Gone Mendocinoing...

Leaving tomorrow... for a whole week! See past adventures here.

Smith & Hawken, Roseville, CA

(Photo from City of Roseville website)

Smith & Hawken is opening a store in our area. I would have applied for a position in a heartbeat if they weren't putting the store in Roseville... at The Galleria. Ugh. We're never going to revitalize downtown and cut down on driving if all the stores people will drive out of their way for (Sur La Table, Bare Escentuals, Nugget Market, etc.) head for the burbs. Thank goodness the Apple Store is at Arden Fair. That's at least somewhat centrally located.

Anyway, if any horticulturally inclined people in the Roseville area are looking for work and can stand the soul-crushing Galleria Mall five days a week, check out the job ads on Craigslist. Several positions open.

Are you serious?

You haven't planted any lilies in your garden? Tsk tsk.

Backyard Pano

Just went out into my backyard, turned in a complete circle while taking shots and popped those shots into Photoshop's photo stitching thingy. The results are crude, but fun.

I love that Annie (my little b&w dog) was walking across the lawn with a rawhide shoe in her mouth at the time. I didn't even see her when I was taking the pictures.



What I should have been doing during the cool morning hours... instead of taking pictures... is deadheading and weeding. Just felt like taking it all in instead.

Angela's Outdoor Kitchen

Someday, I'm gonna git me one of them gas grills...

Foodie Gardeners

Have you seen the King Arthur Flour blog? I just subscribed. OMG... so much deliciousness. Their Sir Lancelot flour makes great pizza dough and there's a recent blog entry on grilling pizza outdoors. Yum! http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/

California Heartland is back

Hey, I was just listening to Farmer Fred on the radio and he mentioned that KVIE's California Heartland show is back! The KVIE intro video mentions new faces and the inclusion of backyard gardening. Looks like Farmer Fred is the new gardening host. He keeps warning everyone that he has a face for radio, but I think he looks great.

The cooking segments look like they're being hosted by the woman who does cooking spots for Raley's and whose name escapes me. Anyway, check it out! I'll be adding California Heartland to my DVR lineup.

Starts tomorrow.

Black Widows Killed

Photo is from UC IPM website (see link below)

2 today, 1 the other day. They're everywhere right now. When I see them, I screech, do a little dance and run for the can of Spider Killer. Wonder if anybody makes an organic Black Widow spray. I let nearly everything live in my garden. Except Black Widows.

Venom from its bite can cause reactions ranging from mild to painful and serious, but death is very unlikely and many symptoms can be alleviated if medical treatment is obtained. Anyone bitten by this spider should remain calm and promptly seek medical advice; it is helpful if the offending spider can be caught and saved for identification.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7442.html

I don't know... I think they're dancing around the whole death issue...

Fireworks in the Garden...

...courtesy of nature, well, and our friendly neighborhood plant hybridizers. When my daylilies, agapanthus and lilies bloom, I know summer's here for real. The lilies have come back on their own for a few years and the agapanthus are fairly new additions. I absolutely love agapanthus and don't care one whit that it's common. My orange Lion's Tail (Leonotis) is pretty fun too. You can just tell it doesn't take itself too seriously.

More front yard ridiculousness

Reason... OK, more likely public pressure... prevails:

Sacramento won't fine couple who let lawn die
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, July 3, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

Sacramento couple who let lawn die to save water face $746 fine
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

Their small brick home was declared a "public nuisance" in violation of city code section 17.68.010, which states that front yards "shall be irrigated, landscaped and maintained."

Irrigated? Check; she waters her ferns and hydrangeas.
Landscaped? Check; plants, trees and mulch.
Maintained? Check; plants alive... mulch behaving in an appropriately mulch-like manner. I see no violation here. Move along.

Love the hand-watered lawn next door. Kudos to the photographer.

I think she should install a chocolate garden... nothing but brown-colored flowers and foliage. No law against that. Or is there?

If it's watered and maintained and irrigated, then it's legal, correct? Seems to me the perceived offense is the lack of green. If so, then her neighbors with bermudagrass-infused lawns (a common sight in East Sacramento) are breaking the Green Law every winter unless they reseed with annual ryegrass in time to cover up... the brown. Ooh, maybe she should plant a combination of bermudagrass, oxalis and nutsedge. What a green lawn that would be. Ridiculousness.

Hey, Sacramento Veggie Gardeners

To those of you who were missing my SacramentoGardening.com veggie page while I was switching to the new design, I just got it back up. I renamed the page Edible Gardening, so note the new link.

http://sacramentogardening.com/edible_gardening.html

Daylilies at dusk

The California fires are leading to some pretty colorful sunsets. At dusk yesterday, my backyard was bathed in an eerie orange glow. Even my orange daylilies were extra orange.






How could I switch to summer color when these pansies are still going so strong?!


My verbena would be looking a little more lush if I could just remember to hook... up... drip at the front of that bed.


The other day, I cut back my tree dahlias. They've grown taller each year and since I really don't need them to reach 20+ feet, I thought I'd try this. They were already a bit frighteningly tall, and it's only June. Now they're a little over 6 feet, and beginning to bush out.

Interesting water-saving article in Chronicle

UC Davis offers water-saving wisdom
San Francisco Chronicle
Ron Sullivan,Joe Eaton
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

If we want to save the bees...

... maybe we all need to plant more lavender. I'm seeing lots of bees around my lavender plants this year and remember noticing their lavender preference last year too. Wonder what lavender honey tastes like!



Here's one of this morning's visitors to my garden.

Calandrinia-- my ticket to freedom

1. I took cuttings from this in-ground plant (1-gallon impulse purchase from Emigh Hardware):



2. I immediately stuck them in a couple plantless pots, and not long after am enjoying this:





I've decided to keep stuffing Calandrinia cuttings in pots and window boxes so I can go on summer getaways without worrying so much about what's croaking while I'm away. Plus, there's something so appealing about a plant with tough-as-a-camel grayish green foliage and incredibly delicate, poppy-like hot pink flowers. Tough, yet girly... like me. ;-)

Mendo Getaway

Back from a painfully brief 3-night Mendo getaway... didn't plan on any serious picture taking during such a short visit, but I managed to snap a few pics of things that caught my eye on Main Street the day I was leaving. How could I not, faced with the riot of floral color and sense of fun that is Mendocino in springtime. Most of the time, though, I just went with the flow, which this time happened to revolve around shopping, dining, and relaxing. Not that I'm complaining.

Mendocino was experiencing a rare heat wave during our stay. I think it was pushing 90, which for non-air-conditioned businesses, is rough. I joked to our waiter at dinner that, "We're not used to this heat because we're from Sacramento." He paused for a second and said, "That's funny." Actually, we're not used to this kind of heat, this early in the season. We need time to acclimate.

When we left Sacramento on Tuesday, temps were mild. They have been all spring. Upon our return, we suffered through several post 100 degree August-like days. When the heat spell broke, we couldn't really enjoy the milder temps because they were accompanied by a maddening wind that sucked the moisture and good humor out of everything and everyone. Then, finally... clouds and a night of gentle rain. What a refreshing relief. Today, it's cloudy and a cool 63 degrees. My bike ride is postponed until tomorrow, but that's OK. Very bizarre, this thing called weather.


Nice landscaping outside a local Mendo shop.


The flowers, totems, gargoyles and other decorations in this local garden make it very popular with tourists.






A sun with antlers? Sure, why not.


Hey, you can never have too many gargoyles, right?




Envy. Yep, that's what this garden inspires.


Down another little alcove, I spotted this display of driftwood garden art. It must be fairly new because I've never noticed it before. Fun stuff!


That's 707-937-3869.

More late April blooms...

Ah, Spring...






New to the garden... 'Summertime Blueberry' Osteospermum, next to Babiana stricta.


Calandrinia grandiflora... just now starting to bloom. Great plant-- pretty, drought-tolerant, easy to propagate (just pluck a sprig and stick in a pot).


Chinese ground orchids (Bletilla striata)

Bearded Iris

Weeder, the bearded iris you gave me is blooming. Any idea which cultivar it is? Do you remember where you got it? Any bearded iris aficionados recognize this beauty?

'Sunny Sheila' Osteospermum companions

Cloverann got me thinking about plant combos for Osteospermum 'Sunny Sheila'. Whattya think?

Top row: Royal Purple smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple')

Bottom row (left to right):

• Mexican lobelia (Lobelia laxiflora)
• Siberian Wallflower 'Apricot Delight' (Erysimum x marshallii)
• Osteospermum 'Sunny Sheila'
• Byzantine glad (Gladiolus byzantinus)
• Baboon flower (Babiana stricta)

Good news for nurseries?

Will more people-- of all ages, not just Gen X/Yers nursery consultants are urging nursery owners to woo-- start growing their own food? Gardening? Yup.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the recession
The market's in a slump and America's heyday is long gone. But I've found comfort in being a coupon clipper.
By Heather Havrilesky, Salon.com

Store-bought vs. homemade
Sometimes convenience makes sense -- and can even save cents
By Gwen Schoen - gschoen@sacbee.com, SacBee.com

Bring back the WWII-era victory garden
Philip S. Wenz
Saturday, April 12, 2008, SFGate.com