California Plants

After more than 25 years of gardening, I’ve got to suggest 5 top products that almost any gardener can really use. I know these items are very useful for most gardeners I know. To me, a product has to be well built, useful, and have top reviews. These gardening products all fit these specifications.

1. Red wiggler worms can be bought here. I’m my case, I just needed one set of red wiggler worms to start. They have multiplied over the months and years. These red, wiggly worms are great for indoor or outdoor worm composting. Yes, a person can buy a worm composting unit (here is our favorite worm composter), or also make one with a plastic container or big pot. Kitchen scraps are broken down over months by the worms and compost is made. We don’t need to buy compost in our garden these days due to quite a few sets of red wiggler worms making their magic.
2. A great motion activated sprinkler can be bought here. These are not cheap, but then again to keep dogs, squirrels, birds, or other animals off your grass or garden it is an effective, safe solution. One route is to keep trying cheap solutions, or to just go ahead and do something easier and more effective, which is this.
3. A spectacular composter can be bought here. Some nice things about a composting unit such as this is that it will be around for years, it has three stages, and it makes a good amount of compost.
4. A reliable cordless grass shear can be bought here. These are so useful. Of course a string trimmer can be used for big areas, and hand weeding can be used for tight areas. But, so many areas can be trimmed with this cordless unit. It is very useful for a home gardener.
5. A very affordable, compact home grow light system can be purchased here. The great thing about this unit is that for the price, you get a lot. You can grow seeds, cuttings, or regular plants with this. I especially like it as testing new growing techniques is easy with this system. Since it is so affordable, it it not meant to compete with systems that cost hundreds of dollars. It is what it is, a great priced system that works!

Southern Giant Curled Long Standing Mustard

Southern Giant Curled Long Standing Mustard is a vegetable we’ve test grown in recent months with great success in San Francisco, CA. If it can grow here, with our intermittent fog, it can probably grow for you. As with most vegetables, Southern Giant Curled Long Standing Mustard likes a lot of sun. It can tolerate up to a half day of shade. It is fairly pest and disease resistant. We believe this is due to the rough texture of the leaves, and of course the breeding. This vegetable can have leaves cut consistently and keep producing. Because this is a leafy vegetable, it can be grown for quite a bit of the year in most climates. As with most vegetables, it likes rich aerated soil, not to dry out for too long before next watering, and good air movement. When cooking this vegetable a few ideas are steaming it, cooking it in olive oil until it turns dark green, or including it in a dish. It seems to us to be most similar to Kale due to the texture and flavor of the leaves.

Angel’s Trumpet is quite the rewarding plant to grow. This vigorous plant (also can be trained to grow as a shrub or tree)  loves full sun, has fragrant flowers, and grows six to eight feet in height when mature. This plant can grow well in a pot or the ground. It does not like to dry out between waterings, and cannot get colder than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Here is a beautiful white potted variety that can be transplanted into the ground, a pink one just like the one in our garden photo below you can grow from seed, an orange one that can be grown from seed, and a beautiful potted peach variety.

Pink Angels Trumpet Plant in Our Garden

Sunflowers are quite an amazing annual. They can grow in sunny, somewhat foggy, and partial shade areas. They can be anywhere between 2-14 feet in height, with one to ten flowers on a plant. They grow fast, and many tolerate substandard soils. They are also fairly drought tolerant. Many are so tough, wind does not bother them. They can be used for a privacy screen between your house and that of a neighbor. To do this, we recommend not just one row, but 2-3.

We recommend planting sunflowers in pots or a clearly defined area first. That way, when they sprout, they can be replanted to exactly their final location.

After a sunflower is done blooming, we recommend cutting the head and drying it to keep the seeds. Another way to keep the seeds for later growing is to put a thin cloth around the head and twist tie it. Or, of course if you like you can let birds eat the seeds when it is done flowering.

Below is a photo taken today in our San Francisco California garden. These sunflowers are 3-7 feet in height. They would have grown taller, but we experimented here with letting them all grow in small pots until they were 1-2 feet tall, and then planted them out. This meant they were used to being confined so now will not grow as tall. That is a good way if you like to control the size of your sunflower plants. Click here to see our favorite sunflowers.

One of Many Sunflowers Blooming Right Now in our SF, CA Garden

Sunflowers in our San Francisco California garden

Marigolds can be one of the most fun and rewarding annual plants to grow from seed at home.  Marigolds exhibit beautiful, brilliant yellow, orange, or red blooms.  They have compact bushy growth and can bloom for weeks to months.  Although marigolds can be planted from seed directly in the garden, I prefer to plant seeds in a sterile medium inside it the house in a window, in the basement under lights, or in the garden in trays.  This way once plants are large enough, they can be transplanted into the garden.  Marigolds are terrific for container gardening, sunny borders, or filling in empty areas between other plants.  Marigolds do not tolerate frost well so should be planted in the spring after danger of frost.  Marigolds like full sun.  Seeds can be planted 1/4″ in depth.  I generally plant marigolds seeds very close together and then thin them to between 1 inch to 12 inches apart.  The amount that you thin them will depend on how dense you want your marigolds to grow.  The marigolds in the photo, Happy Days Red, are planted very close together for a more impressive show.  Most marigolds bloom at a height of 3 inches to 12 inches. The marigolds in this photo are about three months old, from seed to bloom.

Marigold Happy Days Red in my Garden Border Started from Seed

Lavender is one of the most aromatic,  rewarding perennial plants to grow.  After Lavender gets established it can be a wonderful drought tolerant plant.  The foliage and flowers of a lavender plant are usually nicely fragrant.  The flowers can be purple, white, or a combination.  Foliage can be green to silver to bluish.

A Dense Variety of Lavender

Lavender plants attract butterflies to the garden as well as bees and other beneficial insects.  Lavender plants like part or full sun, with six or more hours of direct sun being ideal.

Lavender with Tall Flower Spikes

For the first number of months that you grow Lavender, it is important to water regularly.  After the plant is established, a more arid dry environment is permitted due to the deep roots of the plant.  Lavender plants bloom generally in the summer.  Spacing between Lavender plants is usually best to be between 15 to 25 inches.  Lavender plants grow at a medium pace but can grow fast.  Generally Lavender will be one foot to 3 feet in height, and can be anywhere from 2 inches wide when young to many feet wide when established.  Lavender is generally not happy below 32°F.  It is best to cut back lavender flowers after flowering To promote more bloom.  It is not important to fertilize lavender, but some can be beneficial.  When planting use a porous mixture with compost, sand, and other well-drained rich nutrients. The average size of a lavender plant is about 3′ x 3′.

Lavender Blooming Like Crazy

Many people ask me when is the best time to start planting indoors and outdoors. Although I would say anytime, now really is the perfect time. If you are in a colder climate, start planting indoors in trays. If you are in a warmer climate, plant in the ground. The banner ad below has some great web specials from Wayside Gardens.

Here are 5 watering tips to use when you water your outdoor and indoor plants.

• Do not water from above the leaves. Water at the base of the plant, just above the roots.
• Water in the morning or late afternoon so that the base of the plant can dry by evening. This timing of watering also allows the temperature not to be at peak. Watering in the morning gives the plant all day to absorb water.
• Do not water in the evening. This can prevent fungus and other diseases.
• Feel the surface of the soil as well as underneath the soil. If it looks dry from above, it may still be wet underneath.
• Plants that have been in your garden and established for more than a year will not need to watered as frequently as new plants. This is because well established plants will have stronger, more resilient root systems.

Here are some tips for bringing plants indoors for the winter from outside. First, examine the plant for insects, disease, and pests. Second, spray down the leaves of the plant with insecticidal soap. Third, isolate the plant for a couple of weeks so it doesn’t affect other plants. Fourth, after bringing the plant in with your other plants, go less on the fertilizer and watering so the plant can rest.

When it comes to fertilizing annuals and perennials in your garden, these two kinds of plants can be treated differently. First, divide your plants into groups of annuals and perennials. They can be physically divided, or divided in your mind. Annuals and perennials have different nutritional needs.

Annuals prefer a water soluble fertilizer that is high in phosphorus (the middle number) for their blooms, such as 15-30-15. This is the perfect fertilizer (click here). The water soluble fertilizer gets nutrients to them fast.

For perennials I prefer a granular fertilizer, roughly 10-10-10. This is a good long lasting fertilizer (click here). You can put the granular fertilizer around the base of the plant and it will release into the soil.

For both annuals and perennials, fertilize every 2-3 weeks during the growing season, and every month at other times of the year. This is a great fertilizer for everything (click here), including diseases. This is another good fertilizer (click here).