Back from La La Land

Had a great time. Snapped a few pics on the drive (yes, the car was moving, and no, I was not driving), from the 17th floor of the Doubletree Hotel on Wilshire, and at the Hotel Bel Air for my cousin's graduation dinner and reception. That place is, well, wow.

Jacaranda trees were in bloom but it wasn't in the cards for me to snap a pic. Everything was moving too fast, literally and figuratively.


I plan to!



Haystacks are so cool!



I'd forgotten how bare these hills were. They're still interesting in their own way.



On a Starbucks pit stop, I spotted this dinosaur sculpture. There is a bird's nest in its mouth!



Good advice in general.



A view from the 17th floor of the Doubletree in Westwood.



Another view of a building across the street.



A view of the neighborhood abutting the hotels and apartments on Wilshire Blvd.



The Hotel Bel Air. Oh. My. God.



Care for a swim?



Would you care to sit down?



Contemporary sculpture fountains like this one are scattered around the hotel grounds. They provide an interesting contrast to the older, Mediterranean-style hotel and lush landscaping.



A pretty place to sit and chat.



Lush... lush... lush.



Expansive lawn out front. There was a wedding nearby.



The bougainvillea grows waaaaay up into the trees. Very pretty.



The walk to a guest entrance. You don't want to know how much a room costs.
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Off to La La Land...

... for my cousin's graduation. Won't have time to check out any major public gardens (dang!), but will bring my digi cam to check out the overall green scene in L.A.

Back in a flash.

Plain Ol' Petunias

Yep, they're just plain ol' petunias but I love 'em.
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Salpiglossis 'Royale Mix'

This pic shows three different colors of salpiglossis, which I have growing in a pot. It's another one of my favorites. Germination rate in the greenhouse wasn't great, but I'm happy with even just these few plants. It definitely seems to do better in a nice, fluffy potting mix than in the ground in clayey soil. This one gets bright filtered light most of the day.
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Cerinthe major purpurescens

Cerinthe major purpurescens is blooming right now in the garden. I really love this plant. First spied and bought it in a 4" pot at Annie's Annuals, but now grow it from seed. Seems to tolerate full sun to dappled shade.
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First Test Video!

Ok, here goes! This is just a little practice clip I grabbed off the camera where I'm telling my puppies (Oh, and did I mention I'm prone to high-pitched baby talk when I talk to my dogs?) how cute they are... over... and over... and over again... sheesh! But, hey, it's a step toward future educational or at least informational gardening-related videos!

Click image below to start the video.
PLAYS BEST WITH A FAST INTERNET CONNECTION.

Fairy wand (Dierama pulcherrimum)

Fairy Wand
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Salpiglossis 'Royale Mix'

Started these from seed.
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Orchid cactus (Epiphyllum)

Grown from a cutting.
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Quick Gardenish Note

Happy June.

Been busy lately with family stuff... my little baby cousin is graduating from UCLA in a few weeks and we're making a family video before we all converge on the Hotel Bel Air like the Beverly Hillbillies we are. I volunteered to do the video editing for this little project because I wanted to give myself a crash course... but... turns out the slick new Sony DVD Handycam my aunt, the graduate's mother, bought isn't compatible with the video editing program I bought, Adobe Premiere Elements. What on earth does this have to do with gardening, you say? Nothing, except one of the reasons I'm forcing all this new information into my brain is so I'll be able to post gardening-related videos on the Garden Blog and SacGardening.com.

No videos yet, but let me just switch gears and say how pleased I am that my tomatoes are finally growing, well, except for one. My 'Celebrity' is still only 3 inches tall while all the rest are growing in leaps and bounds. I have no idea why. Ancient Indian burial ground?

I'm also soooooo excited because the Fairy Wand (Dierama) I brought back from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens nursery is blooming!!! On top of that, an orchid cactus cutting a friend gave bloomed for the first time today. Specfriggintacular. As if that's not enough, my sapliglossis 'Royale Mix' (grown from seed thank you very much) bloomed for the first time today.

I'll post pics... someday soon, videos!!! Call your ISP now and order a faster internet connection so you'll be ready for video. C'mon, you know you wanna...

Brown Rot hits my cherries

This is how they look now... pretty much ruined by brown rot. My 'Stella' has always put out great cherries without fungicides, but this extra rain we got well into spring did in this year's crop. C'est la vie! Here's another great info. page from UC IPM called How to Manage Pests: Cherry.


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Cherries ripening nicely... so it seems

This is how my cherries looked a few days ago...
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Ads, Vlogs and Such

You may have noticed the sudden appearance of ads on the bulletin board. I had hoped to get the archived messages switched over to my new web host, but the conversion program for switching to a new format without losing old messages doesn't work with new versions of EZBoard. Those sneaky devils.

What prompted my desire to swith board hosts was the knowledge that some people didn't find EZBoard so EZ to use. Add to that the fact that my new web host offers a "free" phpBB, um, bb. Not wanting to lose the archived messages on the old board, I'm going to stick with EZBoard until I can find a good way to convert to the new board. What I am firm on, though, is not wanting to continue paying for ad removal on EZBoard, considering how reluctant people are to post. Lots of people read the board, but few brave souls post. I never wanted the board to be my personal soapbox. I wanted it to be a lively forum for avid local gardeners, including me. So your punishment for not posting is ads. Har har. But, seriously... While the local bb contemplates life, check out GardenWeb's California forum and the Dave's Garden California forum. The folks on Dave's Garden are a lively bunch. GardenWeb has some great threads as well... there's just more weeding and waiting before getting to the good stuff.

On other fronts, I've recently figured out how to post video blogs, a.k.a. "vlogs", to this blog thanks to an excellent online tutorial by some smart, young, urban whippersnappers. Gardening is a very visual pursuit so of course I want to move in this direction. I'm excited about having complete creative control (cue Dr. Evil laugh). Plus, I can keep it more real than, say, TV. For instance, I can do a rose pruning tutorial in my pajamas. Oh, you don't think I would? Try me. Or I can yammer on with friends while we undertake some new gardening craft project. If I hurt myself, I might even cuss and then bleep myself. Or I can leave it unbleeped and call it "Gardening Uncensored... Dirty Hands, Dirty Mouth." This is tooooooooooooo much fun.

And then there's the to-do list: mow lawn, catch up on weeding out front, pick up stray pots in the yard left over from recent planting extravaganzas, undo damage done by Dan and Annie (my rathuahuas), install dog door, finish hooking up drip irrigation, build fence to exclude Dan & Annie from the lawn and flowerbeds unless accompanied by a human... oh yeah, and keep my house sparkling clean inside while being the perfect gourmet chef/chauffeur/tutor/nurse/
maid/babysitter/companion/entertainer...in other words... mom.

Events Calender is baaaaack...

I ditched the at-first charming but eventually demonic calendar program I was using for listing garden events and have gone back to my simple page of event listings. I toyed with the idea of linking to the Bee's garden events calendar (as a time-saver for me), but:

a) The online Bee calendar doesn't show very far in advance.
b) It mimics the Saturday paper in the sense that it says an event is occurring "today." Well, what do you do when "today" becomes "tomorrow"? Too much risk of sending folks to an event on the wrong day.
c) It needs to be re-linked every week. Harumph.
d) There's so much going on that the Bee doesn't list!

Smith & Hawken "Outlet" in Berkeley

Having shopped there in the past, where good deals and a parking lot nursery made a visit worthwhile, a recent stop sooooooo disappointed. Gone are the parking lot plants, gone are the outlet prices. In fact, most of the "outlet" has been converted to an expensive showroom. The outlet portion has been reduced to little more than a few broken tables, banged up birdbaths and a sparse smattering of odd or broken glassware. Honestly, I felt like I was in a garden thrift store... and not a very good one at that. What a shame! This is just a heads up in case you were planning on making it a stop on your next East Bay gardening adventure. Skip it and hit the nurseries and gardens instead.

Interesting Nor. Cal.Nursery thread on GardenWeb

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums
/load/calif/msg0507441225196.html?15

In particular, this post since I've been East Baying it lately...

RE: and now, nurseries and gardens worth visiting in Northern Cal
Posted by: mich_in_zonal_denial (My Page) on Tue, May 3, 05 at 11:37

I predominately purchase my plants through wholesale nurseries but on frequent occasion I have to run into a retail nursery to pick up one of this or two of that.
I also work primarily in the Marin area so I have come to know all the various retail nurseries in this area and many in the East Bay and Sonoma counties.

For sheer horticultural variety and volume of their grounds , Magic Gardens and Berkeley Hort are my long term favorites.

The Dry Garden comes in second, only because he does not have the space that Magic or Berk Hort has ., but Richard ( Dry Garden ) does have a knack for ordering the rare horticultural gem that no one else has the talent or knowledge to pick plants off a wholesalers availability list.

Marin is somewhat barren when it comes to super great nurseries, We have Sloats , that depending on the individual management , it can be Ok to pretty good, but it is never great. And we have the new kid on the block, Armstrong, which is also just OK.

Sunnyside does a very good job , as does Bayside in Tiburon , but still the horticultural aptitude of the Marin buyers is just not here as it is in the East Bay.

I will mention Green Jeans, but only because they have the absolute worst customer service and piss poor attitude in all of the Western United States and their prices are stupidly high .

In Sonoma I think the crown jewel of beautifully styled nurseries is Cottage Garden Growers in Petaluma. They have a nice selection of plants that are extremely well groomed . They order in some unusual plants , but again, they don't have the horticultural prowess that the East Bay Nurseries do.

Emerissa is excellent for 4 inch size perennials. They reign supreme in that realm.

Western Hort (think he meant Western Hills, which is reportedly closing) is wonderful, but it is not a fully stocked nursery , but certainly you can find the rarest of the rare , but only in limited amounts and at certain times of year when they can order it in from the wholesalers or if they have propagated it themselves.

With gasoline being so expensive, I would economize and drive over to the East Bay and visit Berkeley Hort, The Dry Garden and Magic Gardens to get the biggest bang for my horticultural spending dollar.

Building at the back of the nursery, from across the street. On this Sunday, it was easy to find parking on this street behind the nursery. There is no nursery parking lot and street parking can be tricky.
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Berk. Hort. gallon-sized sun perennials
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Berkeley Hort. Continued

Wavy trellis at Berkeley Hort. Display only and apparently they're not being made any more. Bummer!
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Scarlet flax

Scarlet flax also came back. Vivid!
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Globe gilia

Globe gilia wildflowers came back on their own in my front yard...
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'Drama Queen' poppy

'Drama Queen' poppy from Annie's Annuals... not what her picture promised, but still pretty and it's as tall as I am!
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Umbrella Mosquito Netting

I wanted a bee/wasp/fly/mosquito-free eating area and this is it. Btw, it's out front! I think it looks festive and my son thinks it looks trashy. Perhaps it's festively trashy or trashily festive... It's from Gardener's Eden, by the way.
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Keeyla Meadows Ladder

Chartreuse ladder. Love it, love it, love it.
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Keeyla paving

creative paving and planting ideas
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Keeyla patio

Demo patio at the real estate office where her demo garden's located
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Keeyla sculptures

A closer view of sculptures
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Her flowers always seem to play off the colors in her sculptures. Genius.
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Across the street and around the corner from Berkeley Hort is a Keeyla Meadows demo garden. Her designs are very inspirational... and expensive.
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A very tall cineraria and fun wall terra cotta
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What can I say? Gorgeous...
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Sunny outdoor perennials and veggies in foreground, shadier stuff under cover in background
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Cool use of pot clips, which are sold at the nursery
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Demo garden at the front of the nursery
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Another Trip to Berkeley Hort.

Outdoor covered portion of the nursery, for shade-lovers...
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Pining for Smith & Hawken

Every now and then I check the Smith & Hawken website to see if/when we're getting a store in Sacramento. None coming anytime soon, apparently, but I did discover that we now have a Smith & Hawken "Authorized Dealer" in our area!

Davis Ace Hardware

240 G ST. (behind bldg. A)
Davis, CA 95616
530-758-8000

Woo hoo!

I still think Sacramento is worthy of a full-fledged store. They think we're not tony enough (locations are restricted to Beverly Hills, Walnut Creek, Palo Alto, etc.) and we may not be... but we sure love to garden and spend our hard-earned money on garden accoutrements. Heck, we're tony enough to use words like "accoutrements"! Give us a store! Please? Pretty Please? With a Mercedes Benz on top?

I Curse You, Computer Gods!

If you're wondering why the Events Calendar is down, it's because there are demons in the nifty new calendar software program I started using. I spent the time inputting all the fun happenings for May, uploaded them to cyberspace, went back to add a few more dates and kerplooey! Not only had dates disappeared, but some jumped to other dates! Soooooo.... I entered them again, feeling the pain of time lost forever to task tedium. That's how dedicated I am to the avid gardeners of Sacramento. Saved everything often (always save often), uploaded the calendar... and kerplooey... AGAIN! In defeat, the Events Calendar sits unlinked. Contrary to how much time I spend in cyberspace, I do have a life and can't get to it right now. But, hey, you shouldn't be spending money at another plant sale, and you certainly shouldn't be traipsing around another garden tour. Catch up on your laundry. Or spring cleaning. Or get your dates from the Bee, where people actually get paid to do this. ;-)

Cobalt Pot from Berkeley Hort.

In it, I planted a couple Annie's plants and a few annual seedlings from the greenhouse... um, um, viscaria 'Rose Angel', salpiglossis and toadflax 'Confetti' (Linaria maroccana).

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East Sacramentans, Rip Up Your Lawns!!!

That goes for all you other Sacramentans as well. Why do I wish you'd all rip up your front lawns and replace them with flowers and goo ga's? Because I've seen Garden Paradise. I've seen what we're missing, having spent a good part of the weekend driving around Berkeley and walking around in Oakland's Rockridge district. Our front yards are too well-behaved! They're... I'm gonna say it... boring! I don't think they accurately reflect our personalities. If they do, then yikes!

Oakland and Berkeley gardeners aren't afraid to let their opinions-- about plants, about art, about recycling, about anything-- show up in the front yard. If big blowsy red roses are dropping petals on the green Volvo still very much supporting John Kerry for president, it ain't no thang! If "Berks" have to slip on their Birks to go out front and do a little extra deadheading because Annie's Annuals and Perennials are blooming shamelessly all over the place, well, hey, crank up The Dead and let's deadhead!

Just remember, your front yard is YOUR front yard. Do whatever you want with it. Plant corn if you want to. Display that clay thing your kid made in art class. Buy one of those mooning garden gnomes and nestle it under your azaleas before they die of plant boredom. You know you want to... Put a little cafe table out front. Sit at it while drinking your coffee or your green tea. Shake things up a little.

I didn't feel like lugging around camera gear on this trip. Boy am I sorry now...

Almost forgot... I popped in to Berkeley Hort. and left with a couple Annie's plants and a gorgeous (yet reasonably priced) cobalt blue pot.

Medallion & Peace roses

Two of my fave hybrid teas, 'Medallion' and 'Peace', are blooming. Scored these at Home Depot last fall for next to nothing. Also got 'J.F.K.' and 'Chrysler Imperial' at the same time. 'Medallion' blossoms are HUGE!!!
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containerized Roma tomato plant

My most mature tomatoes, Romas, currently growing in a 5 gallon container and recently sprung from the greenhouse. Most of my other tom. plants aren't nearly as far along.
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Wallowater to the Rescue

Wallowater
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Mother Nature done be makin' a fool outta me...

My frozen fingers were barely able to dial Emigh Hardware's phone number to check stock on Wall O' Waters for my shivering in-ground tomato babies. They're holding two packages for me.

What the...

Tornado Warning
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
339 PM PDT FRI APR 8 2005

CAC067-082300-
/O.CON.KSTO.TO.W.0007.000000T0000Z-050408T2300Z/
SACRAMENTO CA-
339 PM PDT FRI APR 8 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 400 PM PDT FOR NORTHERN
SACRAMENTO COUNTY...

AT 330 PM PDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR TRUXEL
AND INTERSTATE 80 WITH DAMAGE TO VEHICLES. DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES
TO INDICATE STRONG ROTATION NEAR THE INTERSTATE 80 SPLIT WITH THE
CAPITOL CITY FREEWAY. ADDITIONAL TORNADOS ARE POSSIBLE!

LAT...LON 3871 12152 3847 12145 3845 12104 3871 12111

Millions of Painted Ladies Migrate through Sacto!

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The main wave began Monday, March 28, but this straggler stopped by my backyard, today, April 3.

SacBee.com article on painted lady migration

Pink flamingos

guarding a house in Mendo village
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Mendo Garden Shop

Cool pots, tiles and pond at the garden shop
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garden shop gloves...
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Succulent planter

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Lithodora diffusa

Growing outside the rental house.
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Euphorbia
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Mendocino, March '05

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Just got back from a trip to beloved Mendocino... Pride of Madeira, Echium candicans (E. fastuosum) is in full bloom there right now. Gorgeous!!! The taller echiums, wildprettii I think, bloom later. I'd recently admired E. candicans freeway plantings on the way to the bay area for the S.F. Flower & Garden Show.

I'd love to try E. candicans in my yard... The E. wildprettii I brought back from Mendocino two summers ago is sending up its first flower spike right now, so I might do o.k. with E. candicans as well. These are coast-preferring plants, but under the right conditions, we can get them to grow and bloom.

This photo was taken in the backyard of the house we rented. When I wasn't flower watching, I was busy whale watching!

S.F. Flower & Garden Show

Went yesterday... What did I score at the vendors' booths?

Orchid plants: I suggest perusing each booth, comparing selection and prices and then returning to buy. Having such a wide selection in one area is a bit overwhelming, but there is quite a bit of difference in vendor pricing, so that's a good way to narrow your choices. I ended up buying from Valley Orchids, Inc. from Morgan Hill.

Cool metal stakes: I'm a sucker for rusted metal garden art and this time I scored two butterflies on wavy stakes attached at the base. They came from Susan Regert's company, "Z" Garden Party. Love 'em. Also got a single butterfly to stick in my herb box from the same vendor... and a copper star stake with marbles on the points from Jardinage Copper and Cedar Garden Art.

Words of warning: pack a nice lunch (last year's passable teriyaki vendor is gone and the alternatives are awful and expensive unless you want 2 soggy, underheated chicken tacos and a coke for $11!) and plan on getting out of there early enough or late enough to skip the afternoon commute (good luck on that one).

This year's garden vignettes left me a little flat. I saw several wilting plants, the few designs that stood out only did so because of shock value, and none of them made me say, "Wow, that's beautiful!" Last year's were much better in my opinion. I'd like to see something a little more reality-based next year. None of my favorite bay area landscape designers did the show this year. Hmmm... maybe there's a story there. The Cow Palace still needs a lighting makeover.

If you have a chance, attend one of the many interesting seminars! Matter o'fact, I'd say the seminars and shopping options are the show's strengths.

Sprinklers and Puppies

Turned on the spray heads in one of my flowerbeds this morning only to discover that the heads were spraying toward the fence instead of on plants. Turns out my darling little sprinkler-eating doggies have been gnawing on the heads when I'm not around.

I tried adjusting one head with the water on. Lesson learned? Don't do sprinkler repairs pre-coffee... screwing counterclockwise results in a fountain and drenching of said repair person. I'm awake now, anyway.

Speaking of popcorn...

I just bought a new cordless electric mulching mower from Emigh Hardware, another popcorn-dishing nursery/hardware store. My 16+ year old Ryobi cordless electric mower finally bit the dust when it sustained water damage. Ryobi no longer makes cordless electric mowers, apparently, and it appears Black & Decker has a lock on the market with the B&D CMM1000. It ain't cheap at $449.99, but it happened to be on sale at Emigh for $429 AND they're delivering it for FREE... ASSEMBLED! Dontcha love Emigh? Not only that, I was able to order the mower over the phone. It couldn't have been easier.

Eisley Nursery in Auburn

First, let me apologize for the slightly fuzzy flower photo. When I took the picture, the wind was not cooperating. Let me also apologize for the prison-camp fencing designed to keep puppies out of forbidden areas. They jump the fence like track stars now, so I suppose it should come down...


Took my first trip to Eisley Nursery in Auburn yesterday. What a nice nursery! First of all, it's big. Inside the main building, they sell a dizzying array of garden gifts, supplies, seeds and bulbs. Outside, they currently have a nice selection of: color, herbs, perennials, peonies (herbaceous and tree), strawberries, asparagus, and more.

Nice pottery selection too! My friend splurged on 2 gorgeous glazed mexican wall pots. I got a nice (and very decently priced) trio of what I always think of as "British herb pots." They're like normal red clay pots, only taller. Since I had nothing in mind for the pots, I had to buy a lavender wallflower, yellow alyssum and edible Johnny Jump Ups (as seen in the above photo).

We both admired the soothing bamboo wind chimes (not at all annoying like some metal ones) but decided we'd already done enough damage to our wallets and would likely be back some other time.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. One staffer even gave me driving directions when it turned out I was on the wrong side of Auburn, with Hwy. 80 in between. She was pleasant and patient, something I don't often encounter with nursery phone inquiries. More times than I'd like to remember when calling a nursery, I've been told by the harried clerk, "I can't help you because I'm with a customer." Makes me think, "What am I, chopped liver? Last time I checked, my money's just as green as anybody else's. I promise, when I open my dream nursery, phone customers will be treated like real live customers.

Let's see, what other plants did I buy? Oh yeah, a little dill plant and a 'Magic Mountain' basil plant that made me swoon when I breathed in it's pestoriffic scent. And lettuce! Why did I buy lettuce? It's getting too warm for lettuce. I couldn't resist the fact that it was a variety six-pack and figured I might be able to squeeze a few sandwiches out of them before yanking the plants to make room for summer stuff.

Oh, and a 4" 'Jelly Bean' grape tomato plant!

Seeds I bought:
Cosmos 'Bright Lights Blend'
Nasturtium 'Dwarf Jewel Blend'
Nasturtium 'Mahogany'
Nasturtium 'Cherry Rose Jewel'
Chinese lantern
Gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields'
'Milas Rose Queen' Corn cockle
Pastel Blend balloon flower (blue, pink, white) (Platycodon grandiflorus)-- flowers the second year after planting from seed, but I've had a heck of a time finding single blue balloon flower plants in stock at area nurseries. There seems to be a preference these days for the doubles, but I prefer the singles.
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I almost forgot to mention, if you get hungry while shopping, hep yer sef to Eisley's free popcorn, hot out of the large popcorn popping machine. There's a soda/candy vending machine too!

Either I need more coffee...

... or there's a turkey walking across the lawn!
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Romping Rathuahuas

Dan and Annie had a blast romping in the yard today. Now that I think about it, this is the first truly spring-like day of their lives! Oh, and don't feel sorry for little Annie (white & black one)... her brother may be bigger, but she's the boss. Just like me and my brother...
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Is your dog eating enough peas?

Even dogs like 'Sugar Snap' peas. Matter of fact, mine eat 'em right off the vine. I'm not kidding!
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Potted 2 of these 'Blue Jacket' hyacinth and alyssum combos in lovely pots from Target. The pots developed this really cool algae scum aged look that adds character, I think. The buds were still kind of tight when I took this picture. They're even more spectacular now.

Martha would be proud. Oh yeah, Martha's about to be sprung! Woo hoo! White collar criminal or not, I like Martha.
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Tulips

These little 10" cuties are blooming now. They open up to reveal a bright yellow center.
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Planted More Seeds Today

In the greenhouse:
Chinese foxglove
Cleome 'White Queen' (free bonus)
Tomatoes (Black, Copia, Azoychka, Believe it or Not)
'Bright Lights' Swiss chard

In Place:
Detroit Dark Red beets
'Bright Lights' Swiss chard

Got my son to plant his own sixer of Cerinthe a few days ago, by the way. He claims not to be interested in gardening, but neither was I, really, at his age. I told him I needed his help planting some seeds. Little does he know, what I'm really hoping will germinate is a love of gardening. Some seeds just need a little help breaking dormancy, I figure.

Sure, when he was younger I dressed him in little denim overalls and bought him tiny gardening tools... even fancy kids' gardening gloves... but that ended up being solely for my amusement. He gets good grades in a challenging school program, so when he chooses to spend his down time playing Xbox and GameBoy games, I can't really complain... or compete. My new plan is insidiously subtle. I'll let him see how much I enjoy watching seeds sprout and grow, ask him to help every now and then, and let nature take it from there.

To be fair, he gave up on me as a video game partner. Video games are so boring to me I'd rather scratch my own eyes out than play them. Now, if they made a gardening video game, it might be a different story...

Tomato Escalation

Got some free tomato seeds with my tomato seed order. What a shocker!

Azoychka #3680 (30 seeds) $2.10
This is a delightful small yellow beefsteak tomato that matures so early it will be one of the first varieties to ripen in your garden. Beautifully smooth, lemon yellow fruit weighs about 8 ozs. and is very flavorful, rich but pleasantly sweet with a delicious hint of citrus. Heirloom variety from Russia. Our stock seed is from Craig Le Houllier. Indeterminate. 70 days.

I'll also be planting a grape tomato variety... long story... may explain later.

Who cares if garden space is limited, right? Tomatoes are irresistable. After all, a very wise woman once said, "What's a sandwich without a good slice of..."

Oh, nevermind.

Started More Seeds Today

In the greenhouse...

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia 'Torch')
Nasturtium 'Whirlybird Cherry Rose'
Nasturtium 'Vesuvias'


Yesterday, I started some Cerinthe major 'Purpurescens'

Am soaking seeds of Love-in-a-Puff and still need to start more seeds, time permitting. I'm trying to be good about labeling everything, which isn't my usual haphazard, "adult ADD" approach to gardening... So far, so good... well, except for my 'Roma' and 'Yellow Pear' tomates which got mixed up in the heat of the moment. As soon as they fruit, I'll sneak little labels on them to restore the illusion that I possess both enthusiasm and discipline. ;-)

Just ordered more plant tags from Peaceful Valley. I think I'll go pat myself on the back now...

Ordered Tomato Seeds

I've already got Roma and Yellow Pear growing in pots (they were free bonus seeds, so what the heck), and finally reached a decision on the others I'll grow this season. From Tomato Growers Supply, I ordered the following:

(descriptions are from Tomato Growers Supply)

Black
Compact plants bear plenty of wonderfully rich, dark mahogany-brown tomatoes that average about 4 ozs. Fruit is smooth and somewhat elongated with a pointed tip; in fact, this variety is what some gardeners grew as Black Prince years ago. Black tomatoes have a delicious blend of sugar and acid and a distinctive, complex flavor that is to be savored. Some folks say this variety is one of the best-tasting black tomatoes and prefer it also for its nice, medium size. Russian heirloom. Indeterminate. 80-85 days.

Believe It Or Not
What is unbelievable about this plant is an exceptional set of very large, bright red tomatoes that can also claim excellent flavor. Fruit is smooth in shape, which is special for an extra large variety that can easily reach 2 lbs. This makes a wonderful sandwich tomato as well as a good all-around garden variety. Full, sweet tomato flavor and plenty of juice. Indeterminate. 85 days.

Copia New!
These very beautiful tomatoes are a stunning combination of fine-lined golden yellow and red stripes. While visually exciting, the real treat comes when you cut them open. Their gold flesh is streaked with red and is very juicy, flavorful, and sweet. A stabilized cross between Green Zebra and Marvel Stripe, these tomatoes weigh about one pound each, They were named in honor of Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts, in Napa California. Indeterminate. 85 days.

Celebrity VFFNTA Hybrid
A 1984 ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS WINNER. Absolutely incredible set of exceptionally flavorful, firm 8 to 12 oz. fruit on strong vines with good cover and outstanding disease resistance. Large clusters of consistently large, beautiful tomatoes. Determinate. 70 days.

This selection leaves a little room for impulse purchases, dontcha think?

Seed Starting

Here's the thing about seeds. You order something from Select Seeds (LOVE that catalog) and as a bonus for ordering seeds, they send you... more seeds! Nearly every time I order something from Peaceful Valley, they ask me to choose some bonus seeds. Friends send seeds impregnated in greeting cards. Real estate agents leave seed packets at the door in hopes that I'll let them sell my house. Friends are very generous with their extra seeds. The point is, I have enough seeds to start a seed company.

Does that stop me from ordering seeds? Of course not! I am always in search of new and wonderful (or old and wonderful) varieties that area nurseries don't sell. I also promised myself I'd make an effort to find seed sources for Annie's Annuals' tempting plants so I don't have to look my son in the eye six short years from now and explain to him how I frittered away his college education on really cool annuals and perennials in pricey little 4" pots.

In addition to the seed section of the greenhouse, I've also been forced to set up a plant hospital. Until I get some sort of gate set up to keep the puppies out of the main garden area when unattended, there will be plant casualties. The list just keeps getting longer and longer. I don't blame them for digging. It's what dogs do. Heck, they see me doing it! Until I get a chance to "explain" to them which beds are off limits, I have to be prepared for plant triage.

As I write this, the puppies are curled up with each other, sleeping. They're probably dreaming about digging.

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Super Garden Sunday

What football game? I honestly couldn't tell you who was playing in Sunday's game, but I can tell you that Super Bowl Sunday is a great time to make a pilgrimage to Annie's Annuals! Traffic was a breeze and except for getting way lost in Richmond-- No, I did not remember to bring a map, but I did remember to bring chocolate... It's just that chocolate turns out not to be a very good navigational tool-- we made great time.

We were also blessed with very little nursery traffic, which made plant perusing much more relaxed and enjoyable.

Here's my haul.

Sparaxis grandiflora ssp. grandiflora
Leptosiphon 'French Hybrids'
Romulea atranda
Linaria purpurea
Penstemon heterophyllus 'Blue Springs'
Ixia dubia
New Zealand wind grass (Stipa arundinacea)
lavender breadseed poppy

For lunch, we continued up the road to 4th Street in Berkeley. Cafe Rouge. Yum. Stopped at The Gardener, which I think should be re-named The Fancy Table Setter. It's not very gardeney these days... Hopefully that'll change with the season...