Gardening In LA
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Garden Coaching
    • Speaking
    • Photography
    • Writing >
      • List of Articles
  • Blog
  • News
  • Monthly Tips
    • January
    • February
    • March
    • April
    • May
    • June
    • July
    • August
    • September
    • October
    • November
    • December
  • Events
    • Submit Your Garden Events
    • Botanical Gardens' and Other Organizations' Garden Events
  • Jobs
  • Web Links
  • Newsletter

Keep Planting

4/13/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Exquisite breadseed poppy
Picture
Yummy peas
Picture
Nasturtiums in all colors make a joyful groundcover. Let the foliage die back naturally as mulch and next years' volunteer crops!
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
Bearded iris
Picture
The "original" for the design of the fleur de lis.
Picture
Grape set
Peach on left is fully set with fruit.  Branch on right has been thinned so individual fruits can develop fully without rubbing on each other.
Picture
Bishop's Hat blooming
Picture
Succulent blooming
Picture
Artichokes - note the huge first center one, then progressively smaller ones on lower branches.
Picture
That huge center artichoke is dinner!
Picture
Teeny buckwheat blossoms - Eriogonum
Picture
Bush beans coming up
Picture
Beautiful rose with drizzle droplets
Picture
Dwarf Euphorbia blooming
Picture
Another beautiful rose with drizzle droplets
Picture
Euphorbia bloom
Picture
Rose-scented geranium
Picture
Pelargonium
Picture
Sungold tomato planted March 3 now 3 feet tall; allowing blossoms to set
Picture
Determinate Celebrity tomato planted March 3 now 2 feet tall. I'll pinch off the blossoms until the plants grow another foot taller
Picture
Cherokee Purple planted April 12.
Picture
Feijoa blossoms are edible. Toss them whole into a salad, or let your tongue discover that little droplet of sugar water at the base of the stamens.
     This week’s surprise drizzles and cloudiness are perfect for continuing to sow seeds and transplant seedlings of summer veggies and flowers. The mildness of the cloud cover and rain make tender baby plants’ growing easy to get established and develop their root systems out into the garden’s native soil for nutrition and moisture. This month is ideal for these encouraging conditions, so take advantage of getting your plants in the soil or containers before the summer heat is upon us and the plants start getting stressed.
 
Last Chance for Cool-Season Veggies
     My last sowing of lettuces and bok choy and peas are in the ground just in case this mild weather extends far enough into May and June to allow enough harvesting to make it worthwhile making the effort.
     I also started a batch of asparagus seed, and the baby plants are now about 2 inches tall.  In another couple of weeks, I’ll transplant them into their well-amended bed to develop over the summer and fall and then put up new shoots next spring.  But I probably won’t harvest any until the following spring, since I want them to get really strongly established before robbing them of any energy by harvesting even a couple of shoots.
 
Third Planting of Tomatoes
     Early in February, I found 3 volunteer tomato plants coming up amongst my beets.  Since they had germinated on their own – probably from the compost that I’d incorporated in January before sowing the beets – I knew the soil was warm enough for me to start buying some of the tomato varieties that I grow every year and are generally already available at nurseries.
     Later that month on my first forays to nurseries for tomato plants, I brought home 2 Sungold cherry plants and 3 Celebrities, which I set on top of the soil to acclimate to the area for a week, and then planted on March 3.  The Sungolds are now about 3 feet tall, so I’m letting them set their blossoms.
     Three weeks later, on March 20, I planted the 14 plants I’d purchased at my local Fig Nursery from its Tomatomania sale.  Those plants are now about 20 inches tall.  I’ll wait until they grow another foot before I let them set their blossoms, to make sure their root systems are extensive and deep.
     This last weekend I purchased another 6 plants from the Tomatomania sale at Descanso Gardens, and planted them. 
     With these multiple plantings over 2 months’ time of varieties with varying maturity ranges, I’ve guaranteed continuous harvests through the summer and into the fall.  
     Here’s who I’m growing this year:  Atomic Fusion, Black Cherry, Black Krim, Black Russian, Black Zebra, Brad’s Atomic Grape, Brandy Boy, Carbon, Celebrity, Cherokee Carbon, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Indigo Gold Berries, Isis Candy,  Jaune Flamme, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Paul Robeson, Pineapple, Stupice, Sungold, and then whoever those volunteers become….
 
Plant Everything by Mid-May
     In the past – before our several years of drought and those couple of torrid days of 116 degrees each year – I used to plant yet another batch of tomatoes and squash and beans and cukes in late May or early June, to carry our harvests through the heat of summer. 
     But, with the advent of those droughty years, I found that I couldn’t even keep those plants alive – much less thrive -- even with extra effort and expense of more frequent watering. 
     So, now, I make a point to get everything planted in April or early May to enable root systems to develop deeply into the soil so they’ll be strong enough to withstand summer’s heat. 
     All more the case this year, since we’ve had not even 6 inches of rain so far, with nary a promise for more!
 
For more gardening tasks and opportunities, go to April.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

© 2015 Yvonne Savio. All Rights Reserved.                                                                                                                                                         Web Design by StudioMAH.