‘Tis the season to be gardening, in the chaparral, the cha-par-ral
(Title to be sung to the original ‘Deck the Halls’ melody.)
While you find yourself cooking, entertaining, partying, shopping and occasionally getting over-wrought during the holiday times, your garden is not sitting around doing nothing. Here in the chaparral of Southern California, seeds are germinating with recent rains, leaves are falling, and California native plants are coming into active growth.
Don’t think of this as more work to be done, since the chaparral garden is not in any rush for attention. But do remember that physical work in the garden is an excellent way to work off stress and to burn off calories. So taking a break from holiday craziness to putter in the garden can be good for both you and your plants.
I just tore out my vegetable garden after over a decade. The time went painfully fast, but the carefully set block wall started to tilt, the soaker hoses and drip irrigation became too full of holes, and the over-zealous rats and mice found too many entry points and gobbled down more of my vegetables than I did.
With the cool temperatures and moistened soil, this has been a perfect time for transplanting and rebuilding. I’m trying out some new designs and ideas for discouraging the rodents. One reason I love gardening is that it keeps me thinking creatively. The wildlife all too often outsmarts me, but sometimes I get the upper hand. Experimentation always produces both knowledge and results, albeit the results aren’t always what I expect.
Working on my chaparral garden during the holiday season is not only much more comfortable without the hot sun and the dry, baked soil, but it has allowed me to splurge a little with holiday foods and not gain weight. I find I can think things through more clearly while working which allows me to address all my other projects in a much better state of mind. And getting my body tired out with garden labor helps me sleep well despite all the end-of-the-year things on my mind.
Now that I finished this little bit of writing, I’m going out to the garden to transplant some of those boysenberries I dug out around the vegetable garden. I’ll enjoy the sense of accomplishment, the cool sunshine, and the Deck the Halls Christmas melody going through my head reworded to: “ ‘Tis the season to be gardening, in the chaparral, the cha-par-ral!”
Gardening gifts for chaparral gardeners
Whether you are looking for gifts for gardening friends and family for the holidays or for a birthday there are some gifts that will always be appreciated by the chaparral gardener. Gardeners love anything that will make their job more comfortable and fun. Most like something with an unusual twist so they can show it off. Here is a little list of some thoughts that make help you come up with ideas of your own for gifts.
For bigger budgets:
- Greenhouses large and small allow more year round growing, especially with the extreme temperatures of the chaparral.
- Big toys: mowers, edgers and other power tools make the big jobs easy.
Go green:
- Solar panels and underground water storage tanks are ideal for the Eco-friendly gardener.
- Compost bins come in a number of sizes and shapes and make garden clean-up easier.
- Look for little solar powered gadgets like lights, pond aerators and pest deterrents that are solar powered for sustainable gardening.
- Buy a smart irrigation controller to save the bother of turning on and off systems and to help lower water bills in our dry chaparral summers.
For the imaginative:
- Miniature gardens allow creative gardeners to design and grow the smallest of spaces – even if they have no garden.
- Pond kits and fountains make wonderful decorations and add cool effects in hot months.
- Gadgets like electric digging tools, garden hose holders or power clippers can be fun and helpful.
- Herb gardens: most grow well in our full sun, hungry soil and warm temperatures.
The little stuff:
- Moo Poo tea is the latest way to organically feed indoor and outdoor plants organically.
- Books offer something on any subject a gardener could wish.
- Garden shoes keep feet from tracking in summer garden dust and winter mud.
Things you might not have considered:
- Look for artistic garden clothing or fun tee shirts.
- Consider a visit to one a public garden as a gift of relaxation and a chance to share and learn garden ideas that are perfect for the chaparral landscape.
- If you know your plants, offer the gift of a rare plant or interesting conversation piece.
The easy way:
- If in doubt, buy a gift certificate to your gardener’s favorite garden center, mail order catalog or website and let your friend or family member do the choosing.
- Hire a professional garden designer or garden consultant for the gift of a landscape/garden consult.
How to grow edible onions (Allium)
Bulb onions (Allium cepa) are easy to grow and are a great crop to plant in the vegetable garden. These are the common round onions we know from the grocery store as opposed to non-bulb onions like scallions or leeks. Scallions, ‘bunching onions’, or ‘green onions’ are those long thin onions that do not form big bulbs at the root. And leeks grow tall with big flat green leaves and an elongated white stem that is the prime part for use in cooking. There are a number of other onion plants you can also grow that form small bulbs or even stay tiny and form clusters like chives. Onions are tasty and healthy foods that do not take up a lot of space in the vegetable garden. All kinds grow well in the Southern California area if they are given reasonably rich soil and plenty of water. Here are some tips on how to plant onions in the vegetable garden.
Onions are usually planted in the spring or autumn. They are commonly started by one of three methods: seed, seedlings or sets (for bulb onions). You can actually plant them during the winter in any of these forms, too, if you live in a mild winter climate.
Seeds of bulb-forming onions do best in an area with a long summer like ours because they have time to form good-sized globes. This is the most inexpensive way to plant them. Seed them in rows and thin them to about one plant for each 4″. Unlike some other parts of the country, we don’t have a problem with the onion fly here. You can choose from many different varieties of reds, yellows and whites. The standard yellow varieties will produce onions with the longest storage capabilities.
Seeds are also easy to grow for other types of onions. Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) are best started in a small area where the seedlings can all reach 4 – 8” tall before being transplanted. The best way to transplant leeks is to trim the roots of the seedlings and drop each plant in a 6 – 8” hole made by a dibbler or other stick-like tool. Do not fill in the hole with soil, but do water the young plants in. The hole will help blanch the stems as the leek seedlings grow bigger and fill in the space.
If you buy young plants of any kind of onion to transplant from pots or 6-packs or you start your seeds indoors, planting instructions are pretty much guided by the same rules as seeding directly in the ground. Plant them about 4 – 6″ apart in rows. Leeks can also be grown at the same spacing, but they will be easier to dig when ready if you leave a little more space between plants or larger spaces between rows so you have more room to insert the shovel. For all onions transplants other than the leek, plant just the rooted base, leaving the long thin grass-like tops free of soil. In Southern California, autumn is the best time to plant seeds since you want them to be strong enough to over-winter and have a long season to grow. Spring is the best time for transplants. But you can also plant either at any time of the year, though the cooler seasons are better than in the heat, especially in the hot, inland areas.
Planting from sets is probably the most universally easy and safe way to grow dry bulb onions. You can buy the little bulbs (that were grown from seed already) from garden centers in autumn, winter and spring. These, too, should be spaced in rows at 4″ – 6″ intervals. Just press the very bottom of the bulb into the soil: don’t bury it. You may have to replant some little onions occasionally as they can get dislodged by birds.
Plant your bulb onions, leeks and scallions in rich soil and full sun and make sure they get regular water. Onions are easily grown and a great staple of the home vegetable garden. I like to inter-plant my bulb-forming onions with lettuce since the lettuce will be cropped by the time the weather starts to warm and the bulbs begin to swell. This way I get more growing out of a limited space. Scallions make nice border plants in the vegetable garden. If you don’t harvest all your scallions or green onions, the remaining plants will form clumps and can be grown on from one year to the next.
Although I haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere, leeks that go to seed (flower) or bolt before you can crop them are also best left in the ground. The flower shoot that grows up inside the long stem will ruin the leek texture so I’d advise not cropping the plant at all. If you let the blooming leek remain and die back in the summer, you will get one or more plants sprouting for next year. The second year’s leeks will likely be a bit thinner, but will still be great for cropping and eating – so long as you harvest them before they start flower spike formation.
You may also want to plant chives. The regular chive has a pretty pink flower and makes a decorative, low profile plant. The garlic chive has a flat leaf and taller panicles of white flowers that are very decorative in the garden. Both types of onion chive offer leaves to be snipped for salads or cooking during most of the year except the in middle of the winter when clumps of the miniature bulbs die back into dormancy.
These are the most common kinds of onion to grow in the garden. They are heavy feeders and like lots of organics dug into the soil and regular feeding. Give them full sun and they will grow easily with little likelihood of pest damage. You can also try some other members of the onion family like Egyptian or Walking Onions, pearl onions, Italian round onions, shallots and garlic. All are easy, tasty, nourishing and fun to grow!
Australian native plants for Southern California landscaping
As sustainability in garden design grows in popularity, gardeners and designers alike search to expand the palette of plants and visual effects. In Southern California water is likely to become more of an issue due to our large population whether or not we get a year of good rainfall. We really need to make sure we design our landscapes for our dry climate. And there are some fine possibilities offered by Australia’s native plants for Southern California landscaping.
Although conditions in different parts of the world will vary, many Australian native plants will thrive well alongside other drought-tolerant and chaparral plants from the Mediterranean, California, South Africa, Texas, Arizona and other low rainfall climates. With some very showy flowers, leaves and growth forms, many native plants from Australia are becoming available in garden centers for the waterwise garden.
Some Australian native plants will probably be familiar to you like the often-used Bottlebrush or many of the Eucalyptus trees. Some varieties of Australian garden flowers are simply too fragile to do well in the harsher higher elevations or inland areas of Southern California, despite their eye-catching beauty; plants like the flamboyant Proteas or Banksias.
But here’s a little information about some more interesting drought-tolerant Australian plants that will do well in many Southern California landscapes. You might want to incorporate some of these into your garden.
Most Australian plants have evolved on lean soils with a lot of sun and periods of drought. If you are going to be successful growing them, you will need to give them conditions that mimic the ones they developed in. These plants, on the whole, prefer a slightly acid soil and most of them are shy of phosphorus so avoid using it in your plant foods. Some will take frost, but most will not survive hard frosts so if you want to grow them in the higher elevations where winters get snowy and icy, you will have to do it in a sun room, greenhouse or a pot so you can bring them inside in the winter.
Not all the Eucalyptus plants will fare well in all parts of the state, but now that the devastation caused by the invading lerp insect has lessened, you might want to plant the red gum tree or the cider gum tree (Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Silverdrop’) where conditions are more harsh than near the coast. The latter tree offers branches that are often used for flower arrangements. Eucalyptus trees can grow from small-sized specimens to very tall ones. Most have fascinating bark that can come in colors and textures. And most have very showy flowers.
The familiar Bottlebrush is an Australian native tree that has a smaller, shrubbier, more appealing variety you can use in your garden. Callistemon ‘Little John’ grows to only 3 – 5′ tall and will have the same showy flowers without the lanky, overgrown look common to its larger cousins.
The Hardenbergia is a graceful vine. This plant will drape over walls, trellises and fences. It is evergreen with narrow leaves and thin, twining stems so it has a delicate look to it. In late winter it covers itself with panicles of hanging purple (or pink) flowers that dangle like little grape clusters.
Check into the family of Acacias or Cassias for some very showy yellow or white-flowered shrubs and trees. Acacia or ‘wattle’ is a big family of plants that range from ground-cover plants to small trees. Most bloom with bright clusters of fuzzy yellow flowers. Often Acacias have a wonderful perfume. Try the decorative Knife-leaf Acacia (Acacia cultriformis) for a graceful, fanning, large shrub or small tree with an artistic flair. Or cover your hillsides with the low-growing, ground-cover Acacia redolens ‘Low Boy’.
There are spectacular flowers offered by the Grevillea family. This is another large native family that offers low-growing plants, medium shrubs or trees. The blooms have that Australian hook-like brush appearance, mostly in a cone shape, and come in a whole range of exciting colors. Some also have somewhat decorative leaves while others look almost spruce-like.
The Hakea family tends to be made up of shrubs and small trees, too. Blooms can be very showy and come in a lot of different colors. Most Hakeas have brittle or scratchy foliage and some can look a lot like small fir trees when out of bloom.
The Anigozanthus, or Kangaroo Paws, are becoming quite popular in gardens because they are so unusual-looking. They do need good drainage and some varieties will need protection from cold. There are small varieties to 1′ tall and some that grow to 5′ in height. They grow in clumps of strap-like foliage and throw up curious flower spikes with fuzzy paw-like flowers. Varieties come in reds, oranges, yellows, pinks and greens — some in a unique bright blue-green. These, too, make good cut flowers as well as powerful accents in the garden.
These are only some of the many amazing-looking Australian native flowers and plants now available for the garden. There are many more. Use these plants in the Southern California landscape to add texture and beauty. They will illicit curiosity and envy from all your garden visitors!
Snail invaders
Do you talk to your garden invaders?
Snails love the soft new growth of vegetables.
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