Here are five things to do in the garden this week.
Herbs. In Acciaroli, a fishing village on the southwest coast of Italy, one in ten residents is at least 100 years old. It is thought that consumption of rosemary, due to its elevated concentration of antioxidants, has something to do with this. Rosemary is incorporated into practically every dish the residents prepare, from pasta to fish to cake, either as a garnish or an oil. Rosemary is happy in full sun but can also thrive in partial shade. Traditional rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is an upright species that may reach six feet in height and is adorned with sky blue flowers for many months. But there are other rosemary types worth planting, including those with dark blue flowers such as Tuscan Blue, also noteworthy for its erect growth habit, as well as those with pink or white flowers and Golden Rain, a variety which features green foliage with gold margins. There is also trailing prostrate rosemary (Rosmarinus prostratus) that does not exceed two or three feet in height and is a wonderful selection for erosion control on slopes.
Flowers. Popcorn cassia (Cassia/Senna didymobotrya) has pinnate leaves, a feathery kind of foliage loved by all, especially notable on this species since they smell like buttered popcorn. Flowers are foot-long golden torches, born on a shrub-like tree that may grow up to eight feet tall. Flower buds are black and present a stunning contrast to the golden blooms that emerge from them during summer and fall. Just make sure that you only smell the leaves and don’t ingest them: They are toxic when chewed.
Consider a midgen berry bush (Austromyrtus dulcis), which yields fruit that look like white to mauve blueberries with a taste to match. The only difference is that midgen berries are so soft they cannot be grown commercially since packaging without damaging them is impossible. A member of the myrtle family, this Australian native shows off the white flowers with golden stamens for which the common myrtle (Myrtus communis) is famous. It is partial to somewhat shady exposures in hot inland valleys but can take more sun along the coast. Midgen berries can take a touch of freezing weather, but not too much, and may be grown anywhere south of the Santa Clarita Valley. The only nursery I found that grows this plant is Jo O’Donnell’s Australian Native Plants (australianplants.com), located in Casitas Springs near Ventura. Be aware that the nursery is open to customers by appointment only.
Sow carrots in containers since results are more consistent than when carrots are sown in the ground. Carrot seeds sown in the ground need consistent moisture to germinate reliably and even growth requires perfectly uniform soil so as not to develop twisted shapes or forked roots. When you sow carrots in a five-gallon container, separate seeds by 1/2 inch and, after germination, thin to one-inch spacing. You will harvest around 70 carrots from such a container. The Mokum variety, a Nantes type, is suitable for container growing since the orange roots are slim and shorter than some of the larger varieties, reaching six-to-eight inches in length.
To order free tree chips for your garden, consider ChipDrop (getchipdrop.com), a free service that will bring a load of them to your door (or driveway). In the website’s words: “The best way to get fresh, natural arborist wood chips is by flagging down your local arborist when they happen to be working on your block. The second best way is to use ChipDrop.” Tree chips provide the mineral elements your plants and fruit trees require for optimal growth. A three- to four-inch layer of chips will depress weeds, minimize water loss from the soil, eliminate the need for fertilizer and, if you have sloping terrain, mitigate erosion. Be aware that the load is huge, so you may want to partner with some of your neighbors in its distribution.