Plants recovered from frost damage
Category Archives: Cultivation
It’s man-eat-radish out there!
We just celebrated our first radish of the year. Initially very rashisy but mild, it finished rather hot, almost like horseradish. The arugula is coming along well, the chives have re-sprouted from their winter dormancy and the garlic chives are popping up, too. The artichoke is slowly putting forth new leaves, the lettuces are lettucingContinue reading “It’s man-eat-radish out there!”
A bit of maintenance for the Deschampsia
Time for a haircut for the Tufted Hair Grass. Here’s how they look after trimming.
Frost-colored
Some plants almost seem to like cold weather. Their leaves change from green to deeper hues of red, orange, purple. When the weather warms again, their leaves will once again become green.
Frost-zapped!
Some plants ignore frost, others do interesting things, and others… you never know until you try. Climate zones are good enough indicators most of the time, but weather is fickle and doesn’t follow lines on maps.
Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!
Our Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is putting on quite a show now that we’ve had cool nights and bright, sunny days. These plants get around twelve feet tall, and develop an interesting branch structure. They also have strange, fuzzy tapering knoblike flower heads in summer that give them a bold, architectural look. Staghorn sumac isContinue reading “Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!”
WIld Ginger (Asarum caudatum) having a tough establishment period
Wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) is a California native that grows under redwood trees in coastal valleys. This alone should have given me pause before planting it here in the Central Valley, yet I was told that it does grow here. I was letting it go fairly dry between waterings, since it is a native plantContinue reading “WIld Ginger (Asarum caudatum) having a tough establishment period”
First harvest
Our community garden plot is starting to produce. Tomatoes are rampant on their wire cages; beans twine up corn stalks while squash grows beneath. Peppers hang from their plants, basil puts forth leaves waiting for pesto and other uses. Purslane spreads between the watermelon leaves, and the hollyhock leaves multiply in the warm summer sun.Continue reading “First harvest”
Cloning for Dummies: cuttings
Unlike sheep, plants are easy to clone. You don’t even need a fancy laboratory with lots of bubbling liquids and mysterious equipment. Many plants root very easily from cuttings, allowing you to quickly clone one plant into many identical copies. It’s also a good way to grow herbs like sage and rosemary from stems youContinue reading “Cloning for Dummies: cuttings”