Weeds seem to begin growing before everything else. This gives them a head start over many annuals and vegetables that grow from seed. They need to be removed not only to protect desirable annuals, but also because they so quickly bloom and set seed for subsequent generations. This would be a good time to pull weeds, while the soil is still damp and loose. Drier and firmer soil will not be so cooperative. Weeds that have already set seed should not be added to compost, though they would appreciate the eventual dispersion of their seed within the compost.

Heavy pruning of overgrown evergreen plants can be done now. It is, of course, too late for frost to damage the new growth that pruning stimulates. It is not yet too late for the affected plants to exploit later warm weather. I recently hacked a juniper hedge and Algerian ivy, which I suspect would at least partially recover by summer. If pruned on time, their recovery would have been delayed by the late cool and rainy weather. Of course, if I had maintained them properly, pruning would not have been so severe that I would be so concerned about recovery.

This is also a good time to stick cuttings of some of the easily rooted evergreen plants. Deciduous species should already be getting rooted, as they should have been stuck while completely dormant in winter, or as emerging from dormancy slightly later. I prefer to stick cuttings in pots or areas of the garden that are already occupied by something else so I do not need to give them any special attention. I can move them later when rooted. I recently stuck some cuttings of purple trumpet vine directly where I want them to grow.

I like to use common geranium (Pelargonium hortorum) as disposable filler because it roots so easily and grows so well. For example, I stuck a row of geranium cuttings in front of the recently pruned junipers that are now somewhat bare. I expect they will make an appealing hedge to obscure the junipers while they recover and eventually displace the geraniums.

Flower of the Week: Clarkia

When landscape designer Brent Green and I were roommates at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, we were caught loading serpentinite boulders into the trunk of my old Dodge in Poly Canyon. We wanted them for our gardens. I do not need to change the names to protect the innocent because there are none. I will instead neglect to discuss the scandalous details and tactfully change the subject. In May of 1986, Poly Canyon was teeming with brightly colored blooms of various native annuals, particularly clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata, which is also known as mountain garland.

Like most native annuals, clarkia does not transplant well, but grows rapidly from seed sown in place. This is because the mildly cool and rainy growing season between uncomfortably cool winter and dry summer is so brief. During this time, they must mature, bloom and set seed, while speedily extending their delicate roots as deeply as possible. Confinement of roots in pots, or damage caused by transplant, interferes with root dispersion and the potential to sustain and prolong bloom as late as possible after the last rains.

Regular but not excessive irrigation prolongs performance and sustains the potentially abundant secondary seedlings as they replace the older original plants. Seed may be sown in spring, but will get an earlier start if sown in late autumn. Clarkia needs good drainage and sunny exposure.

The inch-wide flowers are white, purplish pink or pale purple in the wild, but modern varieties may bloom pink, pinkish orange, orange, red or pale yellow. Some have double flowers. The small leaves are usually less than 1 1/2 inches long. Mature plants are usually less than 3 feet tall.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.358.2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.