REMINDER: FALL IS A GREAT PLANTING TIME FOR HARDY PLANTS SUCH AS PERENNIALS, SHRUBS AND TREES!

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1 October 2010 Sacramento Garden Notes Written and Published by Robert B. Hamm 1689 Vallarta Circle, Sacramento CA (916) Visitors by Appt. Only (free for now) Volume 15 Number 10 Plant Yard Sale!! Fantastically low prices! Columbus Day Weekend Sat/Sun/Mon October 9, 10 & am to 4 pm 1689 Vallarta Circle Sacramento Directions from downtown take I-5 north to I-80 East (Reno). Stay in the right lane which becomes the Truxel Exit. Turn right on Truxel, come down to the 2 nd St (Vallarta Circle), turn right and I m right on the corner. Bottom Previous Column Tulip clausiana Lady Jane this is a PERENNIAL species form of tulip that grows from bulbs the size of a large grape. Another variety of the same species is T. Tinka shown below. A trick for growing small bulbs: Small bulbs like the above Tulips often get lost in the garden when dormant. One way to solve this problem is to plant them in 6 or 8 inch pots and sink the pots to their rim in the garden. This lets you know where they are even when dormant. Treteilia is a California Native May blooming small bulb. Since this blooms as the foliage dies, it is often planted under short groundcover so the dying foliage doesn t distract from the blooms.

2 and still bloom, the later they go in, the more delayed the bloom may be. If you have to store bulbs, keep them in a cool, dry place (the vegetable crisper works, just don t forget them!). Helleborus Candy Love is one of the newer, more upright facing flowered Hellebores developed by the Dutch for florist crops using H. nigors. The flowers open white, than changing through pink to dark pink and final green, with all 3 colors showing at once on mature plants. Plants are longer blooming than standard, with new buds being produced for several weeks as the older flower stems fade. Fall is a great time to plant Hellebores! Notes on planting fall bulbs: Many nurseries will tell you to chill all the fall planted bulbs you buy but this IS NOT required for a lot of them. I ve found most do fine going directly into the ground here, with the exception of Tulips and Hyacinth you want to pot and force early indoors, which do best chilled first. In fact, many bulbs start growth now in our area, with things like Grape Hyacinth (Muscari), Ipheion, Dutch Iris, early Narcissus, Watsonia, Some Crocosmia varieties, Freesia, Rununculus and Sparaxis actually already putting up foliage! These stay green all winter and bloom in spring. Other such as the later Narcissus and Daffodils and Hyacinth are already rooting in the ground and so the sooner gotten in, the closer to normal blooming time they will bloom. Although almost all of these can be planted anytime between now and the first of the year Believe it or not, this is a hardy Impatiens species called Impatiens arguta! Reminder: Help the kids at Sunburst and get a great bulb selection!! One mailorder source of a HUGE selection of bulbs I d recommend is Brent and Becky s Bulbs. For those of you who want a mail order catalog, the address is: Brent and Becky's Bulbs 7900 Daffodil Lane Gloucester, VA Toll-free: (877) For those of you who want to visit online, you can not only get a great selection but can also help the kids at Sunburst Projects by going to: Choose Sunburst Projects from the list of charities and it will then take you to the regular Brent and Becky s Bulbs catalog to place your order. Sunburst will get a percentage (25%) of your order at no additional cost to you!

3 Fall is a good time to divide perennials with the exception being Monarda (Bee Balm) which does better divided in the late winter/spring as new growth starts. Garden Notes: October is a changeable month with weather cooling and days getting shorter throughout the month. Many plants experience a rush of growth and rebloom, while others get ready to go dormant for winter. Fall planting is in full swing and can continue as long as the ground isn t frozen. REMINDER: FALL IS A GREAT PLANTING TIME FOR HARDY PLANTS SUCH AS PERENNIALS, SHRUBS AND TREES! Even plants that seem dormant will benefit from getting into the ground where root growth can continue through the winter. Remember to water in newly planted material well. Fall planted spring blooming bulbs can be planted now. Although some plants may be going dormant later this month, that does not mean you can let them dry out! Too many people tend to ignore the garden as fall and early winter Heuchera Obsidian this is one of the hardiest of the dark purple to black leaved forms though you may have to hunt to find it. comes and stop watering long before our rains are consistent enough to allow this. The result is that they lose plants from drying out and then when they don t return in the spring, blame the winter rather than their own neglect. Regardless of the season, unless we are getting regular amounts of rain that keep the ground damp, you will have to water. Admittedly not as often in cooler weather, but this is one chore that doesn t go away with the end of summer. This is especially true of potted and container plants which usually dry out faster than ground beds. There is still time to get winter veggies in the ground and even to seed winter growing annuals (including California wildflowers) for late winter and spring color If you are planning on bringing in house plants that have summered outdoors, move them into shade first to adapt them to lower light levels. Moving them directly indoors from bright outdoor light can cause excessive leaf drop. Also before you bring plants indoors for the winter, it is recommended you go over them carefully to check for bugs. Flushing the pots with a good dose of water can help chase out bugs hiding in the soil. Another precaution to keep from bringing pests indoors can be setting the pots in a tray with bug bait for several days before bringing them in. Bugs are much harder to deal with once they get indoors than they are before they come inside. While Fall planting is in full swing, many of the mass merchant retailers start selling off nursery stock at clearance prices making room for more profitable Holiday merchandise, so if you watch and are a little cautious about what you buy (after all, they will also be selling off leftover TENDER material too), you can find some good deals around this month.

4 Geum Mango Lassi this low growing (12 inch) Geum is a low mount of 6 inch tall evergreen foliage topped by bright orange and yellow bicolor blooms for a long period in spring. Great color for the front of the bed or container and the evergreen foliage is neat and attractive. Winter versus summer color in Heuchera, Heucherella and Tiarella Above picture is Heuchera Amber Waves a good example of a Heuchera that while evergreen, has different coloring depending on the time of the year. The bright golden color is spring and early summer and often will fade into an olive-gold by fall. In cold winter weather it often picks up a greenish -red tone until late winter when new growth is bright gold again. Many of the Heucheras, Tiarellas and crosses such as Heucherella have winter foliage colors that are different than the rest of the year, often picking up red or maroon shades that are only present in cold winter weather. This is especially noticeable in many of the green or gold foliage forms, so don t think that your plants have changed or that you lost some, the regular color will return with warmer spring weather and new growth. The change of color can even be an advantage in giving you a different look and color contrasts during the winter, so enjoy the change in color this winter and don t worry about what is only a temporary temperature related change. Learning patience among other things: Gardening definitely helps a person learn patience, especially when you like different and unusual plants that aren t commonly available. This is as true for me as for any home grower addicted to trying new things. Often the only way to get such items is either to grow them from seed or to order them from specialty sources. So called Mail Order sources gives you a lot of choices but you have shipping and packing on top of the base cost. By the way, the term Mail Order comes from the days when the postal service was the only way to ship small packages (as far back as stage coach days when settlers ordered dormant fruit trees and other hard to get things) and UPS / Fedex weren t even imagined. Growing from seed can be fun, even addictive as some of you know, but takes time and space, and a lot of the newer introductions are not available that way since they are hybrids that do not come true from seed.

5 I ASK EACH OF YOU TO PLEASE HELP PUBLICIZE THE ADOPT A CHILD PROGRAM BY PRINTING AND POSTING THE LEAFLET AT WORK OR SCHOOL, OR BY FORWARDING IT BY TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! Treteilia Rudy is a newer color form of this California wildflower (bulb) that used to be called Brodeia. Bulbs can be gotten from Breck and Becky s Bulbs (see page 2 under Reminder) Looking Ahead: There are two posters included in this newsletter 1) The October downtown sale, which will be the LAST sale for the current Benefit Plant Sales. This sale will have whatever is left after the yard sale on the 9 th through 11 th at the house, at prices ranging from $1 to $3. Nothing will be priced over $3. 2) The Adopt a Child Poster is also included in the following pages and the cover letter for individuals is attached to the (separate attachment, please excuse the date, I couldn t change the PDF file from last year..sigh. This program of Sunburst Projects provides holiday gifts to children affected by HIV/AIDS as well as basic needs along with a hot Holiday Meal at the kids annual Holiday Party. Also, if each of you that have enjoyed the newsletter this past year would send a donation, even a few dollars, to Sunburst Projects at the address shown it would make a HUGE difference! I will also be accepting donations for Sunburst at the two October Sales. If you wish to make out a check and drop it off, make DONATION checks payable to Sunburst Projects. The office will send a tax receipt to the address on your check! The Future: While the Benefit Plant Sales will close after the October sales, and I will be going through bankruptcy, I am working with other gardeners to make at least a few plant sales happen next year. I will keep you informed in the newsletter, which I will continue putting out. I hope to see you at one of the October sales. Bob Hamm "Sacramento Strangler" A Halloween Presentation Corner of 25th & I St. October (except Monday and Tuesday) All donations benefit Sunburst Projects

6 Benefit Plant Sales FINAL PLANT CLEARANCE SALE! ALL PLANT MATERIAL $1 to $3! ASSORTED SIZES OF HARDY PERENNIALS October 16 th & 17 th 10 am to 4 pm The Gifted Gardener 18 th & J Streets Midtown Sacramento

7 Every Penny Counts! Please help us bring joy to the lives of children living with HIV/AIDS. Contact: Sunburst Projects th Street Suite 1A Sacramento, CA ext