Académique Documents
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September October
Planting Perennials: everything Cool season bulbs
except frost tender plants! Perennials: everything
Trees, shrubs, primroses, except frost tender plants-
Iceland poppies, pansies, (see September)
snapdragons, stock, etc.
Cool season edibles:
Cool season edibles: artichokes, broccoli,
Good idea to shade transplants
bulbing onions, cabbage,
artichokes, broccoli,
garlic, shallots, leeks,
cabbage, cauliflower,
elephant garlic, lettuce,
leeks, elephant garlic,
see strawberries, alpine
lettuce, bulbing onions
Plant Notes strawberries, cilantro,
strawberries, alpine
Swiss chard
strawberries Cabbage on right is bolting.
Seeding Cool season annuals Cool season annuals
Ammi majus, larkspur, see September, also CA
directly
into the
cornflower, annual clary wildflowers. The Frustration of Bolting Vegetables
sage, red flowering flax,
garden
breadseed poppies, sweet
Cool season edibles:
arugula, broccoli, beets,
Vernalization and Day Length
peas, forget-me-nots, etc. carrots, cauliflower, fava
Cool season edibles: beans, leeks, lettuce,
In Davis, many of us grow and enjoy the bounties of
Good idea to shade seedlings miner’s lettuce, green summer vegetables and fruits. The cool season can be an
arugula, beets, broccoli, onions, parsnip, peas, equally bountiful time, although more challenging to
carrots, Florence fennel, radish, spinach, dill
see kale, leeks, lettuce, dill, Swiss chard, turnips,
some due to the mystery of bolting, or premature
Plant Notes green onions, parsnip, cilantro flowering. In summer we want most of our plants to
peas, radish, Swiss flower, basil being the most notable exception, because
chard, turnips
Lawns and roses as Cool season lawns as
we actually eat the fruit that results from the flowering.
Fertilize needed needed Think tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, beans, squash,
Fertilizing in early If you haven’t already, now okra, melons, etc. Cool weather vegetables are mainly
September will help plants is a good time to add soil greens, root vegetables and members of the onion family.
grow through the winter. sulfur to citrus and other We aren’t very happy when our lettuce, kale, beets and
acid loving plants and
those showing iron carrots send up flower stalks before the plants size up and
deficiencies. produce a good crop. And, even though we are actually
(will lower the pH of soil making
iron more available to plants. Mix eating the undeveloped flowers of broccoli and
soil sulfur with top 6” of soil and
water well)
cauliflower, we don’t want them to go to flower
Pest & Tomato hornworms – pick off prematurely. Peas and fava beans are an exception in that
Snails, slugs and earwigs See September. we do want them to flower as soon as possible.
Disease damage –use baits or traps
Bolting happens for a number of reasons – the
Aphids and whiteflies -can
Control spray off with water condition of the soil, plant maturity, stress and crowding.
Tasks Garden clean-up and Continue garden clean-up However, the three most important reasons are the stage
mulching begins -- find and mulching, finding
space for new plants space for new plants of plant development, air temperature and day length.
Weed control continues While warmer temperatures are generally associated with
Divide hardy perennials Weed control continues flowering, exposure to a certain amount of cold
Order perennial plants for Divide hardy perennials temperatures (about 40 to 50 degrees F) is necessary for
fall planting. Order hardy some plants to flower. The process by which cold
annual seeds for direct Planting continues!
seeding.
induces or accelerates flowering is called vernalization.
Renovate lawn
Fall planting begins!!!
Most plants also need to have reached a certain maturity
Continue watering as before they can be vernalized. Then, when a plant is
Water needed –especially new Same as September exposed to enough cold temperatures it has the ability to
plantings. flower, although it may still need additional growth or
About mid September,
change automatic timers to seasonal cues such as longer days and warmer
water less often. temperatures before flowering occurs.
Annuals like spinach, lettuce, arugula, radishes,
The weather is getting cooler. By October, plant cilantro, dill, and peas and are very sensitive to warm
water needs are half of what they were in June and temperatures and long day lengths. Warm spring
July. Set automatic timers to water the same temperatures cause the start of flowering and day length
quantity but less frequently. For instance, water is also increasing at this time. Amazingly, plants can
every two weeks instead of once a week. detect the length of day and night through a complex
process involving a pigment in their leaves called nearby Capay, plant their carrots in August though the
phytochrome. Artificial light, such as porch or street third week of September for winter harvest and then again
lights, can even affect this light sensing. In some cases it in February for early summer harvest.
is a matter of the actual day length at a certain stage of Different vegetable cultivars, like carrots ‘Royal
plant development that triggers flowering; for other plants Chantenay’, often respond differently to vernalization,
it can be exposure to a total number of daylight hours warm temperatures and day length. This is why it is a
once they reach a particular stage of maturity. good idea to always plant two or three cultivars of each
vegetable type to insure against bolting, disease and other
disasters. “Bolt-resistant” cultivars can also be useful.
Many cultivated varieties grow well in our latitude in
Davis. But where do you find out about these cultivars?
Talk with other gardeners, investigate the Redwood Barn
website (http://redwoodbarn.com/DE_foodplantfall.html)
and download the list compiled by The Yolo County
Master Gardeners and vegetable expert Robert Norris.
(http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/2557/8233.pdf).
The Book of Garden Secrets by Dorothy Hinshaw and
Diane E. Bilderback is a great resource on this
complicated subject, plus other growing info. Seed to
Seed by Suzanne Ashworth is also very helpful.
Plant notes!
Here is more information about some plants mentioned in this newsletter.
Cool Season vegetables
Bulbing onions Allium cepa Biennial. Leaves grow during the
cold winter months. Each leaf will produce a ring in the bulb, so the
more leaves the larger the bulb. Cultivars found locally will do the best,
most are intermediate-day onions. Plants usually start appearing in the
nurseries by September and the bareroot plants sometime in
November.
See The Digging Fork Sept-Oct 2007 Planting Cool Season
Annuals and Biennials –Flowers and Vegetables
A honey bee is working this perennial sunflower blooming in October
Perennials
Master Gardener Educational Workshops Roger’s Red grape Vitis californica ‘Roger’s Red’CA native vine
with wonderful red leaves in fall.
Attracting Bees, Butterflies, Hummingbird and Other
Perennial sunflower Helianthus maximilianii Perennial that
Pollinators to Your Garden September 12, 1-3 pm blooms in October. 8-10 ft. tall.
Held at Norton Hall in Woodland Western spice bush Calycanthus occidentalis CA native shrub.
Lavender September 26, 9-11 am See The Digging Fork July-Aug 2007 It’s Time to Think
Lavender cultivars, how to care for, propagate and About Fall Planted Bulbs
distill lavender.
Held at Woodland Community College
Fall Gardening Workshops October 17 9am-12noon Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise
Held at Woodland Community College
All workshops are free. For more information 666-8143 or of the imagination. You are always living three, or
http://ceyolo.ucdavis.edu/Gardening_and_Master_Gardening/ indeed six, months hence. –Alice Morse Earle, 1897
Davis Central Park Gardens Workshops
Planning and Planting Your Winter Vegetable Garden
September 12 9:30 am Asian citrus psyllid is
Propagation Made Easy October 10 9:30 am making its way
Free, more information http://www.centralparkgardens.org
Davis Flower Arrangers northward!! Please keep
Courtney Williams Kett, owner of Dixon Florist an eye on your citrus
Wednesday, September 2 7 pm trees. A one-minute
Flowers Around the House Pat Goldstene video on detecting Asian
Wednesday, October 2 7 pm citrus psyllid is at
Eleanor Roosevelt Center, 675 Cantrill, Davis http://ucanr.org/detecting
For information Elaine 756-6722 or Phyllis 758-7814
psyllids.
4
Not all California native plants are drought tolerant.
There are many, many plant communities in the state.
Some have plants that like lots of sun, good drainage
and dry summers like in Davis. There are riparian
plants that grow along waterways that prefer much
more water. Plants from the coast like less heat and
more moisture than Davis offers and may not thrive
here in the valley. Some California native plants only
grow in the shade and some even want boggy
conditions. You will find all kinds of native plants for
sale and some grow very large – too large for many
gardens. To make sure a California native plant will be
happy in your garden it is extremely important to know
the conditions a plant needs and the ultimate size the
plant is at maturity.
A section of Patricia’s native garden last spring (April 10, 2009)
California Native Plants
Before you know it, winter will be here. November
and December can be dismal months in the garden as
it’s the time between seasonal plantings and for the
most part the weather is best enjoyed from inside. But
there is one bright spot, this time is great for planting
California natives. The rain and cooler weather help
the plants to establish before the heat of summer comes
along. Most natives can and should be planted this time
of year, but any frost sensitive plants, including non-
native ones, should be planted only after the last
chance of frost has passed (usually mid-April). The same area the previous fall (Oct 26, 2008)
However, as winter approaches, the selection of
California native plants may be slim. September and Here are a couple resources:
October sales are the perfect time to be buying native California Native Plant Link Exchange. This
plants to be ready for later planting. incredible website has information about plant
communities, photos, cultural information and
Places in the area to find native plants:
where you might find the plant.
UCD Arboretum Sales www.arboretum.ucdavis.edu
California Native Plant Sale in Sacramento http://www.cnplx.info/
http://www.sacvalleycnps.org/ Las Pilitas Nursery isn’t local but the website has
Cornflower Farms www.cornflowerfarms.com information and photos of native plants.
Hartland Nursery www.hartlandnursery.com www.laspilitas.com
Lemuria Nursery in Dixon (707) 678-4481 California Native Plants for the Garden
Three Palms Nursery www.3palmsnursery.com Carol Bornstein, David Fross, Bart O’Brien 2005
Redwood Barn Nursery www.redwoodbarn.com Designing California Native Gardens
Hedgerow Farms http://www.hedgerowfarms.com/ The Plant Community Approach to Artful,
Windmill Nursery http://www.windmillnurseryinc.com/ Ecological Gardens.
Glenn Keator and Alrie Middlebrook 2007