Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruit trees. Fall is the best season to plant deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves), including deciduous fruit trees such as apple, plum, peach, and nectarine. The reason for this is that trees stop growing leaves and fruit in the fall and can channel all their energy into growing roots, which expand into soil still warm from summer’s heat. Meanwhile, even if air temperatures still reach into the high 90s, the concern about newly planted trees being subjected to stress is mitigated by ever shorter days.
Vegetables. November is an excellent time to plant spinach. It is a crop that you can harvest until next spring and beyond by continuous removal of its outer leaves. Initially, baby spinach leaves are removed. They are sweeter than mature leaves, whose flavor is more robust. If you grow spinach from seed, you can begin to pick baby leaves a few weeks after sowing. Should you transplant from nursery-grown stock, place plants 12 inches apart. Prepare soil with lots of compost or soil-enriching amendments and keep soil somewhat moist to maximize your spinach crop’s potential. There are two main types: flat-leaf spinach, with smooth leaves and a mild flavor that makes it the most popular salad spinach, and savoy spinach, with dark green, thick, crinkly leaves, with an earthier flavor than flat-leaf spinach. Savoy spinach is most often used in cooking, a process that makes the many spinach vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients more easily absorbed upon consumption. Spinach is thought to be endemic to ancient Persia (modern-day Iran).
Herbs. Borage (Borago officinalis) is a delightful addition to the herb garden. It displays myriad star-shaped blue flowers throughout the summer. The flowers nod with indisputable charm and are edible with a cucumber taste. They are thus suitable for use as a garnish or to flavor soups and salads. Many herbs have both culinary and medicinal value and borage is one of them. Borage seed oil has been found to promote healthier skin and has shown effectiveness in treating eczema. You can also make a tea from chopped up borage leaves which has been known to sooth a cough and reduce stress. Borage plants grow three feet tall and two feet wide and self-sow with ease so that you will enjoy their garden presence for years to come.
Ornamentals. Mexican flame vine (Senecio confusus) is a fast-growing selection for climbing a trellis or spilling over a block wall. Flowers are a vivid orange and, although they bloom heavily from spring to fall, may be in evidence throughout the year where winters are mild. The plant may die back in a frost, especially when young, but will resume growth when temperatures warm. You can grow Mexican flame vine in sun or partial shade. In Loren Zeldin’s Reseda garden, I once saw a Mexican flame vine that had twined its way up a polyantha rose known as Seven Sisters, a hybrid variety that may grow up to twenty feet tall and ten feet wide and whose flowers are pink or white.
If you have a rose bush that you wish to propagate vegetatively, mound six inches of soil around the base of the plant, covering the lower section of the branches or canes. The rose bush you select should have been growing in your garden for at least three years. Next fall, carefully remove the mound and you will notice roots growing from where the canes were covered with soil. Select two or three of these canes for planting in other parts of the garden. Make sure the planting holes have been dug prior to cutting the canes since you will want to plant them the moment they are detached from the mother plant. Of course, you could also plant the rooted canes in containers if you wish.
Email to Joshua@perfectplants.com with your gardening questions, comments and success stories.
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