D's Blog

Frost Tips

 

In the Santa Barbara area we have many microclimates. Some of these are susceptible to frost damage in cold winters. If you live in the bottom of a canyon you know how chilly it can get.

 Do not fertilize permanent landscape plants except for lawn, cool season annuals, and vegetables after October 1. This allows plants to harden off. Tender new growth is more susceptible to frost damage.

 Keep your plants well watered. Damp soil retains more heat than dry soil. Mulch to trap soil heat and protect roots.

 If frost is in the forecast, there are precautions you can take. Group tender container plants under eaves, against the house, under covered patios or large trees. They may be covered with sheets, blankets or products like row cover and insulation cloth. If you use plastic, make sure you stake it up, so it does not touch plants. You can string large bulb Christmas lights to keep plants warm.

 Many plants don’t mind cold weather. Most of our trees and shrubs will be fine. It’s the plants of tropical origins that are very unhappy.  Examples include: Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Impatiens, Mandevilla and Ficus If you have tender plants you may cover them the same as your containers above. Make sure you uncover plants before the sun hits them the next morning.

 If you get frost damage the most important thing to remember is: Do not prune off damaged foliage until new growth appears in the spring and all danger of frost is past.  In Santa Barbara this is usually late February.  Frost damaged leaves and stems may not be attractive but they will protect the plant from subsequent frosts.

 After an occasional hard frost it’s a good idea to hose the plants off before the sun hits them.

 Most established woody plants survive Santa Barbara frosts with minor injury. If you live in an area that freezes most winters its best to avoid tropicals. Watch for clear, cloudless, winter nights with low humidity. A great place to check the forecast is: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ or 805 9886610.

D's blog

Those of you who read this blog are most likely local La Sumida Nursery customers. We are very grateful to you. Your support makes it possible for  Independent  Garden Centers to continue in the era of the 'Big Box'  center. Can you imagine the lack of selection if we could only purchase plants at Home Depot?  

At this time when we see even chains going out of business recently  (Comp USA, Circuit City, and Linens N Things)  I have made a new commitment to support local business and shop locally. At the Nursery, La Sumida is able to support local growers and wholesalers, both large and small. This is also good for keeping freight costs down.

Two instances lately have made me rethink my shopping habits. I admit I can get pretty lazy. There have been times when virtually all my shopping has been online. I realized the error of my ways when I tried to stop by Crispin Leather downtown. OOps, they aren't there anymore. Jr./ Sr. Shoe-Town where my family bought shoes for three generations is  gone as well. Where are all the shoe stores? 

For my granddaughter's birthday I shopped locally. Luckily Chaucer's Bookstore is still going strong.  Kernohan's Toys on Calle Real had great selections as well. I'll shop locally for my Chrismas gifts as well.

Thanks to all of you for your support this year. Please remember La Sumida for the holidays. We have beautiful Noble firs, Live trees, Poinsettias, Wreaths, Garland, Table arrangements, Cyclamen, Christmas Cactus, Ornamental Peppers, Holiday Color Bowls, as well as great gift items for  gardeners and plant lovers. Gift wrapping and delivery is available. Going to a dinner party? Need a host/hostess gift? Judi makes beautiful, creative, gift baskets. 

We look forward to seeing you this month, 

Take care, D.

 

Judi's Blog

Fall Rose Care

One of the most asked questions for this time of year at the Nursery is, "what to do with the roses?" After the summer heat, fall's cool down can produce some of the years best blooms. 

 
Do you feed?  Do you prune?  Should you continue to spray for insects and disease?  

No, to all of the above: most experts let them rest. If you must, you may pick or dead head the flowers before Thanksgiving but that is about it until January.  With the cooler temperatures, the roses feel like it is spring again.  They love the cool nights and sunny days.  You can still get a last great bloom for Thanksgiving.

But do not feed!  You don't want to encourage new growth as we go into winter with shorter days and colder temperatures. The buds and flowers would be ruined by the moisture and dampness in our coastal air.  You want them to slow down and rest.  To conserve their energy for next springs big show.

By allowing the roses to "bloom out" and develop "rose hips", it sends a signal to the bush to slow down.  It will stop putting out new growth and forces it into dormancy.  It has been working all summer and needs some time off, just like us.

You can keep the bush clean from yellowing leaves if you must, but it is going to look a bit raggedy anyway.  It's just that time of year.  Very important, is to not forget the regular watering.  Even though they are slowing down, their need for water goes on thru winter.

So now, for the most part, you can take some time off from the demanding summer rose care until January.  At that time you will have to jump back into "rose maintenance", with the hard pruning and dormant spraying for insects and disease.  But that is a whole other subject.

So until then, enjoy the rose season's last and possibly, “best blooms", of the year.  And don't forget to check our website for the 2009 Bareroot rose list.  It is never too late to find a new place to squeeze in a new rose.

Judi

D's Blog

Trees for Planting in Lawns Many trees do not like to be planted in lawns. They perform best with deep infrequent water rather than the shallow frequent water we put on our lawns. We often see problems with lawn planted citrus in particular. Here is a list I've started. If you have any suggestions email me at nursery@lasumida.com. Planting a tree is a big commitment. It will probably outlive you. It's important to plant the right tree in the right place. My favorite website for choosing  trees is http://selectree.calpoly.edu They have over 6000 photos of over 1000 trees. You can also search for trees by many attributes. Some of these include: climate zone, soil type, size, utilities, root damage, growth rate, disease and pest resistance, fire danger, flower color, etc. etc. etc.  I always advise customers looking at trees to "do the research' and this website makes it easy. Take care, D Arbutus unedo                                   Strawberry Tree

Betula                                     Birch

Geijera parviflora                   Australian Willow

Gingko Biloba                         Maidenhair Tree

Hymenospermum flavum        Sweet Shade

Koelreuteria                             Chinese Flame Tree and Goldenrain Tree

Liquidambar                            Sweet Gum

Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’

Magnolia soulangeana hybrids

Maytenus boaria                        Mayten

Melaleuca quinquenervia         Paperbark Tree

Pistacia chinensis                    Chinese Pistache

Podocarpus gracilior               Fern Pine

Salix matsuda ‘Tortuosa’        Corkscrew Willow

Tipuana Tipu                           Tipu Tree

Tristaniaopsis laurina              Water Gum

Judi's Blog

With fall comes the transition of the summer garden into winter color. Hard to think about sometimes when the days are still nice and warm.  This can be a confusing timing issue.  After the warm August and September days, while most of the garden is still showing color, it can be a little tired and overgrown.  Even the garden at the front of the nursery shows the "end of summer" stress.

 So this is the time to re-look at the garden. See what needs to be cut back or taken out.  I know that it can be hard to prune back plants when they are still trying to perform, but it is better to do the trimming now, so they have time to re-grow before the cooler winter nights slow them down and they don't have time to put out new growth. You can also take this time to decide on what needs to be taken out or relocated.  We all have planted and then realized that it was the wrong choice or didn't perform the way we may have envisioned.

 My gardens are never static.  I am always learning and changing.  Plants I thought would look good and fit nicely into my landscape, end up getting to big, out of control, or just don't look like what I wanted.  So I usually dig it up, pull it out or move it and swear that I am going to simplify my garden and make my life easier next year.

 Fall is a great time to think about changing your garden.  It is still warm enough for new plantings to root in.  And there is still a good selection of perennials available at the nursery.  Also the colorful, winter annuals and cool season veggies have arrived.

http://www.lasumida.com/tips/plantinglists/edible_10.html 

http://www.lasumida.com/tips/plantinglists/coolseason.html 

Also, our Fall planted bulbs have arrived.  Plant now for Spring color.

http://www.lasumida.com/seasonal/bulblist.html#fall

Don't be afraid to make changes.  That is what keeps the garden interesting.I love to see the different combinations our customers put together. Keep on learning, Judi

D's Blog

Thoughts on Water Part 2

 

We receive more questions, and see more problems, in the nursery related to watering, than perhaps any other subject. In the 4/26/08 Blog I discussed water for landscape plants. This week I’ll address outdoor container plants. How do we water all the plants in the Nursery?

Embarrassingly it’s not just our customers who have problems. We do too. Sometimes we see over watering and sometimes under watering. It’s the hardest thing for us to train our new employees. First of all you need to know how much water individual or groups of plants perform best with. Classes of plants have differing water requirements. For example: our ferns will need water more often than our camellias. Hanging baskets and small containers need watering way more frequently than a 15-gallon tree. To further complicate matters, some growers use light fast draining potting mixes, while others use heavier water holding mixes.  We could have the same Blue Salvia in the same size pot, from two different growers, and one will be dry, and one wet, even though they were last watered at the same time.

 

 We train: “always water a dry plant, do not water a wet plant”. We teach to look for signs: drooping foliage, learn how heavy the container feels when it is wet, and how heavy when it is dry. Look at the bottom holes of nursery containers: are they moist or dry? Stick your finger in the pot: is the soil dry down two inches?

 

The next thing we have to train is how to water. We have to watch new people to make sure they are not blasting the soil out of the container. On flowers and small bedding plants etc. I like to use a water wand. The water-wand disperses the water and helps to not bruise the flowers. We train to water early in the day whenever possible so the plants “don’t go to bed wet”.

We train to “water the container, not the foliage “ We say: “water until it comes out the bottom of the container.”

 

I hope this look into our problems helps you with some of your watering questions.  Thanks for the opportunity to clarify my thoughts; there will be more on this subject in the future.

Take care, D 

D's Blog

It is hard to believe that I once did not care for the color orange. Walking through the garden this August I marvel at how are tastes change over the years, and what a warm, marvelous, diverse color orange is. We sometimes complain about how "blah" the garden is in late summer, but my orange flowers are giving it a lot of punch. These aren't even all the pictures I took. I was playing with a  macro lens and don't quite have the hang of it yet so many more "orange" flowered plants didn't make the cut.

Pictured are: Cape Honeysuckle, Gaillardia 'Oranges and Lemons',  Salvia confertifolia, Cigar Plant,  Alstroemeria, Dahlia, and Lantana.

Remember to give most of your plants a nice long deep soak this month.

Enjoy summer and take care,  d