Salsify – Oyster Plant

This plant appeared in my backyard one spring. When I was weeding, I noticed a leaf that had a clear center vein running through it and let it grow to see what it was. It was this Salsify. This year it's grown to a small patch of them. I've read that in the fall I can try digging up the root and cooking it, but it must be cleaned and peeled first.

These blooms only last a little while  a day or so, and close up at night.

Free Plants

The property management company that manages the office building I work in, decorates the front lobby with plants, and refreshes these about every month or two. When they refresh, they give the old plants away to who ever comes through the lobby that day. A few months ago I got a couple of Kalanchoes, a succulent that typically blooms in the winter.

Since these plants were for short-term decoration, each pot actually had three plants in it. I separated those out into their own individual pots, and will find a great protected place to plant these if they survive the 9b cold this winter instead of the zone 10 -11 they are supposed to be in.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana

In The Garden This week

 repotted the purple heart that I started last fall from cuttings - it survived the winter outside in a protected western exposure (in the plant hospital area of my yard)

This guy was not doing well, it had not been getting water because it was too protected -and didn't get any of the heavy rain we had over the last couple weeks. I repotted it in a larger container and gave it a good soak.

Planted tomatoes

 Dahlias planted a couple of weekends ago are already sprouting

These popped up in the front yard, the normally ruthless gardeners even avoided cutting them down because they are so bright and cheery

Tomatos

 Bloody Butcher Tomato - purchased from The Seed Bank in Petaluma, CA - Planted 4/1/12, all seeds sprouted, (four per cell) thinned seedling replanted 4/22/12. Will plant in the garden when they are a little larger, and when I can set up some fencing around the raised bed to keep the dog out of it.

Today I planted tomatoes that were purchased, four cherry red tomatoes from a six pack that I bought at OSH about a month ago.  They've been on my windowsill waiting for the weather to be warm enough to plant. They had grown pretty tall, so I trench planted them, laying them sideways, and leaving just a bit sticking out from the top, so the plants will root well.

Tomato Arbunzyi purchased from Annies last weekend. Planted deep down and mounded soil up to encourage rooting.

Annies Spring Party 2012 purchases

My friend Michelle invited me to go with her to the Annie's Annuals Spring Party this weekend. While I've been to Annie's many times in the last five years, I have never been able to go for one of the parties. It was a lot of fun, Annie gave a talk on some of her favorite spring plants. She gave a lot of good information for each plant. Notes from the talk are here.
 
I bought the following plants while I was there:

Kennedia nigricans"Black Coral Pea" 

Lycium chinense “Goji Berry” 

Salvia Sclarea 'Piemont'

Tomato ‘Arbuznyi’

 

Mimulus naiandinus 'Mega'“Spunky Monkey”

Papaver commutatum 'Ladybird'

Notes from Annie's Annuals Spring Talk 2012

Notes from Annie's Annuals Spring Talk 2012

An example of how plants are bread to fit into the trucks to be delivered blooming to the "big box" stores is the columbine: Columbine should be 3" tall with multiple blooms not 5"

Don't use wood chips in compost it sucks the nutrients out of the compost.

For clay soil, dig 1 foot down and add 1/2 compost, plus every year or two add lava rock to keep aeration.

Annie's uses grape seed compost, put in 3x a year, 1 inch, at least spring & mid summer, especially in containers ( fish emulsion or liquid seaweed are also good).

Ceanthis - cut back in Fall, and don't feed,

buy in fall, verbascum, columbine & hollyhock

plant poppies in Jan
Ca Native in Feb
fast blooming annuals in spring (feb/march) stock

if you have rust - pull leaves, use baking soda/ mixture and cut back in winter

leaf miners live in dry soil, if you have them add compost

plants specifics:
Cuphea 'Sunset' - blooms 12 months out of year in Bay area,

Capsicum Pubescens - "tree pepper" - 5'x6' peppers are good and hot

Eupatorium Sordidum (formerly Ageratum corymbosum)
Compost water half day sun 3.5' x 4' 12 months of blooms in bay area lives a long time with compost, 50-60 flowers purple leaved velvety shrub.

Tellima Grandiflora - looks good year round CA Native shade! evergreen clay loves compost but does not need it. 3'x1' mounds.

Alcea taurica - 4'x 5' tall, blooms long time, lives forever,

Echium gentianoides - Self sows, not cold hardy, blooms sp-fall, blue flowers, some compost, 4'x4', drought tolerant w/ drainage

Gnidia polystachya - 5'x5' drought tolerant, likes heat, cut it in winter, lots of flowers, 3' tall, cerise magenta red,

salvia pulchella x involucrata - starts blooming in early summer through winter, 4or5' wide hummingbirds Love it, trim in winter, frost tolerant, cut salvias back in fall

Salvia sclarea 'Piemot' - not a woody salvia sun 3'-4' tall, purple rose and lavendar flowers - spring (late) - through summer, drought tolerant, self-sows

Euphorbia Lambii - can takes a good amount of clay gophers don't like them, small shruby tree, lives forever

alcea ficifolia 'Black" - rust resistant, 5' tall w 10 stems blooms first year

silene asterias gets better each year deciduous from bulgaria, blooms late spring through summer. magenta bloom with turquoise pollen

Aquilegia yabeana - live a long time and bloom a lot

Aquilegia Crysantha ' flora pleno' - native to CO. and so cal, 3' tall most blooms
or  Aquilegia cerulia can cut back and get second blooms in one year also fragrant

Selinum wallichianum 3'x3' leafy fearny leaves all year mid summer umbrels lives forever great backgorund plant that showy flowers look good against- sun part sun, relative of cherval

Nicotiana Mutabilis - does not like clay, easy to grow likes part shade, self sows, 5'-8' tall makes a cloud 4'- 5' across of flowers, hummingbirds love.

Clianthus puniceus - pea family, fast growing likes compost almost extinct in new zealand5' in ground evergreen branches looks like tree fern, likes compost & water blooms in spring, and a little at other times.

Scorzornera hispanica "Black Salsify" - smells like chocolate - vegetable, mild oyster flavor

Plants on the hand out that we ran out of time to talk about:

petromarulea pinata
Aloe Tomrntosa
Dianthus Superbus
Salvia Macrophylla 'Upright'

Woodpecker

At my dads house, there's a maple that died a while back, it was cut back, but not all the way.

The last time I was there, I noticed a fresh hole, and then saw a woodpecker fly into it.

then I waited for it to come back out... but it was too quick so I only have this shot of it poking it's head out.

Daffodil Damage

The Daffodils came up quickly this year, but the crickets have been chomping on them...