April 1997

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"Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!"

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), U.S. poet. Souvenirs and Prophecies: the Young Wallace Stevens, ch. 8 (ed. by Holly Stevens, 1977), entry for 4 March 1906."

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Spring, Sprang, Sprung...

It has always amazed me how little Spring we have in California. One day it is cool and winter-like and the next, summer has fallen upon us with its oppressive heat. The plants don?t seem to mind as they jump into growth and bloom without missing a beat. The trees have gone from bare stem to bud to leaf in less than 2 weeks.

The Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) is absolutely beautiful with its lacy, burgundy leaves slowly unfolding along every stem. I learned one important thing about this plant at the end of last season. It does not like to get its leaves wet when watering. It will cause them to curl up and turn brown well before the Fall. I was a little worried I had severely damaged the tree, but it is looking very nice now. Now one knows why rain water doesn?t effect plants in the same way as city water. Testing has proven inconclusive.

The Crape Myrtle (Lagerstoemia indica)is slowly unfolding its waxy round leaves. I trimmed this tree according to some advice from my Gardening mailing list friends. I took each limb back to where it became about the size of a pencil. This is a small tree so there was a lot to trim back. I am hoping this will encourage it to bloom more profusely this year.

My profusion of vines, some identified, some not, suddenly decided to take over the pathways of the garden. They reach for any available foothold, trees, trellis or rain gutter. Sometimes I feel that if I sat in one place too long they would even use me as a stepping stone to the sun. This month will call for some judicious training to try and coerce the vines back onto the trellises where they belong.

The Spring, no matter how short, also brings out the lovely smell of citrus almost anywhere you go. Luckily, I am afflicted more with smog sickness than hay fever so I can wantonly enjoy this luxurious smell without worrying about asthma attacks or a runny nose. A simple walk through the neighborhood is enough to convince you that there is little in the world that can?t be fixed when world can smell so wonderful.

Attack of the Sucking Monsters....in 3-D

Since we are approaching the first full year in our garden there are still some events we haven?t witnessed yet. The most recent surprise was the explosive growth of the rose bushes after they were pruned back hard in January. Looking like forlorn, shorn sheep I was wondering if they would ever come back. Fortunately, they have exploded in the last month and now stand nearly as tall as they did when I cut them back. One unfortunate side effect of this quick growth was a corresponding explosion of aphids.

Ihave never seen aphids take over a plant in the way they attacked the juicy new growth on the roses. Whole buds and the ends of new stems were literally black with the sucking "plant lice" as they are sometimes called. Appalled, I quickly turned to the Internet to find a remedy. You can, of course, use all forms of nasty insecticides and poisons, but I am not raising roses for show or for sale so that seemed a bit extreme. Insecticidal soap is the next level of control. This only kills insects it actually touches. This helps to save the beneficial insects, those that eat aphids. I was about to go this route when I noticed dozens of ladybugs on my morning stroll through the garden.

While you can buy ladybugs from nurseries, they often end up in someone else?s garden instead of staying in yours. These ladybugs had found my garden to their liking so I figured I would give them a chance to clean up the aphids. While they couldn?t control them all, they ate plenty and I removed the rest with a strong blast from the garden hose. This mechanical control doesn?t rid you of the aphids, but it prevents them from sucking the plants dry.

Overall, the roses seem to be standing up to the attack rather well. I haven?t noticed any deformed buds or die-back. As the buds age they must get less appetizing to the aphids. Over a 2 week period I noticed that the number of aphids reduced dramatically. Once the bud opened, they seem to ignore it entirely. Just one more lesson to be learned.

Here are some aphid links on the Net:

Aphid Info
Less toxic ways to control aphids

Take a hike (or bike, or walk, or stroll...)

While the Internet is an excellent source of information I have found another that is even better and more specific. Take a walk through your neighborhood and see what is happening in your neighbor?s lawns and gardens. You might be surprised what you find.

Iwas concerned when the Crape Myrtle mentioned above wasn?t showing any leaves. In fact, there weren?t even any buds to be seen. I thought I might have injured it when pruning, over-watered, under-watered, didn?t talk to it enough...whatever. A short walk was all I needed, though, to allay my fears. There are many Crape Myrtles spread throughout my neighborhood and I was glad to see that none of them was showing any signs of life either. There were large, established trees that looked bare and lifeless, so I could reasonably assume that mine was not yet a lost cause. Sure enough, a few weeks later, I saw the buds begin to form and now it is well on its way to full splendor once again.

My neighborhood walks have also been successful in finding plants that I might want to add to my garden. A new gardening friend, Michael, has a lovely plot of Nasturtiums and a couple of clumps of Purple Fountain Grass that I would gladly take off his hands. I will just have to grow my own, I guess.

Michael and I were also able to commiserate on aphid problems, as they threatened to wipe out large sections of his nasturtiums. I quickly identified them for him and he decided to go the pesticide route. After one application his problem was solved, although I cautioned him to reapply in about 10 days to make sure they do not return.

This is also the season for tree trimming so our daily strolls gave us a chance to watch some of the local landscapers at work. We were even able to have a few stop by and give us estimates on the tree trimming we needed done. While Rosanne and I do most of the work in the garden ourselves, trimming these large trees requires ladders and other tools we do not have. I personally don?t like heights so anything higher than a step ladder makes me woozy. I am not above paying for expertise when I doubt my own skills and neither should you. On the other hand, working in your own garden can be some of the most satisfying work I know. Create a balance.

Next month, hibiscus pruning, an update on the wildflower garden and more reports on what is blooming.

Above all, keep digging....

Douglas