Poor puppies...

It's COLD outside, especially if you're a little rat terrier/chihuahua (i.e. "rathuahua") with super short hair and you've already outgrown your adoption-day sweater. No problem staying warm inside the house, though!

I spoke too soon

After the freeze and frosts, my veggies all perked up and so did many other plants, but my 3 newly-planted princess flower shrubs (Tibouchina) and 3 Mexican bush sages (S. leucantha, pictured below) really suffered.

Compare backyard-planted ones with an unprotected southwestern exposure...
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...to the east-facing ones planted out front, right up against the house (reflected heat):
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They were all planted from the same batch of plants at the same time. Just goes to show you... Microclimate really does matter!

I think all plants will survive, but it's a drag that some got nipped back.

Plants fared better than I thought...

After a week of frosts and a freeze, all plants are faring better than I thought. Well, my newly planted Mexican Bush Sage is looking a little limp. That's not surprising since it's a bit marginal for our area (hardy in Zone 14, but not 8 or 9). Its blooming tips wilted and leaves shriveled about a third of the way down. Several other plants looked dull, dark and limp during the frost, but all perked up considerably when the sun came out.

Looks like rain is returning in a few days, so that should give us a break from freezing temps. I don't dabble in tropicals much since Sacto's climate is subtropical (i.e. too hot and sunny in the summer and too cold in the winter for tropicals). Tropicals tend to have big, fleshy leaves that turn to mush after a freeze. Hmmm... what's the fleshiest plant in my yard? Bird-of-Paradise. Since it's next to the house (stucco) and under an overhang, I didn't bother covering it last week.

Row Covers from Peaceful Valley

I decided to order some inexpensive row covers for frost protection. One is for light frost; the other, heavy.

Here's a link to the one designed for heavy frost protection: Agribon

Could be a cold winter...

Frosty Freezy Carmichael

We've had several consecutive days of frosts or freezes (3? 4? 5?). I'm starting to see some casualties. Nothing's dead, but I think I'm going to end up with a fair bit of top-kill on the following: Mexican bush sage, echium, my veggies, some herbs (esp. sage) and a few others. I'm keeping a close eye on my 9 citrus trees. I've been covering them with plastic tarps or bubble wrap (whatever I have handy), but they're young and vulnerable. If this keeps up, I may go the extra step and wrap the trunks. It's not even winter yet!

Finally planted sweet peas

I've been feeling pretty proud of myself lately for getting my bulbs and "Annie's plants" (4" perennials from Annie's Annuals)in the ground. I guess I'm proud because I did something for which the reward comes later. Now that the work is done, I can sit back and enjoy the show come springtime.

I planted more bulbs than ever before. A Berkeley landscape designer whose work I admire, Keeyla Meadows, relies heavily on bulbs for a really big color show. Many bulbs are spectacularly showy, but because they have a dormant period or might be lost to critters, rot, or might be a one-shot deal (most tulips), I haven't focused on them as much in the past. I'm hoping for a great show this year, especially since my soil is recently improved with lots of compost. Fingers crossed that squirrels don't eat everything I planted. I'm pretty convinced they gobbled up nearly the entire bag of 100 daffodil bulbs I planted last year in a raised planter. Now I've added lilies to the menu... heirloom lilies.

I also got my wildflowers planted (they're sprouting). The one task I kept neglecting... well, that and housework in general... was planting my flowering sweet peas. If I'd planted them when I planted my SugarSnap peas, they'd probably be 3-4 feet tall by now. Just got my 'Royal Family' seeds in the ground today. Better late than never, I guess. I hope.

It's supposed to be frosty tomorrow. Gotta protect my citrus tonight. I'm also going to move my containerized 'Caspian Pink' tomato plant into the greenhouse to see if I can get a few more ripe tomatoes out of it.

Cottony Cushion Scale...

... It's not just for breakfast anymore. ;-)

But a few of my newly planted citrus trees have it. According to the UC Pest Note on cottony cushion scale, a few natural enemies provide "excellent control." Cool, I don't have to spray! Not wanting to do nothing, however, I remembered an old house plant trick for scale where you swab the scale off with Q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol. What does the alcohol do? I haven't the foggiest. Since I didn't see any predators, I went ahead and swabbed all the scale insects I could find.

Bulb Closure... almost

Finally got all my bulbs planted except for one bag of paperwhites which I'll use for forcing. I'm sure I'll forget where I planted many of them and will have some nice surprises come springtime. Most bulbs went in the ground, but I also stuck some in pots.

I'm happy to see that my 'Mission Bells' and 'Apricot Chiffon' California poppies are sprouting. I also planted Calendula 'Pink Surprise', which came from Select Seeds as a free bonus. It's pretty!

Meet Annie and Dan... They are a 12-week-old rat terrier/chihuahua brother and sister we just adopted from the S.P.C.A. They are the sweetest, silliest, most playful and affectionate little puppies!
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Bulb Log

Making progress with my bulb planting... In the ground so far: Species tulips (Tulipa saxatilis), Dutch iris 'Blue Ribbon', Anemone 'Blue Poppy', Allium 'Gladiator', Freesia 'Double Blue', and 'Angelique' tulips. Still mulling over where to put my 'Apricot Beauty' tulips (leaning toward a container) and still waiting for one more mail order bulb shipment.

I'm experimenting with not chilling my "chill-requiring" bulbs this year. I always have in the past, but remember reading... in Sunset Mag. I think... that unchilled tulips, etc. will still bloom without chilling but will be shorter and smaller. We'll see.

Looking forward to my antique bulbs order! One of the lilies I ordered, Black Beauty (1957), can grow to 8 feet tall!!! The bulbs are coming from Old House Gardens.

Annie's Annuals Appearance at Bushnell's

Annie Hayes of Annie's Annuals spoke at Bushnell's today. Great turnout and fun talk! Annie specializes in seed-grown 4" potted annuals and perennials that do well in Mediterranean regions like Sacramento. Bushnell's provided chairs, hot drinks and cookies (Annie munched while she talked). Even though it was alternately misty and raining, we were comfy and dry under Bushnell's large awning.

I took notes on plants Annie said were her favorites and/or do well in our area:

Echinops (globe thistle)
Aquilegia caerulea
Aquilegia chrysantha
Salvia patens (full shade)
Deschampsia flexuosa (bright shade)
Tanacetum (chartreuse variety)
Rudbeckia occidentalis (no petals, some shade)
Viola corsica (longest-blooming)
Wine cups (Callirhoe involucrata... loves heat, great groundcover)
Dianthus superbus (evergreen)
Cheddar pinks (dense groundcover, long-blooming)
Dianthus barbatus nigrescens 'Sooty Black' (part sun, smells like CHOCOLATE)
Eriogonum giganteum 'St. Catherine's Lace' (buckwheat, great for no water, full sun areas)
Lupinus 'Morello Cherry' (some shade)
Tellima grandiflora ("fringe cups", heuchera-like)
Verbascum chiaxii (must-have)
Campanula primulifolia
Heuchera pilosissima
Silene regia
Silene dioicia
Scabiosa atropurpurea
Centauria atropurpurea

The plants offered for sale were scooped up before, during and after Annie's talk, so call Bushnell's if you want to know when they'll be restocked. Now's the IDEAL time to be planting soooooo many plants. Check out www.AnniesAnnuals.com. They even sell mail order!

seedling trays and 6-packs from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
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Just getting going with some cuttings and seedlings that were cooped up on my kitchen counter for too long.
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Bulb Auger works great!

With this break in the weather, I wanted to get some of my tulips in the ground using my new bulb auger. It took a few tries before I got the hang of it, but now I'm a bulb-plantin' fool! I think having a powerful cordless drill helps. I don't, so I borrowed a nice Makita. Did I manage to hit drip tubing with the auger? Yes. Several times. I have a knack for killing my drip system. With me, an auger becomes more of a drip system sensing device.

The important thing is, now I look forward to bulb planting instead of dreading it. One word of caution. The recent rains probably made the soil a lot more penetrable than it usually is. Don't try the thing in dry, unamended soil.

Just checked Gardener's Supply and they're sold out on the augers! Glad I got mine when I did...

It's raining!

Looks like fall is really here... I managed to get my California poppy seeds sprinkled just in time. This year, instead of my usual wildflower mix, I'm going with 'Mission Bells' and 'Apricot Chiffon' California poppies. It'll be interesting to see if any of last year's wildflowers that went to seed come up in spring/summer.

Now that I have a greenhouse, I've been ordering more seeds. There are so many fun things to grow that you just can't find in our local nurseries. Plus, it's waaaaaaay more economical. Ok, not so if you count the cost of the greenhouse. Oh, nevermind.

In the garden, my tomatoes are winding down, but in the greenhouse, they're just getting going. We'll see if I can manage to produce some winter tomatoes. I think I remember Farmer Fred mentioning on his radio show that he had trouble with whiteflies on his greenhouse tomatoes. I'll be watching out for the little buggers. I grew them in the greenhouse in one of my classes at UCD on these really cool vine supports. We did a lot of pinching and tying, so they really did act like vines and only took up about a square foot of soil.

I'm behind on my bulb planting. Wishing very much that I'd gotten them in the ground before the rain. Oh well. Because I hate those bulb planter thingies, I ordered a bulb-planting drill bit from Gardener's supply. I'll let y'all know how it works.

More later...

View from patio
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Saucer magnolia, penstemon, white echinacea, Chinese ground orchids (Bletilla striata), Salvia (labeled 'May Knight', but could be another... it's dark purple anyway) and pansies.
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Veggies are growing nicely. Sugarsnap peas are sprouting. I was disappointed to learn that my 4 4" scallions were in fact 1 scallion, 2 Walla Wallas and one leek! They all looked the friggin' same when I bought them and the first one was labeled "Scallions." I made the mistake of assuming the others were too. My bad...
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More progress... ignore the plethora of chairs. They're leftovers from a big party and I'm too lazy to do anything about them just yet.
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I feel like a Mini Martha...

Pre-conviction, that is.

Favorite Martha quote of late: "If events unfold as I have been led to believe, I will have this ordeal behind me and be back to work before spring planting season." Sounds like she's finally getting her priorities straight. Martha, Martha, Martha. I know gardening is an expensive hobby, but sheesh, you're a gazillionaire with absolutely no reason to do anything crooked. I still love you.

It's a... GREENHOUSE! Well, ok, it's still under construction, but what isn't in my life? I want to add that I had nothing to do with its existence other than ordering it, selecting its location and stepping all over its pieces while it sat in my garage for, well, for a long time.

I did, however, plant the lettuce, chard, parsley and peas in the foreground. I'll be adding the scallions I picked up yesterday evening in a few minutes. The Sugarsnap pea seeds were from Johnny's Selected Seeds, a great mail order company. Also ordered Easter Egg radish seeds and Royal Mix flowering sweet peas.

My 2nd dwarf avocado arrived from Wayside Gardens the other day. I'm keeping it in my kitchen window until the greenhouse is operational. The 1st dwarf avo didn't survive the winter. I ordered it thinking the greenhouse would be ready but you know what? They don't build themselves. Neither do I.

Whatcha gotta do is find a few dudes who paid attention in shop class. I actually took shop class on a lark in middle school. Got yelled at for walking away from the disk sander while it was still spinning. So, anyway, I find the use of power tools NOT to be my calling. The fact that my shop teacher was missing part of his thumb may have something to do with that feeling.

Btw, the uuuuuugly pool filter and a/c unit will be screened with redwood lattice panels. Soon, I hope.

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