September 8, 2007

Questions sprout from readers' gardens

Cindy McNatt
Garden columnist
The Orange County Register

The mailbag is bulging. Here are some of your questions and my answers.

Q. I recently bought a gorgeous "humongous hydrangea" cut flower, 14inches in diameter, from a local grocery store, but cannot find a source where I can purchase a plant that yields such impressive blooms. I'd appreciate any recommendations or resources you can offer.
–Jeannette Cummings, Laguna Niguel

A. You can purchase the plant all right, hydrangea macrophylla, available at your favorite nursery. (The French hybrids used in the floral trade are not so easy to come by.) For blooms that are 14 inches wide, you'd then need to purchase a greenhouse, shade cloth, ventilator, greenhouse heater, hydro-feeder, an automatic watering system and hire a full-time crew to tend to your plants and harvest the blossoms when they are mature.

The cut-flower trade operates in a highly unnatural environment. You are rarely going to get florist-grade flowers in your garden that look like the blooms in the grocery store. But with a well-grown hydrangea macrophylla in an ordinary garden environment, you can come close.

Q. I've been growing a hydrangea for some time now. For some reason, it blooms around the periphery of the flower, but then the pods in the center don't bloom. This is the third blossom on this plant and every time the same thing has happened. Can you give me some tips as to what is happening and what I can do to prevent this in the future?
–Brenda Argabright, Mission Viejo

A. Two things come to mind. First, you are growing a lace cap hydrangea, which is a typeor variety of hydrangea. If you want those big, fat, granny blossoms, you will need to ask your nursery for that plant.

Second, since you mentioned that you have only three blooms on your shrub so far, I am going to guess that you are growing a variegated plant. Here's the problem, if blooms are what you are after (and this applies to all plants), choose green-leaved plants.

Variegated plants are grown mostly for foliage purposes. Sometimes they bloom, but the blooms are usually not that impressive. In general, variegated plants produce much less chlorophyll than their all-green cousins and therefore don't have as much energy to pop out those prodigious flowers.

Q. I am having my yard landscaped and have a trouble area where I have been plagued with winter-sprouting weeds. When we pull them up, they have bulbs on them, most of which don't come out, and start blooming even more.

My gardener wants to sod right over the patch where they occur every year (but are dormant now.) I think they should be dug out. Can you tell me if you know the name of this weed and the best way to rid my yard of it? Thank you so much.
–Sharie Yeager, Huntington Beach

A. Hmmm … winter-blooming … bulbs …not nutsedge. I'm guessing oxalis. There are herbicides designed specifically for oxalis. Check Orange County Farm Supply in Orange. If you don't want to spray, then dig them out and keep digging until you can't find any more bulbs. Every time you see one sprout, yank it as soon as you find it. With diligence they will disappear.

Q. I have had great luck this summer with heirloom tomatoes and would like to preserve some seeds for next year. How is the best way to go about this?
–Rita Oman, Brea

A. As anybody who has ever sliced a tomato knows, these seeds have a slimy pulp around them. You will need to separate the seeds from this coating before you can store them for next year's garden.

To do this, put your tomato seeds in a glass jar, fill it halfway with water and set it outside for a few days. The coating will ferment and float to the top. It will not be pretty. After four or five days, check to see if your seeds are clean. Clean seeds will drop to the bottom of the jar.

When they are separated from the pulp, strain the seeds out, dry them on a paper towel for a few days, and then store them in an envelope until next spring.

By the way, it sounds like your seeds may have been open-pollinated, meaning they could have crossbred with other heirlooms in your garden. So what you grew this year may not be what you get next year. But then, that's how new varieties are developed.

Q. I just read your July article on Boston ivy. This seems like the plant I have been looking to find. Is there a difference between the two plants, Parthenocissus tricuspidata or Parthenocissus tricuspidataVeitchii? You mentioned the first one in your article. So I went looking in my gardening catalog and they called it by the second name. I really want to be sure I get the plants you are talking about.
–Lynda Nichols, Michigan

A. They are pretty close. Veitchii vines have smaller leaves and are slightly less rampant. But since you live in Michigan, they may be more cold-hardy and therefore recommended for your area.

Q. I have limited space in my backyard to plant vegetables. I cannot rotate my vegetables as should be done. I've been planting tomatoes in the same spot for 24 years. I stake my plants. The initial years of planting, my plants grew over 6feet tall. Now, I am lucky if they grow to 4 feet. I have added various composts, mulches and fertilizers, but still can't get the plants to grow tall. What do you recommend?
–Larry Lang, Fullerton

A. Are you growing the same variety that you did 24 years ago? Indeterminate tomatoes grow very tall. Determinate varieties get only so tall and then bloom. If so, then Carlos Luiz from Flowerdale Nursery in Santa Ana adds that tomatoes are heavy feeders and extract phosphorus, magnesium and potassium out of the soil. Crop rotation is best so you are not depleting the area over and over every year. If you can't swing the rotation, think about planting beans one year, and tomatoes the next. Beans will help build the soil again and boost the nitrogen content.

Tomatoes are also subject to nematodes that will stunt growth. You can check for nematodes. Pull up the plants and check to see if the roots are knotty and twisted. If so, you may need to treat your soil for these microscopic pests. But don't forget, pots are an option. You can use them on top of the soil in the same place, giving your soil a rest every so often.

One last word of advice, check your favorite catalogs for cover crops. Cover crops such as rye are grown in the winter as green manure, dug under in the spring, and vastly improve the overall structure and condition of your soil.

Q. I just read your article on the Safelawns.org Website titled "Care For Your Lawn Naturally." I'm in Koreatown, 10 minutes west of downtown Los Angeles and live in a beautiful 1920s building with 12 other condo owners. We are beginning a new landscaping project to take out some very old English ivy that is a foot deep and apparently harboring urban rats. My fellow building mates want to plant grass, and I said, "Whoa! Let's research other options."

It's funny that half the cars in the parking lot are hybrids,but somehow the awareness hasn't transferred to the lawn yet.

Question: Do you know people that specialize in alternative lawns for both consulting and upkeep? We can't keep our current gardener from cutting the grass twice a week and blowing the dirt around where we could stand to have a few leaves decomposing.
-–Lynette Kessler, Los Angeles

A. Grrr. While homeowners are hustling to do the right thing, mow less, water less, fertilize less, and reduce runoff, I've noticed that commercial properties, common areas maintained by cities and homeowners associations, and condo complexes and apartment people are not joining the party. So thanks for asking if only to call attention to the people who maintain common areas.

Roger's Gardens has just conducted a California Friendly Garden Contest. Check their Web site for the winners at www.rogersgardens.com. You'll see some very beautiful lawn-less landscape ideas that can be applied to any setting. And by the way, you might learn to love English ivy. It's a low- maintenance, low-water plant that needs no chemicals. Rats, well, everybody has rats.

But here is my question: I have been contacted by organic landscape companies and green maintenance people over the years. I don't have that information now. So would the companies that offer low-impact landscapes and maintenance services contact me and let me know who you are? I will pass the information to readers who are interested.

Q. I have two small boys. However, we don't really have an area to garden in. My boss told me about a co-op in her area where she and her sister rent an area for the season and raise fruits and vegetables. Her co-op is not in our area, but I thought I would see if there is any you might know about in Orange County.

It would be wonderful to have a place to take my boys so that we could raise fruits and vegetables together and watch them grow. That's such an important part of growing up that I'm afraid too many kids today miss.
–Scott Maurer, Fountain Valley

A.The Fullerton Arboretum has a co-op garden. Get the details at www.arboretum.fullerton.edu. You might also try the Master Gardeners Hotline at 714-708-1646 for a heads up on co-ops closer to you.