Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruits. Exactly two years ago, I planted a Gwen avocado tree from a five-gallon container. This variety is recommended where space is at a premium. While mine is already 10 feet tall, it is only three feet wide and 20 fruits hang from its branches. If I wanted to increase production, I would plant a Bacon variety, named after James Bacon, who first grew his namesake variety from a seed in his Buena Park backyard in 1954. Gwen is an “A” avocado variety, meaning its female flowers open in the morning and its male flowers in the afternoon, while a “B” variety such as Bacon opens male flowers in the morning and female flowers in the afternoon, facilitating cross-pollination between the varieties. Bacon is recommended since, although it grows up to 25 feet, it is easily kept pruned to a smaller size.
Vegetables. When it comes to growing vegetables, consider a Gardyn (mygardyn.com) growing tower. Insert seeded Y-cubes into the tower and provide a constant supply of water. Bright LED light ensures growth of enough vegetables to give you and your family salads every day of the year. As an alternative to utilizing proprietary Gardyn cubes, you can substitute rock wool into which your own selected seeds are embedded. There is also an AI feature that lets you know when to fertilize or adjust water flow and will continue to operate the tower even when you are on vacation away from home.
Spices. Caraway “seeds” are actually fruit that split into two halves. Notable for their appearance in rye bread, they grow from Carum carvi, a plant eminently suitable for our part of the world. The plant does benefit from a cold snap in winter, however, and would grow more reliably in Lancaster than in Los Angeles. It is a biennial and puts down roots when planted this time of year with the expectation that it will form flowers and fruit by next fall. A relative of fennel, it has feathery foliage, white flowers, and is an attractive addition to the edible garden. Seeds for planting are widely available through Internet vendors.
Flowers. A Chinese philosopher once said: “If you would be happy for a lifetime, grow chrysanthemums,” blooming now in yellow, white, mauve, red, bronze, orange, and pink. Chrysanthemum species may be annual or perennial, ground-hugging or shrubby, succulent or aromatic. Because most chrysanthemums flower in the fall, botanists have deemed them “short-day plants” as opposed to “long-day plants” that flower in the spring and summer or “day-neutral plants” that bloom throughout the year. Yet research has proven that so-called short-day plants actually flower in response to long nights. If you plant chrysanthemums where they are lit up by street or patio lights at night, even briefly, they may not flower.
Indoor plants. Frizzle sizzle plant (Albuca spiralis) grows from a bulb and requires a fast-draining cactus mix and bright light to flourish. Foliage is bizarre, each leaf looking like a strip of green paper whose end has curled after the blade of a pair of scissors has been pulled across it. Although frizzle sizzle can grow outdoors in our area, foliage burns in scorching heat. However, deprived of adequate light, its leaves will not curl. Therefore, to make sure leaves curl, grow it as a houseplant. Leaves are five inches long, grow during the winter months, and display fragrant flowers in the spring.