Things to do in the garden this week.
Flowers: Canary Island sage (Salvia canariensis) is the most robust of the ornamental sages. It grows to a height of eight feet with an even wider girth, and may persist in the garden for several decades. The large, distinctive saggitate leaves are covered in white hairs and large clusters of pink to magenta flowers are on display for months on end. Moist soil is its enemy, so you should not water it in summer unless soil is absolutely bone dry.
Fruit: Imagine a weed that grows 20 feet tall and produces more than 50 pounds of edible fruit. The fruit is yellow-orange with the texture of an apricot. Its taste is sweet to tart, depending on the tree. Some people like the fruit and others are indifferent to it but considering that it grows from a tree that just pops out of the ground with no effort on your part — its seeds distributed by birds and rodents — you have no cause for complaint. It is also drought-tolerant and will easily subsist on a single weekly soaking. The uncanny arboreal weed of which I speak is the loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), one of the most recognizable Valley trees. If you have been a gardener for more than a short time, you have probably encountered seedlings of this tree somewhere in your domain of earth. They are recognizable by their leaves, which are long, dark green, ribbed and fuzzy underneath. When loquat seedlings reach a height of 6 to 8 feet, in their second or third year, flowers and fruit begin to develop. There are sweet, named varieties such as Big Jim and Gold Nugget which are easily located through Internet vendors.
Vegetables: Unlike sprouts that are consumed just 3-7 days after seeds are planted, microgreens, as the name implies, are harvested for their green cotyledons (or first leaves) and stems between 1-3 weeks after their seeds are sown. Sprouts grow in water, whereas microgreens grow in soil. You can grow microgreens in any shallow repurposed container, such as the one that encloses your take-out burger or store-bought cupcakes; detach the base from the lid and you will have two trays for growing microgreens. After punching a few holes in the trays for drainage, cover the bottoms with a one- or two-inch layer of moist potting soil. Spread your seeds, sprinkle a thin layer of soil over them and add water. If you cover the container with cling wrap, you will not have to water again as the cover will keep soil moist. Microgreens can grow on a windowsill or kitchen counter as long as they get at least four daily hours of sunlight. The tastiest microgreens sprout from pea, radish, beet, and mustard seeds, while the healthiest are born from broccoli seeds.
Herbs: Chives can be planted now or any time in this part of the world. If you care for them properly, you will have them or their progeny forever since they propagate from bulbs and self-sown seeds. Individual clumps can expand and persist for years. Harvest leaves by cutting them nearly to ground level upon which new foliage begins to emerge promptly. There are garlic (chives Allium tuberosum) and onion chives (Allium schoenoprasum) — the latter being more common — and each has a taste that matches its name. Garlic chives have white flowers while onion chives’ flowers are pink. Grow them in full to partial sun, and they will perform best with soil kept somewhat moist although they will continue to grow despite a measure of neglect.
Start new plants through layering. This technique involves making a cut an inch or two long and halfway through the underside of a long, low-growing stem — from a rose, a tomato bush, a begonia, an azalea, or nearly any other plant. Dust the cut with root hormone and bury the cut portion of the stem a few inches deep. Allow the leafy end, a foot or so beyond the cut, to extrude from the ground. Roots will form along the cut, from 1-6 months after making it, depending on the softness, or woodiness, of the stem. Once it has put down a solid clump of roots, cut the stem back to where it joins the mother plant. Now, carefully dig up the clump of roots and transplant immediately to a spot picked out for it. Powdery root hormone is available at most nurseries and home centers, and may be ordered online as well. Even without root hormone, your buried stem is likely to produce roots where it has been cut.