Seed Time

The weather has finally cooled down enough to plant cool weather vegetables. It's still warm in the day but quite a bit cooler at night and that makes a big difference. Last week I planted lots of Onions from Onion sets(small bulbs), Garlic and Sweet Pea seeds. So this morning I yanked the Basil and planted more seeds; a bunch of Lettuce, Green Onions, Radishes, Turnips, Kale and Parsnips. I still have Nasturtium seeds to plant all over my front yard between my roses and perennials. I had no luck with Spinach seeds last year so I'm trying to find them as small plants. I saved a spot for them. Now I just need to figure out what to do with Parsnips before they grow. Have you planted winter vegetables?

Pumpkin Tree?

While shopping at Trader Joes today I succumbed to some Autumn decorations called "Pumpkin Tree Branches". They are so pretty that I had to buy some! The branches are really thick that they do seem like tree branches hence the common name. Research says that this plant is actually an Eggplant from Africa! Solanum integrifolium, is its Latin name is also in the Tomato family. I don't know if I could grow it. Maybe next year.  But Park Seed sells the seeds! Happy Autumn!

Suckers

Most roses and citrus you buy or already are growing in your yard are grafted. Grafting into a different rootstock makes the plant hardier. But you have to watch for suckers. That is a part of the rootstock that grows from below the graft. It's usually right out of the ground or on the trunk low to the soil. If you know you plants well, you'll notice when something looks different. On a rose it is usually Dr. Huey rootstock which is a once (Spring) blooming magenta semi-double climber. You'll see spindly growth with smaller leaves that grow fast and usually get taller than your named/purchased/desirable rose. On a Citrus, it's thick branches with super wicked thorns. On both species it is important to remove those suckers either by cutting or breaking. If you do not, the rootstock may become so vigorous that the grafted part of the plant will die.

Get to know your plants. Happy Autumn!

What's Blooming

Just wanted to share what I'm taking for show & tell to tonights SoCal Horticulture meeting. In a cool retro container I got from the late Grace Seward are: Gomphrena "Fireworks" that has been blooming all summer, an Orange Gomphrena, Coral Vine Antigonon leptopus (that I posted about recently) and Hypoestes aristata.

My roses look kinda crappy because of so much heat. But these other flowering plants look great! I love always having something in bloom!

Orchid Surgery

Every so often I get a call to divide Cymbidium Orchids. I'm no orchid expert. But Cymbidiums are usually fairly easy. They do like to be crowded. But when they get so much dead growth and are climbing out of their pot, it's time to divide. You can make more plants to keep or give away.

I pull the plant out of the pot and rip it apart! This one was so big and root bound that I needed to use my shovel to slice the middle of the roots. Then I butterflied it, open,  ripped out the dead stuff and made one plant into three.