A Gardener's Notebook » Plants

Photo: Carrots emerging

Douglas E. Welch — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:07:00 +0000

We trying out a method of planting small bunches of carrots in deep vertical containers. We don’t really have a good ground plot for carrots, so this container allows us to have decent, soft soil and move it around to get the best sunlight. Right on cue, the seedlings emerged about 2 days ago. I’ll report further as they develop.

Photo: Carrots emerging is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Topsy Turvy planter finally put to use

Douglas E. Welch — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:20:17 +0000

We finally got around to planting this Topsy Turvy tomato planter that our friends gave us last season. It took a fortuitous combination of events to make it happen, though.

First, I made a batch of homemade potting soil to use in the planter. Second, our local Orchard Supply Warehouse had a sale on all edible plants and third, we had planned to spend a lot of time in the garden this weekend working on our big path mulching project. See the post from yesterday for more info on that. )

With all our mature trees, we don’t get a lot of sun, but I tried to place this in the sunniest area I had that also gave somewhere to hang it.

There are 2 plants in this planter — one a Early Girl and one a Celebrity.

Topsy Turvy planter finally put to use is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Grass in my garden journal

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:12:09 +0000

An Instagram photo of some fountain grass that I sketched in my garden journal. Grass in my garden journal is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook Subscribe to A Gardener's Notebook using RSS | Follow @gardenersnotebk on Twitter | Like AGN on Facebook Related posts: Grass cleanup: Before and After Today: Purple Fountain Grass cleanup [...]

Grass in my garden journal is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Video: California Carnivores from CoolHunting.com

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:23:00 +0000

Typically Cool Hunting focuses on art and style type of stories, but this recent video on Carnivorous plants caught my eye for sharing here on A Gardener’s Notebook. Enjoy! — Douglas

From CoolHunting.com…

“In our latest video we trekked out into the beautiful farmland outside Sebastopol, California to visit California Carnivores, North America’s largest carnivorous plant nursery. We spoke with founder Peter D’Amato about his personal history with these hungry plants, their cultural significance and what it takes to raise up fantastical plants from seed. Taking in the active plant life, we watched Venus Flytraps chowing down and a got a peak inside the stomach of an American Pitcher Plant.

See more of our videos at coolhunting.com/video “

Video: California Carnivores from CoolHunting.com is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Book Giveaway: DK Simple Steps to Success – Shrubs and Trees

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:15:30 +0000

I have been looking through my book stack and found this nice, little, book to offer as an AGN Giveaway item. Complete the options in the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. You can get up to 3 entries by commenting on this post, following AGN or Twitter or giving AGN a Like on Facebook. Giveaway ends at end of May.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Giveaway: DK Simple Steps to Success – Shrubs and Trees is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Propagating Azaleas using Layering

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:09:53 +0000

My wife was doing some cleanup in the front azalea beds this morning and pruned a few branches so she could get the leaf litter underneath. When I happened upon her trimmings this afternoon I noticed that I just might be able to get some new plants from these trimmings.

I don’t prune these azaleas that often so they often get quite dense and have a lot of leaf litter beneath them from the other trees in the yard. This lends itself to excellent conditions for a natural propagation behavior called layering¹. This occurs in certain plants when stems lie upon the damp ground. A this point roots will begin to form. Eventually this can lead to an entirely separate plant if the stem breaks of the original plant dies.

As you might imagine, we can use this behavior to our advantage. In my case, I checked eat stem that my wife had trimmed and found at least 4 separate areas showing layering. I trimmed each stem just below the new roots and then potted these up in one 1 gallon pot. Ideally you would want the roots to be more established, but there seemed to be enough roots to, at least, give it a try. I will keep these watered and wait to see if more roots develop. If so, I have some bare areas of the garden where these plants would be a nice addition.

I’ll keep you informed on my progress. I will also continue looking for more, stronger examples of layering to show you in the future.

Air Layering

Of course, when you know that a plant has the natural propensity to layer, you can actually help it along using a process called Air Layering. In this method, you select a stem on the plant you wish to layer. You then scrape the bark of the stem creating a wound. This wound is then wrapped in sphagnum moss or potting soil which is then wrapped in plastic and tied at each end. This moist environment should trigger the natural layering and in a few months you should be able to cut the newly rooted stem from the main plant and use it as you wish.

Layering in the ground

You need not use the potting soil and plastic wrap, though Another method involves simply burying a stem in the nearby soil and staking it so it cannot pull itself out. Eventually, this stem will root and can be detached from the parent plant.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layering

Resources

Propagating Azaleas using Layering is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Propagating pittosporum

Douglas E. Welch — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:40:48 +0000

After 16 years in this house and garden, we have developed a quite a few empty areas in the garden beds. As the trees have matured, the garden has developed more and more shade, which has made it very difficult for some of the more sun-loving plants like our roses.

These holes have been bothering me a lot lately. Thankfully, my wife has gotten the gardening bug again, so I have some extra help in the garden to attack this issues. Starting this week, I am working my way through the garden and looking at those shrubs which are doing well in the shadier garden. Then I am taking cuttings of these plants so I can propagate my own replacements to re-green the garden.

I was looking up information on propagating pittosporum today and found a wealth of information online. (Isn’t the Internet wonderful?!) I was a bit surprised to see that unlike a lot of plants, pittosporum is best propagated using semi-hardwood cuttings from your existing plant. These are the newest freshest growth, but rather something that is a few months (or perhaps, more). The stems should be a little woody.

This week, perhaps as early as tomorrow, I am going to make some cuttings and get them started in a few pots. it should take several weeks before I am sure they have rooted, but hopefully after that I will have an excellent start in adding some more, evergreen, life to my garden.

Resources:

Propagating pittosporum is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Video: Southern California Spring Garden Show 2012

Douglas E. Welch — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:20:58 +0000

Here is a short montage (3 mins) of scenes from this year’s Southern California Spring Garden Show in Costa Mesa, California. I visited the show on April 28, 2012 and had a great time. There was much to see and learn and I also took a host of photos, which will continue to appear here in A Gardener’s Notebook over the next few weeks.

You can view the entire collection of photos in this Flickr set – Southern California Spring Garden Show.

Download and Watch “ Southern California Spring Garden Show 2012″ – iPod/iPhone Ready Format

Video: Southern California Spring Garden Show 2012 is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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In the garden this morning…the fortnight lily. (Dietes)

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:14:10 +0000

Found this this morning while wandering around the garden… In the garden this morning…the fortnight lily. (Dietes) is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook Subscribe to A Gardener's Notebook using RSS | Follow @gardenersnotebk on Twitter | Like AGN on Facebook Related posts: Take 10 minutes to just sit and enjoy your garden… #Gardenchat Transcript [...]

In the garden this morning…the fortnight lily. (Dietes) is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Interesting articles from Houzz.com – Grasses, ornamental trees and raised beds

Douglas E. Welch — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:56:23 +0000

Recently from the Houzz.com newsletter…

Build a Raised Bed to Elevate Your Garden

A bounty of homegrown vegetables is easier than you think with a DIY raised garden bed to house just the right mix of soils

8 Ornamental Grasses for Coastal Gardens

These hardy seashore plants evoke the ocean, sway in the breeze and help prevent sand erosion in the landscape

6 Unsung Spring-Blooming Trees

Billowy blooms and rare fragrances will make you wonder how these flowering trees could ever have been underused in landscapes

Interesting articles from Houzz.com – Grasses, ornamental trees and raised beds is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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