 |
|
|
|
|
Flowers, vegetables get off to a slow start with La Niña
By Tony Tomeo
Summer is only a few days away, but the weather still seems to be that of mid-spring. Unfortunately, this extended cool weather is not stimulating much plant growth. You may have noticed that your vegetables are somewhat behind schedule compared to other years. If you enjoy flowers in your garden, you most certainly would have noticed by now that something is wrong with their performance. Slow growth can also be seen in deciduous shade trees which, under normal weather conditions for June, would be more densely foliated rather than look like they just woke up and put out their first leaves of the year.
Don't blame yourself, but "La Niña." I hate to use clichés, but it's true. Not only is gardening off to a slow start, but if weather predictions are accurate, this summer may be less than ideal for productive gardening. In most cases, slow growth in shade trees and shrubbery will go unnoticed, aside from less frequent shearing of hedges. Most perennials will perform normally, but may bloom later and with subdued flowers. The plants most obviously affected will be annual flowers and vegetables.
Although it may take somewhat longer for the vegetables that like heat to ripen, and they may lack flavor, slow-growing cool-season crops may be of superior quality. So don't be discouraged if your tomatoes taste like they came from the supermarket. You could potentially grow the best carrots, beets, lettuce and greens ever!
Annual flowers are growing well now, but are considerably behind schedule for mid-June. The mild weather has also allowed many of the winter annuals to survive through spring. In my garden, the cosmos and sunflowers are coming up through the poppies and calendula, which still look great. I plan to leave the cool-season annuals as long as they perform. They compensate for the lack of show put on by delayed summer annuals. Even with this unusual weather, I try to plant on schedule. The plants may not seem to be doing much; but they are spreading their roots so that they will be ready for summer weather as soon as it arrives. It is not so cool that plants idly wait in semi-dormancy as they do in early spring weather.
Fortunately, La Niña did not make this past winter as severely cold as was forecast. There was, however, some degree of frost damage. Because foliar growth of most plants is behind schedule, recovery is slow. Many bougainvilleas, which should be blooming by now, are still in the process of replacing their foliage, and are far from blooming. If you haven't done so already, it is helpful to remove damaged stems and superfluous growth. Remember that bougainvillea, like most vines, respond vigorously to brutality. Energy otherwise used on unnecessary growth can be used more efficiently by fewer, desirable stems. Replacing bougainvillea or any other mildly damaged plant material is not advisable. Because slow growth is caused by weather, new plants will not grow any faster than established ones, and they will not have the advantage of an established root system.
By now, I do not need to say who is also to blame for the various problems with fruit trees. Stone fruit, those with "stones" or pits at the center of their fruit, (species of the genus Prunus, including apricot, peach, nectarine, plum and cherry) are normally subject to peach leaf curl. I rarely recommend spraying, because properly pruned trees grow so vigorously in spring that only the first few leaves are damaged. This summer, however, trees are growing slow enough for the peach leaf curl fungus to infect considerably more foliage. At this point, there is nothing that can be done to remedy any infection. If this wasn't bad enough, much of the slowly developing fruit is shed by the trees to minimize their work load. Without heat, fruit that develops will generally lack in flavor. At the end of the year, citrus may also be of inferior quality if the summer remains cool.
What garden enthusiasts need to keep in mind is that many of the recent problems and delays are due to La Niña and not necessarily due to cultural practices. There is still work to be done out in the garden; so don't let La Niña spoil your fun.
Perennial of the Week: Penstemon
What most gardeners do not realize about penstemon, Penstemon gloxinioides, is that it is hybridized from species native to California, and therefore very well suited to the Santa Clara Valley. Its only requirements are good sun exposure and well-drained soil. It is prone to root rot if irrigated too generously in heavy soil. The shrubby 3-foot-tall plants produce upright stems. The small snapdragon-like flowers are produced in profuse clusters at the ends of the stems in summer. The color range is almost complete, excluding only yellow, orange and true blue. They perform well in mass plantings or when mixed in areas planted with summer annuals. Removal of spent blooms encourages secondary blooms on side shoots. Spring or early summer (now) is the time to remove from established plants stems that have grown out from under the plant along the ground and subsequently rooted. These stems can be planted elsewhere in the garden. Penstemon is easily grown from seed, but if only a few plants are desired, it grows most reliably from one-gallon cans. It can often be found in five-gallon cans, but such plants are stressed and have difficulty generating new roots after being planted. Once established, penstemon is quite tolerant of dry conditions and should do well with or without your attention. Although it is an attractive plant, it is very useful in low maintenance gardens.
Contact horticulturist Tony Tomeo at 358-2574.
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1975
