Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruit Trees. Deciduous fruit trees will have stopped growing by now. The leaves you see will begin to drop as fall progresses. However, since pruning is an invigorating procedure, if you should prune now, tender new growth is likely to appear that would be susceptible to burning if we have a late heat wave or an early frost. Evergreen fruit trees such as citrus and avocado will continue to grow through the end of October. You can prune them to control their size but do so cautiously. Citrus trees need good leaf cover to ripen a substantial crop and avocados bloom and fruit exclusively on shoot terminals so be restrained about pruning of fthe tree’s peripheral growth. Keep in mind that telescoping pole pruners can reach up to 15 feet so that should you be reluctant to prune your citrus and avocado trees, you can comfortably harvest fruit at a considerable height without resorting to a ladder,
Vegetables. Plant cabbage seeds and transplant seedlings. There are many types of cabbage beyond the familiar green, sometimes called white, and red. Savoy and Chinese cabbages are loose-leaf types. Savoy cabbages can grow up to eight pounds with a nine-inch diameter. Their taste is milder than that of green or red cabbage. Chinese cabbage, which includes napa and bok choi types, is an elongated leafy crop which, to the uninitiated, looks more like a head of lettuce than a cabbage. Kale is the cabbage with the frilliest leaves while black cabbage has long leaves that are covered with warty extrusions. Our biggest local enemy when planting cabbage is the cabbage butterfly, white in color. Protect young plants with floating row cover or you can spray Bt, a biological control product that contains a bacteria lethal to cabbage butterfly larvae. You can tell if you have a problem with this pest if you see its eggs; they are affixed vertically to the underside of cabbage leaves and look like tiny yellow bullets.
Herbs. Now is the time to plant cilantro, also known as coriander (Coriandrum sativum). This plant is unique in yielding both an herb and spices. By definition, herbs are the pungent leafy portions of certain plants, while spices are derived from seeds, fruits, flowers, or roots. Coriander seeds have a citrusy flavor and are used in a multiplicity of recipes, while coriander root plays a major role in Thai cuisine. Cilantro leaves are found not only in salsa and guacamole, but as a garnish for fish and meat. Cilantro is native to the Mediterranean and well-suited for growing in our climate. Seeds come up reliably when planted in the fall and plants self-sow, giving you a lifetime supply. Store-bought coriander seeds sold in the grocery store spice section will germinate too. If you live inland where summers sizzle, give cilantro some shade when planting it.
Ornamentals. When considering which bulbs to plant, you will want to consider giant scilla (SILL-a). It is an unpredictable species that may not flower each year. But when it does bloom, you are completely forgiving of its inconsistency in this regard. It is enough to see a giant scilla (Scilla peruviana) once, with its symmetrical dome of royal blue florets, to remember it forever. No plant that I have seen produces a larger inflorescence so close to the ground. Normally, such flower structures are seen perched aloft, upon tall flower stalks, as is the case with those giant ornamental onions (Allium giganteum) and giant white squills (Drimiopsis kirkii). This stunning scilla, however, which blooms humbly close to the ground, could easily be stepped upon or missed altogether, especially in those years when it produces a generous clump of foliage but no flowers.
If you have Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus, make sure you place it outdoors at this time of year if you want it to bloom as advertised. Like poinsettia, these plants need a long period of darkness (or reduced hours of light) each day in order to bloom. When you keep these plants indoors, they will not flower if they are exposed to light during nighttime hours. Should you still want to keep them indoors, put them in a closet when the sun goes down and take them out the following morning. These epiphytic (tree-dwelling) cacti should be fertilized every two to three weeks throughout the year with an 8-8-8 formula, and now and for the next two months with a 0-10-10 product. You never want to expose these plants to burning sun, even as bright light is still their preference.
Please send your comments, questions, gardening quandaries and successes to joshua@perfectplant.com.
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