Still Rainy and Cool...and COVID-19

Spring bloomers: alstroemeria, Irish bells, sunflowers, iris

Bearded iris

Exquisite freesia

Lavender

Lavender

Nasturtium "ocean"

Melianthus blossom stalks still dramatic

Peas coming on

Dancy tangerine

Spice Zee Nectaplum

Tomcat Apricot

Arbutus, flowering maple

Chocolate geranium - it only looks like it has a chocolate smear, it doesn't smell like chocolate

Calendula blossoms above nasturtium foliage

Feijoa blossoms - they're edible!

Camelias are still blooming

Boysenberry shoots that I potted up to give away because they're thorny offshoots of my thornless plants.

Fig cuttings potted up until they've rooted

I've planted 4 rooted cuttings of the same variety a foot apart in 1 hole. Hopefully at least one will survive. If they all thrive, then I'll have a clump of plants that I'll keep pruned to about 5 feet tall.

Three stages of lettuce plants: the big one is ready to harvest, the stalky one has just been harvested, and the tiny seedlings in the back were sown before our last rain and they've sprouted nicely so await transplanting.

Once a lettuce plant starts to bolt (go to seed), the leaves will start to taste bitter. Each plant and each variety will turn bitter at its own time. So be sure to taste-test a leaf from each plant before you harvest the whole plant to determine if it's still edible to you. Once it's too bitter, you can decide whether to pull the plant for the compost pile or let it bolt further so you can harvest the seeds for sowing in the fall.

Bearded iris

Bearded iris

Bearded iris

Cilantro bolting (going to seed). The leaflets are still edible (they don't go bitter like lettuce does), but the stalks are too tough to eat, so you have to pull each leaflet from the stems.

Baby grapes set

Rooted grape cuttings transplanted 6 inches apart. Hopefully at least 1 will survive. If they all do, I'll let the most vigorous one develop fully to my 3-level trellis system.

Boysenberry blossoms

Bee enjoying a boysenberry blossom

Overdeveloped cauliflower head is referred to as "ricing" because it looks like little pieces of rice. It's still very tender and sweet, all the way down the stem as well as the head.

Novel coloration of normally brown Ferraria crispa

Carrots pushing their shoulders out of the soil so it's easier to see which is broad enough to harvest.

Tatsoi gone to seed. When seedpods are still small, they're tender and have a bit of a bite when tossed into a salad.

Baby bok choy is still sweet and tender when bolting. I harvest almost the entire plant - down to the bottommost still-healthy leaves. Because it's hormones have shifted to go to seed, new shoots will also blossom quickly but are also sweet and tender, so keep harvesting!

Mulberries are slowly ripening since the weather is still so cool. But we'll have lots to choose from once they fall loosely into my hand with a bit of "tickling", just like boysenberries. Picked too soon by tugging them off, they're pretty tart.

Yellow clivia

Camelias still blooming

Sugar Snap peas almost ready to be harvested. Most never make it to the kitchen 'cuz I've munched them as soon as I've picked 'em. Yum!

Painted Lady butterflies love Limonium, statice.

Looking forward to summer's tomatoes. This volunteer is two-rungs tall and well developed, so I'm letting the blossoms set. Until then, I prefer to remove the blossoms so all of the plant's energy goes into developing an extensive root system.

     Like our last couple of years, we continue to have a stretched-out Spring, with cool temperatures that give us an extended length of time to plant cool-weather-loving vegetables and flowers and vines and trees. 
     Unlike past years, this year’s COVID-19 directives are for staying safe at home and avoiding travel to nonessential destinations. 
     Although many plant nurseries remain open as essential, their online-ordering and curb-pick-up procedures preclude the recreational shopping value that I always look forward to – traveling far and wide to nurseries throughout Southern California, wandering through the nurseries seeing what’s available (especially those items I wouldn’t ordinarily have thought of), choosing the exact plants that I want, and visiting with the staff and other customers. 
     Ah, how our lives change in unforeseen ways!
 
Here are some of my favorite nurseries and botanic gardens that are still open to some degree. Be sure to check their websites before venturing out, however, in case another last-minute change has been made.
 
Nurseries Open With Limited Hours

• Bellefontaine Nursery, Pasadena -- www.bellefontainenursery.com/
• Lincoln Avenue Nursery, Pasadena --http://www.lincolnavenuenursery.com/
• San Gabriel Nursery, San Gabriel -- http://sgnurserynews.com/

              
Nurseries Open for Online Ordering and Curb Pickup

• Armstrong Nurseries -- Anaheim, Claremont, Costa Mesa, Del Mar, Encinitas, Glendora, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Laguna Niguel, La Habra, Long Beach, Mission Valley, Monrovia, Morena, Newport Beach, Pasadena, Rancho Penasquitos, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Tustin, Westchester -- www.ArmstrongGarden.com/
• Artemisia Nursery, Northeast Los Angeles by Cal State LA -- https://www.artemisianursery.com/
• California Botanic Garden, Claremont -– www.calbg.org/
• Fig Nursery, Northeast Los Angeles by Highland Park -– www.figearthsupply.com/
• Two Dog Nursery, Central Los Angeles by Larchmont -– www.twodognursery.com  
• Sunset Boulevard Nursery, Echo Park -–  www.sunsetblvdnursery.com/
• Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley -– www.theodorepayne.org
• Tomatomania plants
  • Otto & Sons, Fillmore -- www.shopottoandsons.com
  • Underwood Family Farms, Moorpark -- https://underwoodfamilyfarms.com/moorpark/
  • Somis Farmers Market  -- https://underwoodfamilyfarms.com/somis-farm-market/

 
Botanic Garden Open for Walking Only (no other services)

• Arlington Garden, Pasadena -– www.arlingtongardenpasadena.com/
• Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia -– www.arboretum.org/

 
Sharing Your Seedlings, Cuttings and Other Plants
     If you started a batch of seeds before we knew about this COVID-19 business, and now you have billions of seedlings ready for transplanting but can’t drive around sharing them at your garden meetings, here’s a thought:  Put them on your curb so passersby can take them. 
     I suggest that you add a “FREE” sign, label each plant, and provide your name and email address or phone number so takers unfamiliar with gardening or those particular plants can contact you to discuss how to grow them. 
     Might I also suggest that you recommend my www.GardeningInLA.net website so they can become more familiar with gardening in general.   
     This way, we’ll “grow” our neighborhoods one plant at a time!

For more garden tasks, see April.