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Pumpkins, just in time for Thanksgiving

Sorta sweet, sorta sad… the last harvest of summer.

I remember clearly when I saw my first Peruvian lily. It was the early 1980s, and I was in graduate school in Santa Barbara studying the tiny plankton that swim in our oceans. At the end of another weeks-long research cruise, my then boyfriend (now husband) met me at the dock with a huge hug and an equally huge bouquet of Alstroemeria, the Peruvian lilies.

I was thrilled to be back on terra firma (I get horrendously seasick) and equally thrilled by the beautiful bouquet. We both marveled at the delicate, trumpet shaped flowers with the most amazing color patterns. The flowers were the palest yellow, as I recall, with spots and dashes of deep burgundy all through their throats. Somehow, the patterns made the blooms look almost like they were smiling.

Illustration by Cristina Martinez Byvik

I’d been at sea for a long time, but honestly, the flowers had expressions.

Now, more than 20 years later, I still think Peruvian lilies have expressions. I grow four or five varieties in our garden, and I plant them in all the gardens I design. They are easy to grow, full of blooms, make excellent cut flowers, and are incredibly drought tolerant. Exactly my type of plant!

Peruvian lilies are perennials that form upright green stems from 3 feet tall all the way down to 8-inch dwarfs. Each stem is lined with delicate green leaves and topped in a cluster of up to a dozen lily-shaped trumpets, each about 3 inches long.

While my first Peruvian lilies were soft yellow and burgundy, garden hybrids range from nearly white, soft pink and soft yellow to brilliant gold, bright red and intense magenta, coral, even purple. Most are multicolored with yellow throats and those burgundy/black speckles and streaks.

Peruvian lilies are native to Chile and Argentina (ironically, not Peru).

The varieties commonly available are nearly all hybrids. The wild species live a true Mediterranean life. They sprout new stems in fall, bloom through spring, then retreat back into the ground to avoid the heat of summer. The new hybrids are “everblooming,” meaning they are bred to shorten the dormancy cycle so plants bloom nearly year-round.

If you have a Peruvian lily that goes dormant through most of the summer, chances are its an older hybrid. Nothing wrong with that; it just doesn’t bloom for quite as long as the newer ones.

Dig up a clump of Peruvian lilies and you’ll see how they survive dry times. Stems arise from fleshy, white, pinky-sized tubers that store water underground. As plants mature, they make more and more tubers. So, allow enough space (at least 4 or 5 feet across) for them to spread. If the patch gets too large, it’s easy to share those tubers. See one you love in a neighbor’s garden? Ask for some tubers to take home.

Peruvian lilies prefer well-draining soil, in the ground or in a pot. Plants need very little water once established.

They bloom best in full sun but tolerate part shade. If blooms are sparse, transplant to a sunnier location and/or increase water a bit. For maximum bloom, fertilize once in early spring and once in early fall with all-purpose, organic fertilizer.

Some older hybrids reseed aggressively. Newer ones, though, are bred for sterile flowers so they don’t reseed.

If you want cut flowers, do not cut the stems. Instead, grab a stem just a few inches below the flowers and yank (yes, YANK) the entire stem out of the ground. As stems finish blooming, yank those out, too. Somehow, yanking stimulates the tubers to sprout more flowering stems. So, the more you yank, the more flowers you get.

Some Favorite Varieties:

I’ve yet to meet a Peruvian lily I didn’t love. Here are some to start with.

‘Casa Blanca’ has white petals, each with a soft pink streak and pale yellow throat. Burgundy brown dots and dashes. Three-foot-tall stems.

‘Third Harmonic’ petals are golden orange and coral pink with burgundy dots and dashes. Three- to 4-foot-tall stems.

‘Kyty’ has butter-yellow petals with deep red dots and dashes on 3-foot-tall stems.

The ‘Princess’ series dwarf Alstroemeria have multicolored pink, orange, magenta or coral flowers with burgundy/deep brown dots and dashes. Most are under a foot tall.

Sources:

While most nurseries offer a few varieties of Alstroemeria, you’ll find the largest selection at Garden Glories in Vista. This small nursery is open by appointment, so call first (858) 449-5342 or email gardenglories@hotmail.com. www.gardengloriesnursery.com

(This entry first appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune, Saturday November 5, 2011)

My husband and I had brunch this morning with Celia and Nate Levy at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.  Celia is the travel agent who has done such a fabulous job putting together the garden tour I am leading to Holland and Belgium next May. Brunch was delightful – both food and company!

On the way back to our car, I noticed this amputated palm stump literally attached to the home next to the museum.  Its a perfect example of “Don’t Plant This!”

A stump is all that remains of a palm tree planted way too close to this house, many moons ago

Clearly the palm was planted many years ago, and by someone who had no idea how large it would get.

The point of attachment

Unfortunately for the palm, it was planted way to close to the house.

The palm literally grew into the home's exterior wall

When it became a problem, rather than removing the entire palm, the owners simply cut it down to eave height!  Such a pity.

This palm tree will never recover from being cut part way down

Lessons from this pitiful situation:

1) Do your homework.  Know how large a plant will get (height and width) before you buy it and certainly before you plant it.

2) Don’t plant large plants too close to a house, a driveway, a sidewalk, etc.

3) If you have to remove a plant, remove the WHOLE THING.  Don’t leave a stump to die and rot in place.

It’s summertime and the living is easy, as long as I have a tall glass of lemon grass and mint iced tea to cut the heat. Fortunately, I grow both mint and lemon grass, so I can make ice tea whenever I want — and you can, too.

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) gets its fresh, lemony scent from citral oil, the same oil that is found in lemon verbena, lemon balm and, of course, lemons! Thai and Vietnamese cooks harvest sheaths of lemon grass, chop up the tender bases and add them to soups, salads and curries. Lemon grass citral oil is even used in cosmetics like soaps, creams and deodorants.

This evergreen perennial grass comes from India and Ceylon. In our gardens, lemon grass makes a 4- to 6-foot mound of inch-wide, bright green leaves that sometimes take on a purple tinge in the cooler days of winter.

Lemon grass is beautiful and adaptable to almost any garden style: tropical, Asian, Mediterranean or modern. Plants prefer full sun or bright shade, and soil that drains reasonably well. Along the coast, lemon grass is fairly low-water. Inland, though, more water keeps plants looking their best.

Site lemon grass plants with enough room to reach their natural height and width. Fertilize only sparingly if at all, to keep growth under control. These are two key strategies of low-maintenance gardening.

Over time, older leaves turn brown. Simply comb them out by hand (wear gloves; the leaf edges are sharp). If the mound starts to separate in the center, simply dig it up and divide the plant into three or four sections, then replant each one (or give some away).

If you don’t have enough room in the ground, lemon grass does very well in a large container. You might even add some colorful variegated coleus and red- or orange-flowering canna for color. Water regularly through summer.

To harvest lemon grass, find the base of the mound, where you’ll see leaves arranged in bundles. Cut a bundle just below the rounded bottom edge and just above the roots. That tender, fleshy, ivory-colored, rounded base is the part used for cooling. Whatever you don’t cook with, simply steep in boiled water, along with fresh mint leaves, to make aromatic lemonade.

East Indian lemon grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) also contains the citrusy citral oil but tends to be used in the perfume industry rather than for cooking. Mosquito repelling citronella oil comes from lemon grass cousins, Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus.

Last year at this time, I bought olives with the idea that I would salt cure them, much like I saw in France a few years ago.  My French friends salted black olives, put them in perforated plastic bags, then hung them from tree branches.  As the salt drew the bitter compounds from the olives, it formed a liquid that dripped into a bucket below the bag.

The olives were delicious.

I’ve looked for black olives in San Diego, but all I seem to find are green olives sold by the Temecula Olive Oil Company.   I tried my hand at replicating the French process using Temecula’s green olives last year.  I suspect I took too many shortcuts, however, as the olives rotted.

With olives ripe again now, its time to try again.  So, here goes….

First, I rinsed the olives

I slit the olives to help the salt reach the inner flesh

I combined a cup of kosher salt and two pounds of olives in each perforated bag

Olive bags hang from the drying rack in my laundry room

Move over halogen bulbs, the new bulbs on the block are revolutionizing the world of outdoor lighting.   LEDs, the light emitting diodes that illuminate our car break lights, alarm clocks, and our household electrical appliance, are exploding into our gardens.

LEDs are so energy efficient that the State of California promotes them for indoor and outdoor lighting. The State’s goal of lower energy use is intended to “reduce air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels in power plants while producing the same quality of light as traditional incandescent bulbs.”

Traditional outdoor lighting is low voltage. A cable connects a string of light fixtures to a transformer that converts household current to 12-volt direct current.  LED systems use a driver rather than a transformer to regulate the electricity.

Outdoor LED systems like the ones on this page from Kichler, offer both opportunities and challenges. Experts agrees that silica based LEDs are shatter resistant, a definite plus for outdoors.

Cool temperatures are another plus.  Incandescent bulbs generate light by heating a metal filament until it glows. Incandescent halogens can reach 500° F, according to electrical contractor and lighting design instructor Paul Bussell of Ladybug Lectric in Encinitas, California.  Extreme temperatures singe leaves, branches, and fingertips. LEDs generate almost no heat, making them safe both in the landscape and to the touch.

While burnt-out bulbs are a common complaint for traditional outdoor lights, LED lifespans are estimated at about 10 years, though, Bussell points out, they’ve not been used in outdoor lighting that long.  Only time will tell.

Bussell says that LED light quality is almost up to his standards. “Its hard to put one into an uplight and expect to dim it,” he says, “ and in a sequence of lights, they may not  all  be the same color.  Some might be more blue or more yellow.”

Joe Bell, general manager Lightbulbs Unlimited in San Diego agrees that color is “people’s number one concern.  We can get warm whites that look like (the color of) an incandescent bulb….you wouldn’t notice the difference.”

While Bell recommends a driver for new LED systems, he says that for retrofitted systems and those with both halogen and LED fixtures, simply use the existing transformer.  Lightbulbs Unlimited also carries LED bulbs that fit into traditional halogen lighting fixtures, “You can retrofit what you have already… Still, you have to match the draw to the transformer.”  And if you want to dim an LED, Bell says, use a dimmable driver.

Both men agree that reduced energy use is the biggest driver for outdoor LED lighting. Bell says, for example, that a13-watt LED lamp puts out as much light as a standard 40-watt incandescent bulb.

Cost, of course, is a factor.  At Lightbulbs Unlimited, a normal halogen uplight may cost $9, while an LED uplight might cost $25 to $45.

Despite the upfront cost, says Bussell “If you factor in usage, longevity and replacement, LED systems are a fifth the cost of halogen systems.”

“Its a huge difference,” Bussell continues, “That one factor alone is the quickest and most efficient way to cut energy use.”

The State of California maintains on-line database of products that meet state-mandated criteria for energy efficiency including LED bulbs.  When you visit the database, select the category “Lighting Products,” and the type “High Efficacy LEDs.”

Many people are amazed to learn that there are bulbs native to California. “Bulbs” conjures images of gladioluses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, even snowdrops — all of which are native to other parts of the world. But, bulbs native to California? Really?

Yes, really.

Nearly all the bulbs offered in nurseries are bold, fancy versions hybridized from far more modest bulbs found in nature. Our native bulbs are on that “nature” scale. While they are not “in your face” the way a fancy glad might be, that doesn’t mean they are any less beautiful. In fact, in many respects, they are even more remarkable looking.

Yellow Mariposa lily (Calochortus luteus), for example, is native to coastal, valley and foothill areas from the Mexican border, almost to Oregon. All mariposas (there are many kinds) are true lilies. Yellow Mariposa lily’s narrow, grasslike leaves stand only 4 to 8 inches tall. From late spring into summer, foot-tall stalks are topped with cup-shaped flowers of bright yellow (hence the name, “luteus”) with burgundy markings. ‘Golden Orb’ is one of the varieties most widely available to gardeners.

The cup-shaped flowers of Calochortus venustus, butterfly Mariposa lily, look very similar to yellow mariposa. Their flowers, though, can range from white to pink, yellow to purple, even reddish brown, often with reddish markings in the center. These are petite bulbs, only a foot or two tall, native to mountains and foothills from the Sierras to the San Gabriels, so they are quite cold hardy. Springtime is bloom time. Plant in full or part sun.

Early onion, Allium praecox, is an onion, but probably not an onion you’d choose to eat. It is one you might choose to grow in your garden, especially since it is one of the earliest blooming native bulbs. Flower stalks emerge from foot-tall clumps of slender, grasslike leaves starting in late winter. Through early spring, stalks are topped in clusters of tiny white to pink to purplish flowers. These bulbs do very well in dry shade.

Tube-shaped springtime flowers of Dichelostemma ida-maia, firecracker flower, are an odd combination of crimson red and chartreuse. Foot-tall flower stalks are topped with a handful of dangling blooms, best seen close up. Since these are higher-elevation bulbs from the edges of forests in north coastal California, they perform best planted in shade or part sun.

Dichelostemma capitatum, known as blue dicks, is similar to firecracker flower, but its flower clusters are upright and purply blue/lavender on taller flower stalks.

Soap bulb, Chlorogalum parviflorum is native to the dry, coastal sage scrub widely found throughout coastal San Diego County. Soap bulb’s slender green leaves grow only about 8 inches tall. In late spring and into summer, tiny, white flowers line stalks 1 to 3 feet tall. Each of the star-shaped blooms has six prominent yellow pollen sacks around a swollen, green center. The bulb part of this plant contains a chemical called saponin. If you wet your hands and rub a bulb between them, you’ll get a handful of soapy foam, hence their use by American Indians. Don’t drink the foam, though, as saponin is toxic. Plant in full sun, where bulbs can go dry in summer.

All of these bulbs live through hot, dry summers with no irrigation. As summer approaches, their foliage withers to the ground. The bulbs are dormant, then, until fall rains, when new foliage appears. They do best under conditions that emulate nature, so plant them in unirrigated areas. They are longest lived in well-draining soils.

Thinking of replacing your lawn but not sure how to kill the grass?  Just as we use the sun’s rays to power our houses, heat water and run our cars, we can use the sun to kill lawns as well.

The process, called solarization, uses the heat of the sun’s rays to literally cook plants, weed seeds, nematodes, and pathogens (the “bad guys” that cause plant diseases) in the uppermost layers of soil.

Summer is the best time of year to solarize. The air is warm, but more importantly, the sun has its greatest heating potential.  Solarize for six weeks or so and your lawn will be gone with a minimum investment of time, energy, money, and best of all – no herbicides!

Solarization comes to us from the clever folks in Israel where resources are limited but demand is great.

Steps to solarization

1. Cut your lawn very, very short.  Make the surface as smooth and even as possible.

2. Irrigate to saturate the soil one to two feet deep

3. Cover the lawn with 2 to 4 ml sheets of clear plastic sheet (available in the paint section of the hardware store.  This is the most environmentally ‘unfriendly’ part).  Spread the plastic so it is in contact with the soil surface, leaving as little air space as possible

4. Extend the plastic six to eight inches beyond the edges of the grass.  The edges of don’t heat as well as the center so extending the plastic assures even heating throughout.

5. If the lawn is large for several sheets of plastic, overlap the seams

6. Anchor the edges of the plastic with rocks, bricks, pieces of wood or mounds of soil.

7. Turn the irrigation off (imagine what would happen if the water went on with plastic covering sprinkler heads!)

8. Wait six to eight weeks.

9. Remove the plastic carefully.  If the plastic doesn’t have UV inhibitor (nice but not necessary) it will likely fall apart by the time the lawn dies.

To make the process even more effective, spread a second layer of plastic over the first.  Use two-by-fours or bricks to create a few-inch air gap between them.  Research shows that the second plastic layer can raise soil temperature another two to ten degrees.

Since the plastic is clear, you can watch the lawn turn from green to yellow, then to straw brown.  Once that happens, let the plastic sit another week or two, just to be sure.

Once the lawn is dead, you have a few options.  Clear away dead grass where you plan to put walkways or otherwise need an even surface.   Where the lawn is to become planting bed, just treat the dead stuff as compost.  Leave it in place and plant into, or mound soil atop it.  Eventually, it will disintegrate either way.

Since solarization works best in the upper foot or so of soil, don’t rototill or spade after you are done (actually, its best not to rototill ever).  Rototilling, or turning the soil deeply, brings seeds and pathogens to the surface where they will again proliferate.

Solarization Q and A

Why irrigate first?

Wet soil heats more quickly than dry soil.

Why clear plastic?

I’m often asked if black plastic works as well as clear.  The answer is a definite “NO!”  It’s a matter of physics, but rather than give you a complex explanation, here’s an example from our everyday experiences to clarify the concept.

Imagine a hot summer day.  Park your car in a sunny parking lot.  Roll the windows up, close the doors and leave for several hours.  When you return, open the door.  What’s your first thought?  “Boy its hot in there!” We all know from experience, that the air inside a closed up car gets far hotter than the outside air.

Now, have your car windows tinted.  Repeat the process and compare the air inside the car to the air outside.

What happens? Even though the outside surface of the car gets just as hot, the air inside stays cooler when the windows are tinted (like black plastic) than when windows are clear (similar to clear plastic).

This is the “Greenhouse Effect.” Clear glass and clear plastic trap the heating power of the sun’s rays. That’s why soil beneath clear plastic heats up more than soil beneath black plastic. Adding an air gap and a second layer of plastic heats the soil even more.

Can I solarize other areas of my garden too?

Certainly!  Raised beds, perennial beds, weed infested fields, even slopes can be solarized to kill weeds, pests and pathogens.  Just make the surface flat enough for the plastic to lie tight against the soil. Keep in mind though, that solarization will kill all plants under the plastic so if there are some you want to keep, dig them out first.

Evergreen blooms come in many shades and aren’t too picky about sun or water

From the San Diego Union Tribune, July 2, 2011

According to “A Modern Herbal,” yarrow has a long tradition of being used to heal wounds. Yarrow’s botanical name, Achillea, is after Achilles, who was said to have used yarrow to treat his soldiers’ bleeding wounds. In ancient times, yarrow was called Herba Militaris, the military herb, most likely for that reason.

Today, we appreciate yarrow for other reasons. Our native yarrow, Achillea millefolium, along with European and Asian native yarrows, are mostly low-profile, fast-spreading evergreens that thrive in full to part sun.

Yarrows take little water once established but grow more lush and “flowerful” with a bit more. They aren’t picky about soil; they even tolerate clay. These versatile little perennials make nectar that attracts butterflies and pollen that attracts beneficial bees.

Perennial beds and grassy meadows are both brightened by yarrow’s broad, flat clusters of tiny flowers in white, yellow, pink, pale lavender or red. Native yarrow grows densely enough to serve as a lawn replacement in areas that get light foot traffic.

Yarrows require little care: plant, mulch, water occasionally once established. Remove spent flowers to prolong yarrow’s bloom. If you have a meadow or a lawn of yarrow, you might use a push mower or line-trimmer to cut back flowers and foliage once plants finish flowering.

You’ll find many yarrows in the nursery. Here are a few to get you started:

•Native Achillea millefolium has ferny green foliage. In spring and summer, native yarrow sports large flower clusters atop 2-foot-tall stalks. ‘Calistoga’ flowers white, ‘Island Pink’ flowers pink, ‘Cerise Queen’ flowers deep rose, ‘Lavender Beauty’ has soft purple flowers, ‘Paprika’ has deep red flowers with tiny yellow centers.

•Achillea ‘Moonshine’ is a hybrid of European and Asian native yarrows. ‘Moonshine’ is a larger plant with wider, ghostly gray leaves. Flower clusters are broader than the natives’ and bright, buttery yellow. Flowering is in spring and early summer.

•Achillea tomentosa, woolly yarrow, is a more petite yarrow that grows as a mat of tight clumps only a few inches tall. Its leaves are shorter than other yarrows, cylindrical and covered in fine hairs that make the leaves look silvery green (the word “tomentosa” means woolly). This yarrow’s leaves look so fuzzy that your impulse will be to reach out and pet them. Bright yellow flowers make small clusters, just a few inches above the leaves.