5 things to do in the garden this week:
1. Fruit trees: Now is a good time to plant citrus of all varieties. For something truly exotic, consider planting a finger or caviar lime (Microcitrus x australasica). Native to tropical Australia, it’s fruits are truly a marvel to behold. They are 2-3 inches in length, capsular in form, deep purple when ripe; when split open, the clear vesicles that will remind you, by their size, color, and shape, of caviar. The vesicles are easily squeezed out of the surrounding skin and when applied to your tongue will yield a tart limey flavor. Finger limes are popularly used for livening up fish dishes, especially sushi, and certain cocktails. I once saw them growing near Mulholland Drive but they are sensitive to cold and should probably not be planted north of there. You can procure finger lime trees from a few Internet vendors and Moon Valley Nurseries does list the tree as a species that they grow. If anyone knows of any other sources for this tree, please advise.
2. Vegetables: You can grow artichokes in any sun-splashed garden. Start them from seed or from basal cuttings taken from mother plants, or transplant container-grown artichoke seedlings into any garden bed. Prior to planting, soil should be amended with lots of compost. Large, bushy specimens with artichokes ready to eat should be yours within one year of planting. Although watering will be of major concern during their first year in the garden, artichokes will be reasonably drought-tolerant after that. However, for better-quality crops — I would say fruit, but artichokes are actually unopened flower buds — plants should be soaked every other day in hot weather during their productive life of seven years or more, keeping in mind that liberal watering practices will increase their yield.
3. Herbs: Curly cress (Lepidium sativum), a member of the mustard family, adds a peppery zing to salads, soups, and sandwiches. This might be the easiest herb to grow as it sprouts in ten days. If grown as sprouts, it may be plucked out of the soil immediately but if you want to wait for its curly, spicy leaves to develop, delay one month before harvest. Curly cress will grow up to six inches tall but if part of the stem is left after leaf harvest, new leaves will grow. Unlike most herbs, its leaves do not dry well so they must be consumed fresh. Curly cress is native to the Mediterranean where it has been grown for more than two millennia. Curly cress self-sows with alacrity but, not long after flowering, you can harvest seed-containing pods when they turn brown and then save seeds for future planting.
4. Ornamentals: If you have a poinsettia from last year, place it in absolute darkness each evening, from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., for the next ten weeks. Put your plant in a closet or the garage covered completely by a box or waste basket. Make sure the following morning that you situate your plant where it will receive four to six hours of bright light. This is necessary for the plant to flower at the appropriate time and for the modified leaves known as bracts to change color. Water as needed and apply a liquid fertilizer such as Farmer’s Secret Fruit & Bloom Booster Fertilizer to encourage flowering. This poinsettia information and more may be found in Pat Welsh’s “Southern California Gardening: A Month-by-Month Guide” (Chronicle Books, 2000).
5. Fall is the time to plant green manure ground cover for refurbishing your soil, especially where you may have harvested abundant vegetable crops this summer and wish to replenish the soil for spring planting. Choose from legumes such as clover, vetch, and fava beans which, after being plowed into the ground next spring – and allowing a month for decomposition – will add an abundance of nitrogen to the soil. And don’t forget lady or tansy leaf Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), a California native that is an excellent pollinator plant, grows quickly up to four feet and scavenges nitrogen and calcium while it grows, enriching the soil when it’s dug into the earth – as soon as six weeks after germination – prior to planting the crops of your choice. It has highly attractive purplish flowers as well.
Send questions and comments to joshua@perfectplants.com.
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