesting produce at the website http://www.reneesgarden.com. While the weather is so pleasant through summer, it is best to harvest vegetables in the morning, while it is still cool in the garden. If harvested later in the day, vegetables can wilt because of evaporation of moisture and absorption of warmth. If  harvesting in the morning is not possible, harvesting in the evening is the next best option.

Leafy vegetables like lettuce, chard, collard, basil and parsley, as well as pea, are particularly sensitive to getting harvested during warm weather. Green beans grow like weeds during warm days, but are slightly crisper if picked while cool. Vegetables in the cabbage family that are grown later in the year or early in the following year, such as cauliflower and broccoli, can likewise get limp.

Root vegetables like carrot, radish and turnip are not nearly as sensitive to warmth because they are so well insulated underground. They should be brought in out of the warmth and refrigerated (if preferred) quickly nonetheless. However, turnip greens and any other greens that are grown  as root vegetables are just as likely to wilt as other leafy vegetables are.

Eggplant, pepper and zucchini are more resilient, but can potentially get limp if harvested a few days before getting eaten and left to linger in a warm and dry (minimal humidity) kitchen. Many varieties of tomato are best directly out of the garden; but many others actually get better flavor if harvested a bit early and left to finish ‘off the vine’. In autumn, when tomato plants stop producing, the last but nearly mature green tomatoes that run out of warm weather can finish ripening on the kitchen windowsill.