Return to current Gardening Tips

Archived Gardening Tips - Summer 2002

Goings on in my own garden

Well, summer is definitely here in Southern California and the garden is growing full bore. Lately, I haven't had time to do much gardening and historically have always taken care of my own garden and wouldn't you know that being in business for myself designing other people's gardens has left me with little time for my own. That doesn't mean I'm not gardening, I'm just paring down my activities to the small essential stuff. For the first time I'm contemplating hiring some people to help me with a major overhaul of the rear garden this fall. Look for updates as they occur.

Garden activities by season

Watering is probably the biggest garden activity during the summer months along with occasional fertilizer treatments. It's been mild here so far this season and despite a deplorable lack of rain last winter, things are holding up well. I did not get to spread out my annual 2" layer of mulch (I like using Kellogg's Gro Mulch because its fully composted) to help conserve water during the hot months and I adjusted my irrigation accordingly. Usually, I'm watering the garden only once a week even during the hot months (I have an automatic sprinkler system set on a timer to go off every Friday). This year I added a Tuesday watering day as well to compensate for the lack of mulch and so far the garden has responded well with lush growth. Next year, however, it will be back to the mulch pile for me as we are in a semi-desert and I need to conserve water however I can.

Plant focus on new plants and the tried and true

Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum', (Black-eyed Susans), Hemerocallis (daylilies), Trachelium caeruleum, Francoa racemosa (Maiden's Wreath) , Platycodon (Balloon Flower) have all bloomed reliably in June July and August. Surprises include Adenophora (a relative of Campanula) that has existed in my garden for some years as a low groundcover (3") of large arrow-shaped leaves that spread underground but never bloomed. This year it bloomed with tall (18") spikes of pale lavender flowers that lasted for more than a month. Also surprising was Crocosmia 'Lucifer', a bulb that has struggled for 8 years and never bloomed finally built up enough steam to give a spectacular red spray of flowers. I've even been trying Hostas lately (yes Hostas in Southern California) and they seem to be performing well. The one variety called Hosta 'Eola Sapphire' from Monrovia Nursery has large blue-grey green leaves that are about 12"- 18" long and rounded, looking quite happy with no snail damage. Also bursting forth is the variegated Alpinia zerumbet ginger in the rear yard with large white and yellow flower sprays on every stem. This is a decorative ginger and is not edible.

Design ideas

Try combining tall vertical accent plants like variegated gingers with strong base plantings such as Bromeliads, Aeoniums, Senecios, and Tradescantia zebrina. These foliage textures and color contrasts make for a stunning mix forcing the eye to move about the garden seeing the uniqueness of each plant while seeing the whole composition as balanced.

Plant Combinations

This year I loved seeing Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' (a bright green feathery plant) combined with Trachelium caeruleum (deep bronzy/green foliage w/ tall spikey flower stems with lavender/purple flower clusters) with Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' (red fountain grass). The mix of bright foliage and flower contrasts really made for a dazzling display.

Other garden treats

The peaches on our peach tree are ripening right on schedule this year and we are frantically trying to do something with them. This peach tree grew from a pit planted by my partner for the previous homeowner about 15 to 20 years ago and it gives large peaches but they have NO shelf life at all. Lately, the entire crop goes into the making of peach jam. If you don't get to them promptly they will rot directly on the tree or fall and become hopelessly bruised or the birds will peck out a convenient hole on them (although I'll admit that I will just cut out that portion and throw it into the pot for peach jam. The tree used to give more reliable longer lasting peaches but in the last three years a single peach will be hard one day, ripe the next, and rotted or fallen the third day. I haven't been able to figure out what is causing this problem. I usually spray with a dormant oil or sun spray in March before the tree leafs out to control peach leaf curl but I won't use fungicides or pesticides (poisons) in the garden at all. Any ideas on what to do?