Companion Planting Advice in One Pretty Picture
March 8, 2012 at 1:20 pm (General knowledge)
Only in California…
December 28, 2010 at 12:32 pm (General knowledge)
Tags: Dream on
I found photos of this incredible rose bower while searching for a totally different plant…Rohdea japonica (more about this plant in a future posting). Unbelievably, the entire frame is covered by just 2 Cecile Brunner climbing roses. I imagine the creator’s southern Cal clime is necessary to make this possible. Here in my shady Zone 6 yard I might have a chance of covering the miniature model the talented Ca gardener used before building the real thing.
The Best Drought Advice. Ever.
August 29, 2010 at 7:13 pm (General knowledge, Useful information)
Tags: drought tolerant
Great reference re: how to deal with — and prepare for future — droughts like this year’s. Note to self: check on the mentioned research re: which tree species recover best from drought-induced leaf drop.
Rx for landscape woes: Water trees and shrubs, not lawn | Cornell Horticulture.
Fervent for Phenology
April 1, 2010 at 7:37 pm (General knowledge)
I just discovered my newest horticultural passion (at least for this week)…phenology! Not to be confused with phrenology, the archaic study of head bumps, phenology is “the study of recurring biological phenomena and their relationship to weather” (thank you Ohio State University).
Why my enthusiasm? For one, it is a way to anticipate the emergence of damaging insects and disease organisms based on the leaf emergence and flowering times of common “indicator” plants. As an example, when you see the first bloom on a ‘Miss Kim’ lilac, you know that the hatching of Euonymous scale eggs is just a few days behind. So if you want to treat for scale before the new generation of adults appears, if you see those pretty flowers opening, you’d better get moving fast.
I know, it’s a totally geeky thing to get excited about, but when you’ve dealt with as many plant problems as I have in my yard, you’re grateful to learn of any clues tohelp you manage them more effectively.
More to come as I learn some more and try to put it into practice.
