Kathy Sandel sent in just a few more photos of hercurrent garden in Sacramento, California, and I couldn’t resist sharing them:
01.12.2023 - 18:13 / theprovince.com / Helen Chesnut
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Q. In my (new to me) coastal garden, I’m told that my plot of carrots and beets can be left in place and dug as needed through the winter. Many of the roots are protruding to varying degrees above soil level. Do they need some sort of protection against freezing?
A. Beets, especially the cylindrical varieties, commonly protrude well above soil level and become vulnerable to damage in freezing weather. Carrots will do the same, but usually to a lesser degree.
To protect root crops from frost damage through the winter, and preserve these valuable foods in good useable condition, cover over the tops with an insulating mulch layer (or layers).
My preference is to add a layer of garden soil around and a little over the root tops before adding a layer of small, fluffy (or chopped) leaves over the soil. A loose covering of straw over the leaves can be helpful in times of hard freezing.
For ease of harvesting the root vegetables over the course of the winter, I mark the mulched plot with four corner stakes, moving the stakes as rows of the roots are removed.
Q. My rose bushes are often very slow to drop their leaves. How important is it to remove leaves that cling stubbornly into late autumn, and when should de-leafing be done? Do you prune at the same time?
A. Most roses are susceptible to various diseases such as black spot and also to a number of insect pests. Removing the leaves in late autumn is an important sanitation measure that helps to curtail the incidence of these issues.
After taking off the leaves, clean thoroughly under and around the plants,
Kathy Sandel sent in just a few more photos of hercurrent garden in Sacramento, California, and I couldn’t resist sharing them:
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of handing someone you love a beautifully wrapped Christmas present. And though the gift itself represents your generosity and love, the presentation is the ultimate finishing touch, letting the receiver know just how much time and thought you put into making their gift extra special. But if you’re not careful, your lovely wrapping job can come at a price—and we don’t just mean the price of the supplies.
As winter approaches and we’re faced with another year of determining what's for dinner, we're sharing a glimpse at how BHG readers gather for a meal. Welcome to our new series, Dinner Diaries, where we're asking readers to anonymously share how they get dinner on the table including grocery shopping, budgeting, cooking, and their favorite family recipes. Here, a two-person household relies on garden-fresh produce and well-stocked pantry to get dinner on the table.
Last week Kathy Sandel shared her former garden in Calabasas, California, and today we’re back visiting her current garden in Sacramento:
I have stored my seeds in many ways—in jars, in plastic storage containers, in used bubble mailers, in cute “binder” gift books, in Ziploc bags. Keeping seeds organized can be a challenge, especially when you grow an extensive vegetable garden. There’s the question of how to organize and categorize. But did you know that your seed storage conditions can also affect the viability and germination rate of your seeds? In this article, I’m going to share some tips on how to keep seeds and container options for storing them.
Seed saving is the art of collecting the seed from your crop and using it in subsequent seasons to grow new plants. Even if you save only small quantities of a few crops, understanding more about the life cycle, breeding tendencies, and botany of your crops will help you manage and care for them more effectively.
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Tips for Growing Strawberry Geraniums Outdoors
While some may be familiar with Japanese sacred lily (Rohdea japonica, Zones 6–10), Rohdea pachynema is an uncommon species that is indeed a Rohdea less traveled. Found only in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, it is an intriguing member of the Asparagaceae family that is slowly becoming more available to gardeners. It was formerly known as Campylandra sinensis or C. pachynema, but recent DNA work has moved it into the genus Rohdea, whose name commemorates German botanist Michael Rohde. We can find no documented common name for this species, so we have dubbed it “yellow thread rohdea” since pachynema means “thick thread” (referring to the colored central stripe on the leaves).
While growing plants from seed is less expensive, it does require extra steps when compared to growing plants or starts from your local garden center.
While these plants can take the cold, they may need special care to thrive in certain environments. Follow these guidelines to ensure that your hardy cacti and succulents last for years to come.
‘Marian Sampson’ hummingbird coyote mint