Sorry no Impatiens, Vinca, Peppers or Eggplant yet. we expect Impatiens and peppers next week around the 12th of March. Vinca usually comes in April.

It is early and so it is for the early bird. In the case of tomatoes you need to protect them from the cold with Hot Caps or Row cover. Don't forget the New Masters' Professional Potting Soil with Mycorrhrizeae beneficial fungus that helps plants grow better.

It is supposed to be a nice weekend so count on a trip to Scenic Nursery.

Now is the time to purchase a shade tree for your yard. Don't wait until its over 100 degrees. Get it going now. There is never a better time than the present. It's almost spring. The ground is cool. Perfect conditions to get a tree settled in its home.

If you need a large tree you can consider a Raywood Ash or Northern Red Oak. If you need a medium size tree a Rubye Atkinson Redbud might be the right one for you. If you need a small tree consider a beautiful Dogwood or Flowering Plum.

Our staff at Scenic Nursery are qualified to direct you and advise you on the appropriate tree for your needs.

As you move around Modesto, or where ever you live, you see things that say SPRING. Now is a good time to look for things to add to your garden to add to the chorus.

Probably the most conspicuous now are the "Tulip Tree Magnolias". Those are the small trees with large flowers usually purple at the base shading to white at the tips. They do wonderfully well here. You also will be seeing yellow Forsythia, red flowering Quince, white Bridal Wreath and soon Wisteria will be in bloom.

I invite you to come in to Scenic Nursery and see what can be happening in YOUR garden next spring.

Ilona has a new post about Growing Old in the Garden.

I've always thought that my Grandparents were the perfect example of how to grow old. They took advantage of every chance they had to travel, vistit new places, and try new things, always bringing back a little something for their grandkids. My favorites? A toy red double-decker bus from England, and a ceramic rooster from Portugal. After their visit to Portugal, they planted hydrangeas in the backyard, apparently Lisbon was teeming with them, in the planting area between streets, along sidewalks, outside cafes, everywhere.

Most sunny days would find them out in the garden, tending their vegetable boxes, or pruning their roses. Late winter always meant that the Tangelo tree in the backyard would be ripe, and ready to pick.

They obviously grew up in another time, when backyard vegetable gardens were common (if not the standard), something we're missing out on today, but today I've got my own little area of fruit trees in my backyard, and now that we've got sunny days again, I can't wait to get out there and putter around.

Citrus Trees are probably the easieist type of fruit tree to grow in our area. The dwarf trees are especially well adapted. In addition to being easy to grow, they have the added benefit of a wide range of ripening dates.

In addition to the traditional Washington Navel Orange, Grape Fruit, & Tangerine, I would like to talk about some of the other citrus varieties we carry.

• Cara Cara Navel Orange is a pink fruited variety that ripens in November and December with excellent quality fruit.
• Oro Blanco Grapefruit is for people that do not like the bitterness of traditional Grapefruits. This variety has an excellent sweet flavor.
• Lane Late Navel Orange is another Navel, but ripens in the Spring. This makes it a wonderful second orange tree to have in your garden.
• Midnight Valencia Orange is a seedless sport of the popular Valencia Orange. Same, wonderful taste, but no seeds!
• Minneolo Tangelo is interesting because you see it in the markets starting in November. It is colored up then, but the flavor doesn't kick in until February. In the winter they look like orange Christmas ornaments!

Other interesting citrus we carry include Buddha's Hand Citron, Calamondin, Variegated Pink Lemon, and Chandler Pommelo.

As I visit gardens for the Garden Crew I compare what I see our clients doing with what I do in my own garden. The most conspicuous difference is my consistent use of mulches in my planting and flowerbeds.

When Donna and I got married she had been a gardener for many years and was a regular customer at Scenic Nursery. I know she was exposed to our mulching recommendations. I think she heard but didn't listen. She has commented on the difference it makes.

When you mulch for a few years some wonderful things happen. The phrase TOP SOIL is a word in the East you hear a lot. In California you hear it but it doesn't seem to mean much. The reason is that TOP SOIL is soil with lots of organic material in it. In most of California with the lack of summer rain we don't get a lot of natural organic material in the soil. So, as gardeners we have to add it.

When you mulch, immediately you get cooler soil, a reduction in weed invasion and a surface that is easier to weed. In the long run you get a dramatic change in the soil texture, microbial activity and nutrient retention. In a phrase you turn it into TOP SOIL.

I add a couple of inches of forest humus over almost all my planting beds every 2 to 3 years. I am convinced this can make anyone a better gardener. Let ‘s resolve to make TOP SOIL in our garden this Spring.

The Modesto Bonsai Club will be hosting the 2004 Spring Bonsai Show, the largest annual bonsai exhibit in the Modesto area.

The Show will be April 3rd & 4th at Thomas Downey High School. Doors open at 10 am.

Come see some of the best bonsai in Modesto, and stay for George Fujita's Bonsai Demonstration!

George will be running a demonstration of proper Bonsai techniques, taking you from a basic plant, through to a finished bonsai. The demonstration is at 2 pm each day.

Club members will also be running demonstrations starting at 10 am each day.

Admission is free, and there will be free door prizes, in addition to a Grand Prize Raffle ($1.00 Donation to Enter).

Ilona has another post, this time on her ten favorite perennials, or rather, if she was limited to just 10 plants in her garden, which 10 would she pick?

You can tell she's not in the Valley. Where are the Crape Myrtle? What, no lavender? No azaleas, gardenias, or camellias?

We really are lucky here in Modesto, we can grow almost everything but the most tender tropical plants. (And even those, if we're careful). Plants that don't like the heat can be grown in the shade, and really cold winters are rare enough that we can get away with growing plants that really don't like frost.

[Update:] Ilona has given us another reason we're spoiled. We don't have to worry about when to start our gardens.

The Sacramento Bee has a new article on the health benefits of gardening.

The health benefits are, of course, double. You get the benefit of excercise. Tending your garden, pruning, weeding, watering, all of these are an excellent low-impact excercise.

On top of that, if you grow fruits and veggies, you get the added benefit of eating healthy. Not only do you get to control the amount of pesticides used in your food, garden-fresh fruits and veggies have a much higher concentration of vitamins and minerals than typical store-bought.

The article goes on to say that tending certain types of vegetables, such as potatoes, eggplant and cucumbers worthless, because they don't carry the same nutritional value as, say, broccoli. The problemn with is that it ignores the excercise you're getting from tending the garden. Besides, who wants to eat just broccoli? Potatoes are an important part of MY relationship with food (whether mashed, fried, baked, or what have you), and I get in trouble if I don't put cucumbers on my wife's sandwiches. My rule is, grow what you like!

Luckily, fresh-grown fruits and veggies are suprisingly tasty. Vegetables tend to lose their flavor the longer their stored, and fruits usually have to be picked before fully ripe for transportation, so you can't beat home grown for taste.

Of course, as we head into spring, now is the perfect time to start planning your summer vegetable garden. We've already received our first shipment of tomatoes, and the peppers, corn, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, and of course cucumber & eggplant!

Tomato varieties available right now!

• Ace VFN
• Beefsteak
• Betterboy VFN
• Brandywine
• Champion VFNT
• Cherry
• Early Girl
• Roma VFN
• Shady Lady VFN
• Super Sweet 100 VFN

We've just updated our Events Calendar, with all the fun workshops and seminars we'll be offering here at Scenic Nursery!

Kitchen Garden Planning
Take advantage fo Modesto's amazing soil and climate to grow your own fresh and flavorful herbs and vegetables.
Saturday, March 13th. 2 pm

Moss Basket Demo
See one of our experts put together a moss basket
Saturday March 20th. 11am

Easter Basket Workshop
Make a live Easter Basket that will last all season. Includes 12" basket, moss, and Sea Pinks.
Saturday, March 20th. 2 pm
$24.98 - Make sure to sign up by March 10th!

Topiary in the Landscape
All about the care and feeding of funny shapes, from Paris to Tokyo
Saturday, March 27th. 11 am

We hope to see you there!

More vegetables came in yesterday! From what I could see there were Peppers, Bell Peppers, and some Eggplant. Sorry, I didn't see which varieties. (I'll post an update tomorrow!)

Also, the Bookish Gardener has a post on what vegetables she likes to grow.

[Update:]

As promised, heres the new list of Vegetables!

Peppers

• European Bell
  
• Yolo Wonder Bell
  
• Anaheim Chili
  
• Serrano Chili
  
• Fresno Chili
  
• Gypsy

• Japanese Long
  
• Satin Beauty F1

• Heartland
  
• Jubilee
  
• Sungold
  
• Yellow Pear

A few weeks ago I talked about a new yellow rose, Rabble Rouser. Last summer we also had a pre-introduction sample of Be-Bop, also a wonderful landscape variety.

I like single roses so Be-Bop attracted me from the first. The single flowers really show the color. The general rule is because plant has less work to make single flowers means MORE flowers. and Be-Bop does comply.

It is a striking color; somewhere between hot pink and candy apple red. It literally covers itself with flowers. After bloom cut the old stems off, fertilize and sit back for the next bloom cycle. We had no disease problems with it.
This is sure to be a show stopper.

Following up on my previous posts about Summer Vegetables (here and here), Ellamae has a very good post on Organic Gardening.

Organic gardening is big thing with me. Just on the environmental front, pollution from home gardens (in particular lawn fertilizers) is a significant source of pollution. In some areas a bigger problem than any farming activities could ever be. On top of that, gardening is a way to get back to the basics. I don't want to get too mystical here, because I don't look at it that way, but there is something very satisfying about getting your hands dirty in the garden. You just don't get that same satisfaction behind a pump sprayer.

About.com has an excellent article on how landscaping increases the value of your home.

I used to be a big fan of About.com, I probably used to read something interesting on there every day. However, over the years it has become increasingly commercial, with ads cluttering up the pages, and pop-overs and pop-unders (For instance, I'm on a Mac, with a pop-up blocker. Still got 2 pop-under ads when I went to the site). I now only bother going there if I find a link to something that really interests me.

This article is worth the hassle, at least for me. It really quantifies how a nicely landscaped garden affects the home's value. This is always useful when a spouse doesn't like you spending money at your local nursery. Now you got statistics to back you up.

Of course it's important to keep the garden looking nice even when you're not trying to sell your home, because the liklihood is that someone else on the block is, and we all now how each home can affect another's value. In the end, you win by increasing the property value of the whole neighborhood, right? So you're really being a community activist when you garden!

The last couple of years we have been demonstrating a edible ornamental garden. This fall we planted Bright Light Swiss Chard together with a couple of different types of Cabbage, Lettuce and Celery. We interplanted Calendula and Pansies both of which are edible.

The Bright Light Swiss Chard looks great right now. Some of the plants are green and white, red and white yellow and green and some with various shades of pink. and they are all good for you.

One of the best things about Swiss Chard is that it can be planted in a summer garden. Some Bright Lights Chard, some Peppers (especially the small peppers that rurn red), Egg Plant (again the small fruited ones), Parsley can make any ornamental garden a edible ornamental garden.

I plan to take some pictures of the garden to post but you can see it in person. It is planted in front of the entrance to the nursery inside the parking lot.

You do need to be sure to use pest controls that are compatable with a vegetable garden but we can help with that too.

Following up on my posts about why we garden (Parts I , II , & III ), comes this article from the Oakland Tribune Online, on the therapuetic effects of gardening.

They are using gardening to help patients with Alzheimer's re-engage with the world around them.

The program is offered by the Alameda Adult School, in the Bay Area. For more information about gardening classes and other courses the school offers, call 510-522-3858.

The last few years there has been a tremendous increase in what I call "Long Lived Annuals." I suppose that technically they are short lived perennials, but doesn't long lived annuals just sound better. In any case they generally have a long bloom season and do come back for a few years before dying out or just looking old.

Million Bells or Calibrachoa hybrid are one of the best of these new plants. When they were introduced they were sold for pots or hanging baskets. Soon, however, we were using them as small area ground covers and for splashed of color in the landscape in the ground.

Recently there have been a group of new Million Bells that are somewhat taller growing. I expect these to be even beter for splashes of color in the landscape!

These love the sun but also perform well with half day sun. As most long blooming plants they respond dramatically when fertilized regularly with Masters' Rose and Flower Food.

These are just a few of the colors and varieties Million Bells should be in everyone's garden that loves summer color!

Pictures courtesy of Proven Winners

Have you noticed the Wisteria in bloom around town? They are spectacular right now. This is a large growing vine that develops a massive trunk. With pruning it can be controlled to a small area but if allowed to grow can become larger than massive.

If you drive to Oakdale (between Oakdale and Riverbank on the south side visible going east) there is a massive wisteria growing in some trees that has to be over 100 yards long. It is spectacular. I haven't been out there this year and I always forget exactly where it is and I know there is some new development near where it is so I am hoping it's still there.

We carry a grafted lavender or purple wisteria called Cooke's Special. It is noted for the heavy and dependable bloom and the unusual repeat bloom in the summer. I think this is the most dependable of the wisteria varieties.

Often you see wisteria for sale at very low prices. These are usually seedlings and are noted for taking many years to bloom. In some cases it seems like they never do bloom.

If you come into the nursery now you can see our purple wisteria in bloom together with our white wisteria.

We also carry a few other varieties you might be interested in. Silky Wisteria has very short, fat flower clusters and has an even heavier branching structure. We carry a few white and purple varieties.

Remember summer pruning to control and winter pruning to shape is necessary if you need to keep them under control.

Aphid are here. Note the lack of an s, Aphid is plural and Aphis is singular. You almost never get the chance to correctly use the word Aphis. They always show up in droves.

There is continuing interest in non chemical methods of pest control. Aphid control is one area it can work. It does take more involvment by you and acceptance of a little damage. This is actually the method I use at home.

What I do depends on two predators. Ladybugs are one control. I put them out when I have a good crop of Aphid, enough to give the Ladybugs something to feed on. I put them out at night and be sure there is water arround. I usually just spray water over the Roses to have some water for them. I put them out at night at the base of the plants because they don't fly away as fast. What you are really trying to do is get them to stay around long enough to lay eggs. The eggs hatch into nymphs that look like mini stripped lizards. These are the real Aphid eating machines.

I generally have to buy Ladybugs for a few years untill I get a population that stays over winter. Then I am home free.

The other predator is encarsia wasp. No, these aren't the size of yellow jackets. They are about the size of small grains of ground pepper. They ley eggs inside the Aphid and kill them from the inside. Aliens anyone??

You can recognize the damage if you see bloated Aphid mixed in with live aphid. When the Aphid dies you see a tan husk with a small hole at the back end. This is where the new adults emerge. I looked over my roses this morning and I am already seeing encarsia wasp evidence.

While I am waiting for the predators to kick in I hand wash off the Aphid to reduce the damage. It generally takes two three weeks for the population to start to drop. After that I have no more rose aphid problems all season.

This seems to work best on green Aphid.

We sell the Ladybugs but the encarsia wasp seem to be around everywhere. If you wait!

Happy Organic Gardening.

I found a new gardening blog that I added to my Bloglines List.

The blog is called "Horticultural". The author is an assistant news editor for The Guardian, and lives in England. Form what I've read, her writing is very enjoyable. Mkae sure to read her post on the dangers of stroking your seedlings.

P.S. Thanks to Kathleen Purdy for the link!

One of the most common requests when I am in the roses helping people is for fragrance. A second request in our area is mildew resistance.

A few years ago I was down at Weeks Roses looking over the new roses with Tom Carruth that were in their breeding program. Tom has been a friend of mine for a number of years since he started as a salesperson before starting their new rose program. Over the years he has been very successful with several notable AARS winners.

As we were going down the rows we were talking about how this rose had a terrific color but no form. This rose bloomed heavily but the color was just so-so. That rose looks nice but finished ugly. He was talking about some of the problems breeders have getting that perfect rose and fragrance came up.

He commented on some linkages in rose characteristics that suddenly explained a lot that I had seen but never really put together. The first linkage was between fragrance and mildew susceptibility. All of a sudden I saw why Mister Lincoln, Chrysler Imperial, Tropicana, and almost all lavender roses seem to get mildew. As I review the top 10% in fragrant roses in my mind they all have more susceptibility to mildew then most of the good non-fragrant roses.

Mister Lincoln Rose by Jungle Jim

I can tell that isn’t the only reason roses get mildew but the fragrant roses are still chosen because of the fragrance. This also seems to be true in the Antique Roses. If a rose gets mildew and isn’t fragrant there isn’t much that can make it distinctive enough to be worth planting. Leonitas and Black Baccara are exceptions because of their distinctive color.

If you want fragrant roses you need to keep in mind the cultural practices that can reduce mildew.

1) Keep them in full sun.

2) Space them well for good air circulation. Mildew grows in high humidity conditions.

3) Overhead water in the morning. Yes, I said overhead water. Mildew dies in presence of actual water drops.

4) Prune out actual mildew to prevent spores from spreading.

Fragrant roses are wonderful and now you know why rose breeders can’t give you the perfect fragrant disease proof rose.

Every spring when our entryway climbing rose Altissimo comes into bloom I have to wonder if it is going to cause an accident. It creates a spectacular show of Chinese-red single flowers right at the entry into the nursery.

Many people think a rose has to be full double to be showy. The more petals the better! Altissimo says otherwise.

Climbing Altissimo Photo by Jungle Jim

The single flowers show like a spotlight shining at you. It is dependable blooming, disease resistant and SHOWY! What more can you ask for from a fence rose? Altissimo is one of the roses I show people that don’t like “Roses.” Is so different than what they expect.

Drive into the parking lot and see what I am talking about.