DIG THIS! Green Ramblings from GBG

Water Conservation Sweeping The Nation!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Gabriel in Conservation Tip, San Luis Obispo Pride

…Starting with our own KCBX!

Many thanks to Mike Bush of the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden who, during his January 25th, 2012, interview on KCBX, mentioned a garden we completed with water conservation champion Mary Wilhelm. We were happy to be able to feature Mary’s garden in an article with the Tolosa Press, highlighting that due to her efforts to reduce her water usage, she hadn’t watered her garden at all during 2011. Take a listen to the SLOBG’s Executive Director as he discusses upcoming SLOBG events, signature qualities of Mediterranean climates, and the future of our inspiring local garden:

Mike Bush SLO Botanical Garden KCBX Interview 

Bare Root And Beautiful

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Gabriel in Gardening Tip, Plant of the Month, Seasonal Tips

As we button up our coats and wrap our scarves against the winds, Summer may seem like a distant memory–but try, for a moment, to recall last year’s array of sweet summery produce. Remember the delicious fruits: juicy plums, crisp apples, plump berries, and more? The way to get a head start on these summer crops is by planting your own fruiting trees now. How? With bare-root trees! Bare-root trees and berries are cultivated and nurtured throughout the year by growers around the country. Then, as the plants go dormant, workers gently remove dirt from the roots and wrap the root ball in sawdust, newspaper, or other insulating material, and prep it for shipping.

Now that you’ve acquired the taste for Summer, selecting the trees is the fun part! San Luis Obispo County residents have a huge diversity of trees available to them via local purveyors such as Bay Laurel Nursery and Farm Supply, and can easily plant themselves a kingly orchard. For the homeowner with less-than-ample growing space, consider multiple-budded trees, which have 3 or 4 varieties grafted onto them, meaning that one apple tree can provide you with early-, mid-, and late-season fruit.

Once you’ve picked out some favorites, it’s important to confirm that your choices will do well in your particular micro-climate. In much of the country, as air temperatures begin dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the Autumn, trees loose their leaves and enter a dormant period. Many fruit trees originate from these colder climates and need enough “winter chill hours” to send them fully dormant in the winter. The required number of hours that the tree spends at 45 degrees is considered its own personal “chill hours.” Fortunately for us, plant breeding has introduced trees that are “low chill” and do well with the reduced chill hours that our mild winter climate provides. Therefore, look for trees that are rated at 400 chill hours or less for best performance if your garden is in San Luis Obispo County.

Immediate coastal climates will require varieties with even fewer chill hours to do well (i.e. 1-200 hrs). Good selections for the foggier coast are figs, pomegranates, persimmons, kiwis, lemons, pineapple guavas and berries. If you’re gardening in North County, you have plenty of chill hours and need to be concerned more with winter hardy varieties that don’t mind freezing temperatures.When your trees and brambles arrive, take extra care with their delicate roots since they won’t be protected by soil and will easily dry out or freeze. Have some good compost on hand to amend the soil, and give yourself time to plant the trees the same day you bring them home. If you can’t plant them the same day, dig them partially into the ground or cover the root ball with layers of moist, insulating material. Come springtime, the plants’ well-established root system will provide you with happy, healthy fruit and flower production!

Just Try To Keep Up With Debra Lee Baldwin

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Gabriel in Coastal Gems, Featured Resource

In the past several years, succulents have become a mainstay in drought-tolerant gardens throughout central California. Their practicality aside, the geometric shapes and colors ranging from sublime to electrifying create a definitive sense of place in a garden. One woman in particular has made a career of illustrating how to creatively plant and care for them. Best-selling author Debra Lee Baldwin has written books, penned countless articles, createdilluminating websites and blogs, excelled at photojournalism, and perfected watercolors–all in support of succulent plants. Through her books and lectures she has brought the succulent movement to established gardeners and curious novices alike. Designing with Succulents (Timber Press, 2007) allowed homeowners and professionals to see the many applications for succulents in gardens. Her popularity grew, as did that of the plants themselves, and Succulent Container Gardens (Timber Press, 2010) was born, encouraging plant-o-files in any location or climate to cultivate these remarkable plants.

Plant Puzzler Revealed!

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Gabriel in Plant of the Month

Happy New Year to all! Gardens by Gabriel is happy to announce that our winners of last week’s Plant Puzzler were Madeline, Kaveh, and Greg, who correctly guessed Kniphofia rooperi.

Sadly, this brings our 6-week Plant Puzzler to a close. Thank you for your willingness to guess and share, and to pit your wits against some of my Mediterranean favorites! We’re pleased to be able to make a donation to the SLO Botanical Garden on your behalf, for each of your guesses. We’re rounding up to the nearest Benjamin for an even $100.

It was a close count to determine the top two guessers, but after tallying the totals we have two clear winners:
Madeline and Greg, who vyed for first place with four and five correct answers, respectively. The prize for each of these winners is a bare-root tree, locally sourced and hand-selected. We didn’t make this easy on you, so we’re mightily impressed with all of you.

Week 6: Mystery Plant December 26th, 2011

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Gabriel in Plant of the Month

Happy Holidays, Plant Puzzlers! Are you enjoying figgy pudding and playing games with family? Our last Puzzler begins today–but first, a recap of last week’s Mystery Plant. Verbena Lilacena was the plant in question. Our hint alluded to its “lilac-colored blooms” in the hopes that wordplay would jog your plant cells. Our big winners for the week? Madeline and Kaveh! Congrats!

Join us in donating to the SLO Botanical Garden with our very last Plant Puzzler. This week’s contender:

• My dark evergreen foliage is arranged in grassy green clumps
• Emerging only in the fall and winter, my flowers are chunky and egg-shaped
• Each bloom has a radiant yellow base that blends to a brilliant reddish-orange cone of tubular flowers
• My leaves are arching and keeled

Our last Puzzler will be revealed on Monday, January First. Enjoy your New Year Celebrations, plot your guesses, share your tips and tricks, and visit our site to make your guesses!

2011 Plant Puzzler #5 December 19th

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Gabriel in Plant of the Month

Ready for the Latest, Plant Lovers? Lots of good guesses this week, and some close calls, too! This Mystery Plant was tricky because it bears a strong resemblance to its agave cousins. Many guessers accurately identified the species, Agave vilmoriniana, but then broke into divergent camps in terms of the cultivar, with ‘Stained Glass’ and ‘Variegata’ being the top two.

Perhaps surprisingly, ‘Variegata’ is a variety of agaves that is no longer grown. Once it was discovered, ‘Stained Glass’ gained immediate popularity for its brighter colors and stronger contrast. It was also our choice for last week’s Plant Puzzler! Congratulations Megan, Chris, Greg, Madeline, Nick, and Kaveh!

Remember: Your accurate guesses are building the donation cache which will benefit the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden. Our Facebook page will contain a hint this Wednesday, December 21st for this week’s Mystery Plant.

This One’s Got Flower Power

• I’m what’s known as a “sub-shrub”
• I grow in tidy 3×4 mounds
• My leaves are deeply dissected
• My blooms are a rich, vibrant purple that fades as time passes
• Per season, I’m one of the longest-blooming plants on the Central Coast

2011 Plant Puzzler #4 December 12th

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Gabriel in Plant of the Month

CONGRATULATIONS to our many winners this week! Dendromecon rigida var. harfordii was our Mystery Plant, and these plant-o-files were all spot on: Heather, Alice, Bracey, Mike, Chrystal, Kaveh, Madeline, Becki, Daniel, Mary, and Greg 

DON’T FORGET:

For every correct Plant Puzzler answer we receive, we’ll donate $1.00 to the SLO Botanical Garden. The top two people who guess the most correct plants at the end of the contest will win a bare-root tree! Check back next Monday, December 19th for the Correct answer to our Mystery Plant for December 12th’s Plant Puzzler.

And now, introducing our next Mystery Plant: 

• I originated on steep Mexican cliff sides
• My brethren grow practically vertically
• My arching, curving, serpentine leaves are succulent in texture and variegated in color
• My many leaves are dried and pounded into a fibrous brush whose bristles contain their own soap (I’ve always been good at multi-tasking)
• Note: The cultivar we’re looking for in this puzzler adds a twist to the regular species, boasting creamy yellow bands that run the length of the leaves.

WHO AM I??

Enter your guess here! Include your name and email where required, and in the comment box, write the genus, species, and (where applicable) the cultivar name of the current week’s Mystery Plant. Write “Plant Puzzler” in the box marked “Phone” and include the date of the post with your entry. One guess per person, please!

Visit our Facebook page on Wednesday the 14th for a hint!

We Love: Grow Nursery

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Gabriel in Featured Resource, San Luis Obispo Pride

Not your average plant purveyors, Grow Nursery boasts not only rare gems of the plant kingdom, but creative twists on traditional garden tools and unusual, artful accessories. Devout plantsman and nursery owner Nick Wilkinson’s degree in fine art from San Diego State University perfectly supports his passion for the vibrant shapes and colors of exotic succulents. Knowledgeable in terms of the growing habits and lengthy Latin names of our Mediterranean climate’s botanical palette, Nick is also adept at combining his specialty plant collection with unusual garden artifacts. 

Look for plants tucked into seashells, gum-ball machine terrariums, “living stone” succulents planted in the hollowed husks of actual stones, and more. Grow also offers pottery handcrafted by San Luis Obispo county artists like Richard Rowe, Heidi Petersen, Barbara Flynn, Steve Weaver, Jorn Piesnack, Charles Varni and Jeanette Jennings. 

Stop by Grow’s new location (2024 Main Street in Cambria) and understand Buddha’s reference to the “miracle in a single flower.”

2011 PLANT PUZZLER #3 December 5th

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Gabriel in Plant of the Month

Great Guesswork, San Luis Obispo County! 

Our Mystery Plant for the week of November 28th was none other than the humble bunch grass Sesleria Autumnalis. We had some very diverse guesses this week. So many plants resemble one another, it can be a real challenge to nail the individual species down. We’re really impressed with the range of the plants that everyone named! 

The WINNERS: Daniel, Kaveh, Greg, and Mary! Again, we had some other very close guesses, and we’ll honor those participants with a donation to the SLO Botanical Garden.

Up Next: The MYSTERY PLANT for DECEMBER 5th, 2011

• I originated on the west coast of the US
• I am a medium sized shrub that can reach around 8′ tall
• I am never without my powdery blue-green leaves!
• My warm-toned, poppy-like flowers bloom in the spring time
• I prefer my soil nice and dry, and I love basking in the sunlight, preferably on a shrubby slope.

(Visit our Facebook page on Wednesday the 7th for a hint!)

WHO AM I??

Enter your guess here! Include your name and email where required, and in the comment box, write the genus, species, and (where applicable) the cultivar name of the current week’s Mystery Plant. Write “Plant Puzzler” in the box marked “Phone” and include the date of the post with your entry. One guess per person, please!

DON’T FORGET:

For every correct Plant Puzzler answer we receive, we’ll donate $1.00 to the SLO Botanical Garden. The top two people who guess the most correct plants at the end of the contest will win a bare-root tree! Check back next Monday, December 12th for the Correct answer, and the next Puzzler!

Barrel-Free Rainwater Harvesting in SLO County

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Gabriel in Conservation Tip, Gardening Tip, Seasonal Tips