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Mild Weather Inhibits Summer Growth

Vegetative growth might be atypically slow.

The weather this year has been a cold hot mess! Both the worst frost since 1990 and the worst storms since 1982 occurred in one winter. Then, cold wintry weather lingered into spring to inhibit spring bloom. Now, cool and mild weather of spring lingers into summer to inhibit summer growth. This particular climate is innately mild, but this is a bit too mild.

Technically, the solstice on June 21 is the beginning of summer. Locally though, summer warmth typically begins about the middle of spring. It typically continues into the middle of autumn. Sometimes, it begins significantly sooner or continues significantly later. This is why the warm growing season here is so extensive. It is also why winter is rather brief.

Unseasonably mild weather obviously has a few distinct advantages. It is comfortable for those who are not so fond of summer warmth. It limits the need to increase irrigation that compensates for aridity and lack of rain. Bloom, although potentially late, stays fresher a bit longer with mild weather. A bit less spring bloom becomes a bit more summer bloom.

Unseasonably mild weather also has a few disadvantages though. Less gardening work is needed to manage desirable vegetation. However, more gardening work is needed to manage undesirable vegetation. Weeds generally need less warmth to grow, bloom and seed. Some desirable vegetation is still too complaissant to compete without assistance.

A few other pathogens likewise exploit this unseasonably mild weather. Slugs and snails hide from arid warmth. They must stay within cool and damp situations through midday. Mild weather allows them to stay out later, and emerge earlier. Their favorite vegetation still grows too slowly to recover from their damage. Tropical foliage is most susceptible.

Fungal disease is similarly more problematic with unseasonably mild weather. A primary difference is that fungal pathogens are about as inhibited as vegetation is. They gain an advantage only because soil stays continuously damp longer. Even without automated irrigation, cool soil dries slower than warm soil. Roots consume less moisture while cool. Roots that consume minimal moisture are generally more vulnerable.

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Arid Weather Increases Water Consumption

Chaparral vegetation naturally tolerates arid weather.

Superbloom is brief for two main reasons. It involves native species that know to bloom quickly before arid weather of summer. Also, wildflowers in the wild receive no irrigation to sustain bloom through arid weather. With irrigation, some of such species are capable of prolonging bloom. A few can disperse seed for subsequent generations to bloom later.

That is why California poppy blooms for a longer season within home gardens. It easily performs through much of summer with irrigation. Also, with irrigation, it might regenerate to bloom for autumn after summer dormancy. Seed from earlier spring bloom might grow to also bloom for autumn. Some godetias and lupines perform similarly within cultivation.

Most species within home gardens are exotic though. In other words, they are not native. Those that are native to a similar mediterranean climate respond similarly to cultivation. Generally, some from desert climates do so also, although many dislike extra irrigation. The majority of exotic species actually rely on some degree of cultivation and irrigation.

Such species are native to climates with cooler and less arid weather through summer. Rainfall here is too limited to winter to sustain them through summer. Minimal humidity and warmth increase the need for moisture while it is least available. Cooling summer breezes actually accelerate desiccation. Arid weather certainly has its disadvantages.

As spring relinquishes to warmer and drier summer, irrigation becomes more important. Frequency and duration of automated irrigation must adjust to increasingly arid weather. Shallow root systems, such as those of turf grass lawns, require more frequent irrigation. Deep root systems, such as those of maturing trees, require more voluminous irrigation.

However, irrigation should not be so excessive that soil remains saturated. Many mature trees and shrubs need none at all. Some receive enough from what adjacent vegetation does not consume. Some are satisfied with only occasional irrigation. Turf and annuals require the most frequent irrigation. Yet, even they can rot if their soil is always saturated. Calibration of irrigation requires diligence.

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Superbloom Highlights Local Mediterranean Climate

Rosemary can bloom longer with irrigation.

It does not happen often. The average frequency is about ten to fifteen years. However, it occurred in both 2017 and 2019, prior to this spring. That is enough for thirty to forty-five years! The current superbloom is only now finishing locally. It may continue through most of May near the coast farther North. The best bloomers enjoy the Mediterranean climate.

Climate is the typical and seasonal weather pattern of a region. The local Mediterranean climate is typically mild and somewhat arid. Almost all rain occurs between late autumn and early spring. Rain is otherwise rare. Winters are cool but not too cold. Summers are warm but not too hot. Native and some exotic flora knows how to exploit such climates.

Some exotic flora that prefers other climates also seemed to demonstrate a superbloom. Some merely responded to the unusually cool weather last winter. They appreciate more vernalization than they typically experience here. Some species enjoyed the unusually abundant rain last winter. Some species enjoyed both extra rain and extra vernalization.

Native species and exotic species from similar Mediterranean climates are a bit different. Their superbloom happens at the same time, and is also a response to earlier weather. However, it is also a response to later weather. They know that Mediterranean climates get warm and arid through summer. They are in a rush to finish blooming while they can.

Superbloom is how many species accomplish all their annual bloom within a brief time. They begin as soon as cool and stormy wintry weather finishes. They finish before warm and dry summer weather desiccates their flowers. Of course, such bloom may not be so spectacular after typical winters. It is only superbloom after exceptionally wintry winters.

Some species that exhibit superbloom in the wild bloom later for irrigated home gardens. This includes some exotic species from similar Mediterranean climates elsewhere. Such climates are present in small portions of Australia, South America and Africa. Obviously, most Mediterranean climates are around the Mediterranean Sea. Most exotic plants that are most adaptable here are from such climates.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Shasta Lake

Shasta Lake is a large reservoir on the Sacramento River. It contains water for flood control and to generate electricity. Some of the water within is used for agricultural irrigation and, to a relatively minor degree, to supply regional municipal water.

It is a very common misconception that the volume of water within Shasta Lake is necessarily relative to ‘drought’ conditions. Low water level is supposedly indicative of a ‘drought’. High water level is supposedly indicative of ‘normal’ weather conditions, including adequate precipitation. This same misconception seems to apply to all reservoirs in California.

Well, after the rainiest winter since 1982 and 1983, Shasta Lake is still not full. The level fluctuates, so might have been full earlier, or might be full later, but regardless, is not presently full. Water must be released prior to expected rainy weather, which can still occur during spring, in order to accommodate more water to control flooding. Less water may be released as drier weather is expected. Shasta Lake could therefore be fuller or completely full for summer, when almost no rain is expected. The presently observed water level does not indicate deficiency of water any more than a potentially higher water level during summer indicates surplus.

Most of California has a chaparral climate. Some of California has a desert climate. Such climates are naturally dry through summer. It is quite normal. It does not constitute a drought. A drought is an unusually dry weather pattern. It is not so normal.

Contrary to popular belief, California is NOT in perpetual drought. Although droughts occasionally happen, they are not annual events. Dry weather that occurs annually every summer is normal climate. If there is a deficiency of water here, it is because there are nearly forty million people relying on a limited supply of water.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Winter Weather Lingers Into Spring

Late wintry weather delays early bloom.

Winter was epic! Snow was more abundant than since 1976. Rain was more continuous than since 1982. Frost was colder than since 1990. All of this happened within this same winter! Californians generally appreciate rain and snow, and tolerate typically minor chill. Chaparral and desert climates here rarely get much. However, this weather is excessive!

Furthermore, such excessively cold or wet weather was unconducive to gardening. Most of us wanted to stay inside. Home gardens consequently endured neglect in conjunction with extreme weather. Regardless of the current weather conditions, winter is technically done. Now that it is spring, gardens should begin their systematic processes of recovery.

This may entail more effort for those who enjoy gardening than for the associated plants. Most plants are resilient to harsher winter weather than they endured here recently. That is how they survive other less temperate climates. Some may respond favorably to more thorough than typical grooming. Some might prefer later grooming while they regenerate.

Chill can actually enhance performance of some plants that prefer cooler winter weather. For example, some cultivars of apple are barely satisfied with the more typical local chill. They may perform better this year, after a cooler chill. Flowering cherry, purple leaf plum, lilac, wisteria, and many others may do the same. Stone fruits might be more productive.

Several plants do succumb to frost though. Some that typically die back but then recover may not recover this year. For some, the unusually cold frost was lethal. Others rotted as a result of lingering cool dampness. Kaffir lily that is blooming well now may succumb to rot later. Canna that grew early only to succumb to later frost should recover well though.

Some plants that endured frost and saturation last winter might delay their spring bloom. Roses could bloom better but also later, both as a result of cooler than typical chill. Some early spring bulbs that bloomed when they should suffered for it. Rain and wind knocked them into the mud. Later bulbs might avoid a similar fate by delaying their bloom slightly. Fewer conform to a comparably strict schedule.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 20 Comments

Six on Saturday: No EMail

Modern technology annoys me. Firstly, the electronics industries are what destroyed the idyllic culture of the Santa Clara Valley. Secondly, it complicates things. If I try to rely on it as the rest of society does, it does not function. It is a long story, so to be brief, I could not download pictures that I sent from the telephone. These six are random, but became available

1. Monstera deliciosa, Swiss cheese plant is in Brent’s garden, four hundred miles away. He wanted to get it into the Canyon News, but sent me this uselessly shabby image of it.

2. Billbergia nutans, queen’s tears was blooming well enough for ‘Six on Saturday’ three weeks ago and is blooming a bit more now. Perhaps I should have taken a better picture.

3. Olea europaea ‘Arbequina’, olive trees were gifts for participants at a conference here. This is one of several surplus that we acquired. It is a little but exemplary rooted cutting.

4. Viola tricolor, Johnny jump up demonstrates that some plants that enjoy more wintry weather than they typically experience here perform well after the atypically wild winter.

5. Tulipa X gesneriana, tulip is not reliably perennial here. I therefore would not bother to grow it. This one came with my iris from the old garden, and got planted only because I could not bear to discard it while it was still alive. It somehow survived and bloomed! As if that were not impressive enough, It bloomed again this year! I will take better care of it now, and I hope that it establishes. I have no idea what it is, or where it came from.

6. Crazy weather finally relinquished spring to more appropriate weather this last week. This was the last hail. I can not remember so much incessant rain within a single season.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 25 Comments

Six on Saturday: Snow, Rain, Wind, Frost, Etcetera

Etcetera is the important part here We must adhere to a schedule. As mentioned earlier, this winter generated the only snow for most regions here since 1976, and more flooding since 1982. By local standards, this winter was severe. It seemed to continue longer than it should have, as if to delay spring and the chores that come with it. I managed to prune a disfigured lemon tree, perhaps more than I wanted to, but effectively so. It was a good reminder of what time of year this really is. The weather is presently pleasant. More rain is expected for tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday. However, it is not expected to be as torrential as it had been. No more frost is expected.

1. Snow looks silly on top of a Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta. This was weeks ago and hundreds of miles to the south, but is amusing nonetheless. Brent sent it to me.

2. Rain fell faster than it could drain through the recently canned Canna. Their drainage holes are likely in the middle of the bottoms of these cans, rather than around the edges.

3. Wind blew limbs and trees down all over. Then, after it stopped blowing, this Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, fell across the Roaring Camp Railroad behind the barn here.

4. Frost should be done for the year. So, I pruned the structurally compromised Eureka lemon, Citrus limon ‘Eureka’, and processed a few of the scraps into ungrafted cuttings.

5. Lemons were another byproduct of pruning. Most are not yet completely ripe though. Several ripe lemons are always available, but the primary phase should ripen about now.

6. Rhody has been a good sport through all the unusually wintry weather this winter. He is pleased to get outside more now. We got a similar but cuter picture for next Saturday.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Rain Can Ruin Bloom And Developing Fruit

Bloom is not really early. Frost and unusually torrential rain just happen to be late.

Again this year, the excellent weather that makes gardening so much fun even through winter has the potential to become a problem. Winters are innately mild here, and like this year, are sometimes mild and warm enough to prompt many plants to bloom much too early. Many of the fruit trees and their ‘flowering’ (non-fruiting) counterparts are already finishing bloom as if it is the middle of spring, even though the equinox is about two weeks away. This should not be a problem for the flowering cherries, plums, pears and apples (flowering crabapples), but is risky for the many trees that should produce fruit.

The problem is that, despite the weather, it really is winter and early spring, so could potentially rain while fruit trees are blooming. The rain can batter the blooms, or cause them to rot before they set fruit, compromising or even eliminating the fruit production for the following summer. Trees that are not blooming, or just barely showing ‘color’ of the first few blossoms, should be safe. Also, the trees that bloomed earliest and have already set fruit should likewise be safe, as long as the weather does not stay rainy too long, which it almost never does here. Trees that are in full bloom when it rains are the most sensitive to damage.

It is impractical to cover mature trees with plastic sheeting to protect them from rain. Even if it is possible to get the sheeting over the trees, it knocks much of the bloom or developing fruit off anyway. Also, if the sheeting is not removed when the rain stops, it can trap humidity, which can rot the blooms that were so carefully protected from the rain. (Although, high trees hold the plastic high enough from the ground to allow for good air circulation.)

Small trees are easier to cover, but do not produce enough fruit to worry about. In other words, it would be easier to buy fruit at a market, or to get it from friends and neighbors with different varieties (that bloom at different times) than to put too much effort into protecting trees from the rain. In most situations, it is best to just accept that fruit trees will sometimes have ‘off’ years when they either do not produce, or produce only minimal quantities of fruit. The good news is that trees that lose some but not all of their fruit often produce best.

Plum bloom is not resilient to late frost or rain.
Posted on by tonytomeo · 36 Comments

Six on Saturday: SNOW?!

Snow is extremely rare here. It falls every few years in my neighborhood, which is about 1,500 feet above sea level, but this is nearly nine hundred feet lower. For the Santa Clara Valley, just over the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has not snowed since 1976. A forecast that included a possibility of snow was quite a surprise. Actual snow early Thursday morning was more of a surprise. It resumed overnight and into Friday morning with thunder and lightning. Of course, almost all of it melted, so that it was no more than two inches deep. I can understand why those who contend with it regularly during winter dislike it. Yuck! Rhody stayed inside all day.

1. Clivia miniata, Kaffir lily is the most recent and shameless acquisition from Craigslist. Someone in Santa Clara wanted them thinned, so I got a trunkload, totally without guilt.

2. Clivia miniata, Kaffir lily really was justified! More than two dozen split and groomed shoots are a bit more than enough and very appropriate for this shaded and narrow bed.

3. Jericho was not the inspiration for this landscape. It merely succumbed to all the rain. The upper few courses of stone got hastily but futilely removed as the wall began to lean.

4. Digitalis purpurea, foxglove does not do much now, and is merely incidentally to this strange picture anyway. Snow from Thursday and Friday is the major development here.

5. Canna is likewise incidental to this picture of what seems to be snow, but may merely be hail, which remained after the snow mostly melted. Canna are still dormant anyway.

6. Snowman of three handfuls of slush and sticks is here just so that I can brag about the snow here. However, I find that snow is cold, wet and icky. I can see why it is unpopular.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Houseplants Naturally Live Outside Somewhere.

Kalanchoe is a popular houseplant here, but grows wild in Madagascar.

The plants grown as houseplants may have serious disadvantages that prevent them from being happy in the garden, but have other advantages that help them survive indoors. They tolerate the lack of direct sunlight, the lack of humidity, the minimal fluctuations of temperature and the confinement to pots that they must endure for a domestic lifestyle. Their main difficulty in the garden is most are from tropical climates, so can not tolerate cold winter weather.

However, even happy houseplants like to get out once in a while. Even though most can not survive the coldest winter weather, the mildest winter weather is actually the best for them to get supervised outings. During clear and warm summer weather, sunlight can easily roast foliage.

Houseplants with glossy tropical foliage occasionally like to be rinsed of dust and whatever residue that they accumulate in the home. (African violets and plants with fuzzy leaves do not want water of their foliage!) Foliage can be rinsed in a shower or with a hose, but are more gently rinsed by very light drizzly rain.

Timing is important. Unusually cold or heavy rain should be avoided. Plants should be brought in before the sun comes out. It is probably best to not leave plants out overnight when it gets colder and they are not likely to be monitored. While the plants are outside, mineral deposits can be scrubbed from the bases of the pots.

The rain needs to fall this time of year anyway, so it may as well go to good use in as many practical ways as possible. It may be a while before it flows into the aquifer and gets pumped out to come back later for use around the home and garden.

So much of the water that gets used around the home has the potential to be used again. With modifications to plumbing and the sorts of soaps and detergents used around the home, used water, politely known as ‘greywater’, can be redirected, collected and distributed to the garden. Water may not be so important in the garden this time of year, but a Greywater Workshop happens to be coming up next week; and advance registration is required.

The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy’s Adult Greywater Workshop (for ages eighteen and up), ‘Greywater Basics: Reusing Household Water in your Landscape’, will be from 9:00 a.m. to noon on February 18th. The Workshop will be at the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Visitor and Education Center at 438 Coleman Avenue in San Jose. Admission is $15, or $10 for members. More information is available, and reservations can be made, at www.grpg.org  or by telephoning 298 7657.