A Gardener's Notebook » Plants

Photo: Daisies in the neighborhood

Douglas E. Welch — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:48:00 +0000

I came across these daises (unknown type) as I was walking the neighborhood. The bright sunny day shows them off excellently.

Photo: Daisies in the neighborhood is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Photos: Cherry Blossoms at Lake Balboa, Los Angeles, CA

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:19:04 +0000

A friend mentioned that the Cherry Trees at Lake Balboa near me here in Van Nuys, CA were blooming. It seemed much too early of that according to my records of previous blooms, but I decided to drive buy today and check things out.

Well, as you can see from the photos below, there are indeed some cherry trees blooms, but these are on the smaller trees which I think are slightly different from the Japanese Cherry trees that fill the interior of the park. I did notice a few sporadic blooms on the larger trees, but I would goes they have about another 2 weeks or so before they are in full flower.

That said, the blooms that are there are quite striking. I hope you enjoy the photos! As always, click for larger images via Flickr.

Pictures of Cherry Blossoms in Previous Years – 2003 2008 2010

Lake Balboa is located in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, CA, near the intersection of the 101 and 405 freeways. Here is a map showing its exact location.

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Photos: Cherry Blossoms at Lake Balboa, Los Angeles, CA is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Photo: Wisteria leaves are popping

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:42:00 +0000

The wisteria that covers our back pergola has always struggled. Like some other gardeners have written, wisteria is a finicky beast that blooms only when it really wants to and only under the perfect circumstances, which can vary from plant to plant and variety to variety.

Our wisteria has only bloomed twice in the past 15 years, if memory serves and never prolifically at that. It throws off lots of leaves but no flower pikes. Even worse, when we built the new pergola a few years ago, we had to cut it back hard in order to tear down the old structure that was there.

Link: Constructing the new pergola – February 2006

With all of that history, though, I am optimistic for the next couple of years. We recently removed a pine tree that heavily shaded the entire pergola. Now that this has been removed I am already seeing a difference in the wisteria. It seems a bit healthier overall and I think the extra sunlight will do it well.

Here are some photos from today showing leaves both just starting and fully expanded to take in the sun.

Click photos for larger images

Photo: Wisteria leaves are popping is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Photo: Tomatoes in February?!?!

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:52:03 +0000

Our little volunteer tomato plant is kicking up production this week. I don’t know if it the mild weather or a bit more sun, but I count around 20 new flowers on the plant and I am already seeing new fruit being set. Hard to believe we can have this much production in February, even here in Los Angeles.

This tomato was a volunteer that sprouted from the homemade compost I used to start some other seeds. I left in several seedlings until I could identify them and was so happy when I spotted this tomato. It continues to surprise me everyday with its vigor, even stuck in a pot like it is.

Photo: Tomatoes in February?!?! is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Photo: First Daffodil 2012

Douglas E. Welch — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:12:11 +0000

The daffodil foliage had been pushing up over the last few days, but as I drove away from the house today I noticed a flash of yellow from the street side bed. Sure enough, this daffodil was fully opened. Many more tome come, but there is something special about the first one of the season.

Photo: First Daffodil 2012 is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Video: Vertical Garden Installation at Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, CA

Douglas E. Welch — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:37:40 +0000

We haven’t made a trip out to Descanso recently, but this would certainly be cool to see in person. There is a lot of interest in vertical gardening lately and this does it on a grand scale.

Link: Descanso Gardens Web Site

Vertical Garden Installation at Descanso Gardens from Descanso Gardens on Vimeo.

Video: Vertical Garden Installation at Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, CA is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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DIY: PVC Pipe Strawberry Planter

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:45:18 +0000

Vertical growing, whether upside down (tomatoes) or right side up (the strawberries below) has been a big trend of late. The fact is though, vertical growing has long been a way to make the most of small space. Espalier is a way of pruning fruit trees to have them grow in a flat plane i.e. against a wall and yet still produce abundant fruit. I have recently seen pallet gardens — shipping pallets filled with soil and place vertically — for growing on apartment balconies, too.

This creative idea builds on the concept of the traditional strawberry pot, but allows you to plant as tall as you might wish. This picture I found on Pinterest links to a Flickr set of photos, but it seems pretty clear that they have taken a length of PVC drainage pipe, cut out holes for the plants and then filled it with soil. I could see 3 or 4 of these in a row along a sunny fence. Water is probably added from the top and allowed to flow down each tube.

Source: flickr.com via Ananda on Pinterest

DIY: PVC Pipe Strawberry Planter is a post from: A Gardener's Notebook

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Photos: Today in the neighborhood

Douglas E. Welch — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:01:31 +0000

Whenever we take our usual walk through the neighborhood I the my camera with me, just in case we see something interesting. Today turned up the fruit and plants below including grapefruit, figs, and a couple of neat looking trees.

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Photo: Snowbells

Douglas E. Welch — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Following close after the paperwhites each year are the snowbells. These grow in small clumps all over the garden and were planted by the previous owners. I am thinking that I might augment these bulbs with some new ones for the coming year.

I love the little green dots at the ends of the white petals — almost like a little painter came along and dotted each one once it was open.

Snowbells (click for larger image)

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Photos: Daffodils Arising

Douglas E. Welch — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:52:17 +0000

My labor a few months ago of planting 75 new daffodil bulbs is starting to bear fruit. As I walked out the front door the other day I noticed the daffodil bulbs throwing up nice strong leaves from among the leaf litter in the beds.

It looks like these new bulbs are going to bloom earlier than the existing ones in the garden, so this should mean for a longer overall bloom of daffodils this year and hopefully in future years. Here are some shots of the new growth “springing” up.

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