Q. I have a question for you about my roses. I live in Pacific Grove, my roses have leaves on them. Should I strip them off or cut below the leaf growth? One of my family members says leave them alone.
December 2013
A. At this time of the year, it’s appropriate to strip leaves from roses to encourage dormancy. Just pull them off by hand and rake up under the rose bush to minimize any disease and over-wintering pests.
Q. Are there any hardy roses you would suggest I could plant that will survive Pacific Grove’s sandy soil and fog?
I enjoy your column.
December 2013
A. In December, it’s appropriate to strip leaves from roses to encourage dormancy. Just pull them off by hand and rake up under the rose bush to minimize any disease and over-wintering pests.
Treat the sandy soil and fog as two different issues. (They are both manageable.)
Sand in the soil helps drainage (which roses and most other plants appreciate), but there can be too much of a good thing. The sand content of your soil should be between 10% and 30%. I recommend analyzing soil texture so that you will know what you have. Here is a link to Fine Gardening magazine article, “How is Your Soil Texture?” that describes a simple procedures that you can do in a few minutes and without cost.
If this test shows an excess of sand, add compost or other organic material to improve the mix. During January or February, you could lift the rose, dig a hole about twice the size of the root ball, fill the hole with a mixture of garden soil, sand and compost, replant the rose, and water in. There is no correct mixture, but you might try for something like 70% soil, 20% sand and 10% organic material.
When lifting the rose, first use a shovel to cut the roots to about six inches around the plant. You could lift the plant without soil around the roots, but keep the roots moist (or at least out of the sun) until replanting.
A foggy environment has good and bad effects. Fog will help to keep the rose from drying out, but it will also promote various diseases, e.g., mildew, black spot, rust. The best strategy lis to select disease-resistant roses. Here’s a link to a Sunset magazine article, “Roses for Foggy Coasts,” with a list of rose recommendations.
The article recommends seeking advice from members of the local rose society. The Monterey Bay Rose Society has several members who are qualified Consulting Rosarians, and generous with their expertise.
Q. I have a master gardener type question. In an effort to save water here in our Opal Cliff Drive home (we are part of Soquel Creek Water District, very hard water), we have to have a water softener which helps a lot. People keep on talking about using your water inside to water plants etc. I’ve always been told that soft water cannot be used for watering plants, lawns etc.
Also, we asked a water storage person who puts together rain catchment systems and were told you have to have a certain amount of space for the canisters, piping etc.. Our tiny tiny beach area yard has little space and can’t do that.
The other day in the San Jose Mercury/News the profiled a woman who is in the water business who says no space is needed and you can use soft water on your plants, that it is the best. I don’t want to kill my plants. I think everyone has different situations and so far we’ve been able to conserve our water usage by almost 25%, lost all we can do.
So you can see the concern.
March 2014
A. I asked Golden Love, a friend who installs gray water system, for an expert opinion. He wrote “When setting up gray water systems, we ask people to change their water softeners to citrus based model. Sodium used in the softeners is harmful to soil and plant life.”
Here is a link to his website, Love’s Gardens.
Q. The leaves of my Amaryllis is becoming curled and spotted I found some mealy bugs could this be my problem I took alcohol and cotton swabsto it but several weeks ago but the leaves are limp and spotted.
Any suggestions?
Thank you as you have helped me in the past
May 2014
A. The photo you provided suggests that the plant does not have an insect pest problem, but the mosaic virus, which is not curable.
“When amaryllis contracts the mosaic virus, its leaves take on a blotchy look with yellow to red streaking. Over time, the virus will reduce the vigor and growth of the plant, and the leaves may die. Once the amaryllis has the virus, there is really no cure for it, although symptoms may worsen or improve depending on the season. To prevent the spread to other susceptible plants, remove and destroy infected plants right away.”
The above information is from an article, Growing the Delightful Amaryllis, by horticulturist Ronald C. Smith. The full article is available online from the North Dakota State University.
I’m sorry to report bad news, but it looks like time to get another amaryllis bulb.
Reply. Not the news I wanted to here but as you said get rid of them and their was 13 big red and pink. Hope it didn’t get into these last 5.
Thank you again as I wouldn’t want to lose anymore especially the Aztec Lily that has been around for over 50 years. It belonged to my Mother.
Again many thanks.
Q. My indoor orchids all of a sudden have developed some sticky sap on the underside of the leaves and flower stalks. Is this bad? And if yes, then what can I do to eliminate this problem. I wrote to Sunset magazine twice, but haven’t received an answer. August 2014
I love your articles in the Monterey Herald. They are always so informative.
A. It’s most likely that the sap is produced by very small pests that suck the plant’s juices. These might be aphids, mealy bugs (cottony blobs) or scale (bumps that slide off). Use a bright light to spot them, looking closely at the new leaves in particular. Eliminate the pests by wiping them with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or Q-tip.
If t you can’t see any pests, the sap might be produced naturally by some orchids to attract pollinators. If that’s the case, it’s not a problem, but some growers will wipe off the sap with a damp paper towel.
Best wishes.
Q. My apple tree has some kind of bug that has infected the fruit and as a result it has worms in the apples. What can I use to get rid of these unwelcome visitors? August 2014
A.
The worms are probably the larvae of the codling moth.
Here is an article from Planet Natural (www.planetnatural.com) on non-toxic control of this pest. It’s not quick or easy, but with persistence should be effective.
Q. I was given this plant for Christmas without a name or how to care for, can you help me?the lady who sold it to my daughter-in-law didn’t even know the name.
Thank you in advance.
January 2015
A.
Your plant is Echeveria gibbiflora var. carunculata, a member of the Crassulaceae family, from Mexico.
It develops stems up to 50 cm high, topped with rosettes up to 30 cm wide, each with 15-20 gray green leaves 15-30 cm long, flushed with blue to pink hues. It also has inflorescences (lower heads) to 1m tall, with pink flowers.
Each leaf develops a group of bumps, “carunculae”, on upper surface of leaves. As the plant grows the carunculae will grow large and add more beauty to this rare and unusual plant.
Likes fresh air with bright light or full sun. Drench thoroughly, then allow to become moderately dry between watering.
Here’s a picture of this plant, from the Internet.
One of my favorite plants for this time of the year is the hellebore, which decorates the garden with fascinating blossoms just when the spring bloomers are dormant.
The hellebore thrives and blossoms in partial shade, making it a welcome complement to ferns and other plants that we value only for their foliage.
The genus Helleborus includes about twenty species, the great majority of which are native to the Balkan Peninsula (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia) or the Mediterranean region. The generic name comes from Greek words for “to injure” and “food,” indicating that ll parts of the plant are poisonous to humans. It also has medicinal uses.
Hellebores typically have dark, shiny evergreen leaves with finely serrated edges. The blossoms have been compared to roses, and some popular names for the plant include “rose,” but the hellebore is not related to the rose.
The most highly regarded and poplar species are Corsican Hellebore (H. argutifolius), Stinking Hellebore (H. foetidus), Christmas Rose (H. niger), Livid Lenten Rose (H. lividus), and the original Lenten Rose (H. orientalis).
A large and growing number of hybrids offer many pleasing blossom colors, color combinations and forms. The hybrid forms in the H. x sternii ‘Blackthorn Group’, which combines H. argutifolius and H. lividus, are particularly valued.
Local nurseries often offer at least a few different hellebores at this time of the year, when they are in bloom. Gardeners looking for particular blossom colors are well advised to buy plants in bloom, as some hybrids will produce unexpected colors.
Hellebores typically have downward-facing blossoms, which encourage some gardeners to plant hellebores in an elevated situation, so the viewer can peer into the blossom. In response to gardeners desire to see the blossom’s interior, hybridizers have developed cultivars with more upward-facing blossoms. Ernie and Marietta O’Bryne, of Northwest Garden Nursery, have developed highly regarded hybrid hellebores, including the Winter Jewels series. Their work was featured in the November/December issue of The American Gardener.
A good retail source of these hybrid hellebores is Plant Delights Nursery, in North Carolina. Browse to www.plantdelights.com and search for “Helleborus.” Other mail order sources for these plants include Gossler Farms Nursery and Joy Creek Nursery, both in Oregon.
Most hellebores grow to about fifteen inches high and wide. A few are in the nine-to-twelve inch high category. My garden includes a large swath of the Corsican Hellebore, the largest species, growing to four feet tall and wide. It is just coming into bloom now, with greenish blossoms.
Corsican Hellebore (click to enlarge)
The Corsican Hellebore is one of just four caulescent species of Helleborus, meaning plants that have leaves on flowering stems. The acaulescent species develop basal leaves, and flower stalks without leaves.
In the late winter or early spring, the Corsican Hellebore’s long-lasting flowers fade and the stems lean to the ground to drop their seeds away from the base of the plant. (I get a lot of seedlings each year!) The gardener’s task at that time is to cut the flowering stems to the ground, to make room for the new growth, which has already begun.
I have been adding additional hellebore cultivars to my garden, and enjoying the smaller varieties and the range of blossom colors they provide.
If you have a partially shaded area in your garden, perhaps under a large tree, and would appreciate seeing interesting blossoms during the late fall and early winter, try a few hellebores.
The continuing popularity of succulent plants is based on several kinds of appeal, beginning with drought tolerance and including interesting shapes and an amazing range of colors.
This diversity occurs because plants in many genera have developed the capacity to store water in their roots, stems or leaves. Their common characteristic is that they live in areas where drought conditions happen often enough to make water storage essential to survival.
Succulent plants have a reputation for being easy to cultivate, relative to other perennial plants. In addition to needing water only occasionally and in small amounts, these plants are have few problems from pests and diseases.
The native environment of a succulent plant can be important to its cultivation. Most gardeners know that succulents need fast-draining soil to avoid root rot, and grow well, if slowly, in nutrient-poor soil. These plants have evolved under such conditions, and now depend upon them.
Another consideration is the elevation of the plant’s native environment. Succulent plants that have evolved on mountains are accustomed to those environmental conditions, and could have unique leaf anatomy and photosynthetic characteristics.
Good gardening practice often involves matching—or approximating—the plant’s native environment, but changing the elevation of one’s garden is not among the options. Happily, most succulent plants from high elevations can grow well at lower elevations.
Succulent plants grow in many areas of the world, and an important issue of native environment is the hemisphere in which the plant evolved. This determines the plant’s dormancy, which influences the gardener’s cultivation practices.
Succulent plants that have adapted to the northern hemisphere are Winter Dormant:
they rest from November through February and grow from March through October.
Many plants also will rest for a few weeks of hot weather in the summer, and grow
again in September and October. Popular succulent genera that are Winter Dormant include Agave, Echeveria, Euphorbia, Lithops and Pachypodium.
Succulent plants that have adapted to the southern hemisphere are Summer Dormant, which also means that they are winter growers. Their rest period continues from May through August; they grow slowly during the winter months, and then grow actively during autumn and spring. Examples of Summer Dormant succulent plants include these popular genera: Aeonium, Aloe, Cotyledon, Crassula, Dudleya, Gasteria, Graptopetalum, Haworthia, Kalanchoe, Pelargonium, Sanseveria, Sedum and Senecio.
The gardener should avoid disturbing succulent plants during their dormant periods. So, repotting, pruning, or taking cuttings should be done in March for Winter Dormant plants and in August for Summer Dormant plants.
Watering succulent plants is another practice that is dormancy-related. When plants are dormant, they stop growing but continue to transpire, and therefore need replacement moisture. Not watering succulent plants while they dormant is the most common cause for failure.
The amount of moisture needed during dormancy depends on the dryness of the particular environment. Winter Dormant plants might need watering once or twice per week. Summer Dormian plants, which rest during the hottest time of the year, could need more frequent watering.
Also, remember to group plants with similar water needs. Such grouping can be important when combining succulent plants in containers: keeping Summer Dormant or Winter Dormant plants together will enable more convenient and more appropriate irrigation.
Mixed Succulents in Container
(click to enlarge)
These guidelines could need adjustment for individual species; as always with the plant world, general rules are subject to variation.
One the best gardening strategies to prepare for future droughts—and achieve additional benefits—is to replace your lawn with any of several landscape designs.
Lawns, and especially front yard lawns, began as a mark of affluence, because mowing a lawn was once a labor-intensive (and therefore costly) session with a scythe. A skilled scythe-wielding worker can be impressively efficient, but for most workers, including the homeowner with an up-to-date lawnmower, mowing a lawn is a tedious and repetitious task. The homeowner’s reward for a well-maintained lawn can include pride of ownership.
A lawn does more than display the homeowner’s wealth. It also serves as the base for widely accepted front-yard designs, the principal one of which has been called the Contractor’s Landscape. This consists of a shallow bed of reliable small shrubs next to the house, followed by turf grass to the curb. This design is quick and cheap to install, and inoffensive.
From an aesthetic viewpoint, the lawn provides a resting place for the eye as the viewer focuses on individual trees, shrubs and blossoms. The lawn is a neutral swatch of greenery, contrasting carpet-like with the relatively busy landscape.
But consider the negative aspects of the lawn.
If these factors encourage you to consider losing your lawn, it’s time to look into the many possible alternatives. Begin with Sunset magazine’s “21 Inspiring Lawn-free Yards” <www.sunset.com/garden/earth-friendly/lose-the-lawn-low-water-landscaping>. This webpage offers a slideshow of attractive options to contemplate.
For more in-depth information, visit Evelyn J. Hadden’s extensive website, “Less Lawn, More Life,” or look for her book, “Beautiful No-Mow Lawns: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives’ (Timber Press, 2012).
Another fine resource on this topic is book by Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O’Brien: Reimagining the California Lawn: Water-conserving Plants, Practices andDesigns (
Another helpful resource is the Lawn Reform Coalition, which is “all about reducing or replacing lawn, water-wise lawn species and eco-friendly care for all lawns.” Visit the Coalition’s website for information on all aspects of lawn alternatives.
“Lose the lawn” emphasizes the loss of a familiar element of the landscape. “Lawn alternatives” suggests a more appealing idea, one that opens our thinking about creative approaches to the landscape and new resources in the home environment.
Think of the possibilities!