The Grass Is Always Greener

Invite me into your garden and watch it grow!

Archives for March 2010

Gardening, Landscaping ·

LaurieAnn’s Birthday Post

In honor of my sister’s birthday (won’t tell you which one, but it’s less than mine… she’s the baby) I decided to post photos of her favorite plant. So I posed the question to her, “What is your favorite flower or plant?” and in her usual shy, reserved manner, because she has absolutely no opinion about anything… this is her response.

I have lots of loves… I love the black (dark maroon/chocolate) flowers/plants; I love black Mondo grass and the black dahlias – don’t grow them because we need to dig them up for the winter.

Plus the black fountain grass that is only an annual here. My dream one day is to have an all black garden with just touches of another color or two.

My all time put anywhere plant is the coleus. I love the fact that they come in so many colors. The chartreuse (is that the green yellow that our room was painted?) colored one looks great with the black elephant ears. And they are not that expensive and grow into a huge mass. A very thrifty plant for an annual.

Another gem is the Iris – most deer leave them alone and they are so pretty and come in many sizes, colors and habitat types. I have them in my rock garden and front soil garden.

Probably for me, my workhorse of a plant is the fern. The deer leave them alone and since we are in the woods, they belong here and grow like they do. Even the ones that I buy and don’t dig up from other parts of the property thrive. I put some in a big pot that weathers over and after 6 years; they grow so big in the summer that they actually fall over.

Finally, I love moss – it is beautiful in its shades of chartreuse, medium and deep greens and brown flecked. I am going to do a terrarium planter this spring/summer so I can bring it in for next winter. I love the way it smells and feels when you rub your hand over the different types and heights. I never realized just how many different mosses there are.

I could go on, I never realized how many plants I love. Don’t get me started on trees..

Note from Julie: I guess this must be in our family blood, although I quite sure that it is from our Mother’s side and not our Father’s side.

I need to add another note here – although I live in sunny Southern California, my sister lives in Connecticut on a wooded parcel of land that is pure heaven for our family to visit. The deer, bunnies, and wild turkeys are often a nuisance to their landscaping, but we love seeing the animals and love, love, love how green everything is well into summer. The humidity, well I’m really the only one that can take it being the native of the east coast but we all endure and enjoy every moment we have visiting. I’ll be sure to post photos over the summer when I head back to attend my niece Becca’s wedding.

For more information: www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net

Gardening, Spring, Spring Bulbs ·

Spring

Spring can mean many things to many people, to me it is an awakening, a return of life of the sun and it’s warmth. Springtime has been upon us in Southern California, but for many parts of the country it is just now beginning.

This song embodies for me, the feeling that I get when I see the first crocuses of the season and the warmth returning to the earth. Click on the link and enjoy! Julie

For further information: www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net

Gardening, Landscaping, March Reminders, Santa Clarita ·

March In The Garden – Southern California

As promised, some reminders for you. Here are the things you should be doing in your garden this month.

Get ahead of the bugs by hand-picking, spraying with organic insect controls or using appropriate beneficial insects.

You can now begin your regular fertilizing schedule citrus, avocados, bauhinia, oleander and hibiscus need an organic low-nitrogen plant food. It’s warm enough for the soil in Southern California to release the nutrients to your plants.

Keep fertilizing on a regular basis all year and your plants will be happy… unless you have a California Native garden, then you should not fertilize at all. Compost is all that they need.

It’s mulching time again, use at least two inches of shredded bark to control weeds, and conserve moisture. If you have a California native garden use shredded redwood bark (gorilla hair). If you have desert natives you should use decomposed granite, pebbles, and/or rocks as mulch.

Plant avocados, papaya, and mango – if you live in LA, OC, SFV but NOT SCV. Guavas, Tabebuia, Tibouchina trees and other winter tender plants can also be planted.

If you live in SCV and you want a Papaya, you can plant it in a pot. You can get all your subtropical fruits from Papaya Tree Nursery or have me pick some up when I shop there!

You can sow seeds and plant seedlings for your cantaloupe, peppers, okra, lemon grass, watermelons, and mint (please plant your mint only in pots!)

Put Tomatomania on your calendar for late March or April – depending on where you want to go, check out their website for dates and locations. If you don’t want to make the trip contact me at [email protected] and I can pick up seedlings for you when I go.

In drought-prone areas, install simple drip-irrigation or mp rotator system to take care of summer watering needs. Preparation never hurt anyone. Even your native gardens may need supplemental water in springtime. Native plants benefit from supplemental water in February and March in years that we do not have adequate winter water. This will help your natives become more fire resistant and in the case of newer native plantings will ensure establishment of the plants.

You can feed your Ceanothus plant a little bit, normally I don’t suggest feeding natives but I’ve read that a little bit of bonemeal around the base of your plant is a good idea at this time of the year. Now is also a good time to mulch them. Some compost can do wonders. If any of your Ceanothus are summer blooming varieties, you can prune them in early March. Don’t prune your spring bloomers, or you won’t have any blooms!

Plan on spending March 27, 2010 at Green Thumb with Tami Smight and I for a Free Design Seminar and Green Thumb’s Spring Open House.

The Flow from Indoors to Outdoors: Learn from the experts! Julie Molinare and Tami Smight will offer design guidance on creating a “design flow” from indoor to outdoor design at the Green Thumb Nursery Spring Open House – 23734 Newhall Avenue, Newhall, Ca. 91321

Enjoy refreshments, vendor’s booths, children’s activities, tool sharpening. Take advantage of 10% savings on most items purchased in store during this Open House Event! [email protected] We’d love to see you there!

For more informations about anything you read: www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net

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