Many Hydrangeas bloom in beautiful shades from pink to blue. It is often the soil pH that determines if a hydrangea blooms blue or pink, and bloom color may change if the pH changes.
Hydrangeas, which were blue when purchased, will begin to have pink blooms in subsequent months given our alkaline soil and water.
Enjoy the vibrant blue color of hydrangeas by adding soil acidifiers to the planting bed. Use Hydra Blue to help move the pH into the acid range. Pink or purple hydrangeas can be persuaded to bloom in the blue hues with some help from Hydra Blue. If you want hydrangeas to bloom pink, don’t do anything, they will naturally drift in that direction.
TO TURN HYDRANGEAS BLUE – Apply Hydra Blue from 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup per plant depending on the age and size of the plant. The first application should be made in fall as the plant begins to go into its dormant period. Make additional monthly treatments now through February and beyond for a deeper shade of blue.
California Wild Lilac (Ceanothus sp.) – spring blooms in shades of blue attract pollinators and provide homes for butterfly larvae.
An Occasional Look at Some of Our Hard-Working California Native Plants
What’s so smart about adding California native plants to your landscape? The simple answer is the delightful experience of growing a tree, shrub or perennial that gives back in so many ways. The sight of a flock of Cedar Waxwings feasting on Toyon Berries. Screaming orange California Poppies peppering the roadside. The summer surprise of big pink and purple orchid-like flowers blooming on a desert willow. A cold hummingbird is enjoying a sip of nectar from a February blooming manzanita. After you fall in love with these plants for who they are and what they bring to your garden, you’ll appreciate their good looks and practicality, thriving with whatever nature throws at them – hot, dry summers and cold, sometimes rainy winters. Here’s a focus on small native trees, usually grown with a multi-trunk form:
Western RedbudCercis occidentalis – Beauty in every season, from the showy pink flowers clinging tightly to bare branches in spring, to the pretty heart-shaped leaves which turn a rich yellow in the fall. Currently out of stock.
Ray Hartman CeanothusCeanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ – Grow this as a single trunk tree, or plant it as a shrub and sculpt it into an attractive, purple-blue flowered evergreen tree.
Desert WillowChilopsis linearis – Long narrow willow-like leaves belie the water sipping nature of this small tree. Pick one with the flower color you prefer, from pale pink to deeper burgundy, purple or two tones. Enjoy the flowers as much as hummingbirds do. Currently out of stock.
Manzanita Arctostaphylos ‘Dr. Hurd’, ‘Emerald Carpet’ or ‘Howard McMinn – Manzanita are a diverse group of plants known for their unique colored bark and twisty branches. With over 40 varieties native to California, you are sure to find the right one for your space.
Think spring now! We have a great selection of fall planted, spring-blooming bulbs available in our garden store.
Choose from tulips, hyacinths, crocus, daffodils/narcissus, iris, freesias, and more. For the best selection shop for fall bulbs early. Best to select bulbs by the middle or end of October for November/December planting.
Store fall bulbs in a cool dry place until the weather substantially cools this fall before planting.
Refrigerate tulips and hyacinths for 6 weeks. The chilling enhances flower development providing for nice long stems. Put the bulbs in paper bags, label, date and put them in the crisper. Do not mistake them for soup ingredients. Be prepared to plant them as soon as you take them out of refrigeration (each day you delay you lose a week of chilling benefit).
Consider planting bulbs in containers.
This is a great way to accent your porch or patio. When they are finished blooming you can then relocate them to a side yard where they can continue to be watered and nurtured allowing them to dry down naturally. It’s important that the bulb is allowed to reabsorb all the energy of the leaves before they rest in summer.
Add another dimension to your fall bulb pot or garden by planting a blooming blanket of flowers over the top. Here are some great double deck combinations: yellow daffodils and dark blue/purple pansies; peach tulips and light blue violas; white tulips and pastel yellow pansies; red tulips, white paludosum daisies with blue pansies.
Most fall bulbs are planted point up, but when in doubt, plant sideways! Our nursery professionals will show you what’s up and what’s down.
Choose bulbs that will provide a succession of bloom. There are varieties of tulips, daffodils, and narcissus and more that will provide early, mid, or late spring bloom.
The layered look not only works in fashion but in the garden too. In a pot or garden bed plant bulbs in layers to produce a mixed bouquet look. Bulbs are planted 2½ times their diameter deep. So plant the larger bulbs, like daffodils deep. Over the top of daffodils plant tulips, then freesia and finally grape hyacinths.
You can even layer the same kind of bulb. For instance, plant all daffodils some at the recommended depth of 6-8″ and another layer at 4″. The shallower ones will bloom first and the deeper later.
Hands down the most brilliant bloomers of winter are the cool-season annuals. They flower non-stop, often blooming from fall right through winter into spring. They are tireless while blooming, and when finished, are replaced with the next season’s fresh annuals. Winter annuals do not typically live into summer, and summer annuals do not typically live beyond the first frost. So, there’s a fun “fresh start” in fall and spring.
Now is the ideal time to plant winter annuals, so they establish while the weather is mild and they can be enjoyed over the cooler months ahead.
Annuals never rest like their cousins the perennials. They are even blooming in the month of January when most of everything is resting. They just bloom and bloom until they cannot bloom anymore.
Keep your garden looking BRIGHT during those cloudy days of winter this year by planting some of these great, hard-working winter bloomers:
Pansy & Viola: smiling faces that say “HI” each time you go outside
Snapdragon: childhood memories with their “snapping” mouth shaped flowers. GREAT cut flower to cheer up a room during cloudy months.
Calendula: the winter marigold with its yellow and orange faces will always brighten up your garden during the grey months of winter.
Sweet Peas: plant knee hi or tall vining varieties. Harvest many bouquets throughout the late winter and spring. The more you harvest the flowers the more the plants will give you in return. Plant from seed.
Cyclamen (coming soon): These are technically not annuals but great winter bloomers for the shade garden. They will even bloom for you in the complete shade if you keep them on the dry side. They are known for blooming and blooming when everything else is still asleep during the cloudy days of winter. They can also take full sun during December, January, and February so you can do a mixture of all winter annuals for your winter garden. We hope to see some Primrose which behave similarly in October.
Do not forget that the summer annuals will do the same thing for the garden. They will always be blooming their fool heads off just to make their cousins – the perennials – look lazy. Plant Summer annuals beginning mid-March.
Enjoy annuals. They love to show off in your garden!
Wildflower gardening is natural, easy and rewarding. Like magic, a handful of seeds can transform a little plot of soil into a bouquet of color and texture – and all with minimal effort.
In our Valley, it is natural for wildflowers to get started in late fall just as soon as the soil cools. So, following Mother Nature’s lead is the best approach – Fall planting is taking the path of least resistance and greatest success.
But there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure your wildflower garden is the success you want it to be:
Soil Preparation
Of course, in nature wildflowers fend for themselves without soil preparation; but Mother Nature can tolerate a much higher rate of failure than most homeowners. Some minimal soil preparation will go a long way, ensuring your wildflower success, and it does NOT have to be a major project. Just scratch the soil surface down an inch or two, rake it smooth, and distribute the seeds according to the package instructions. This small preparation will help your wildflowers get a good start and protect the seeds from becoming a bird banquet.
TIP: Use a light covering of mulch to protect your wildflower seeds then press the seeds into place by simply walking over the planting areas. For a large space borrow one of our water rollers to simplify the job.
Don’t Plant Too Deep
A planting depth of ¼” to ½” is preferred. While wildflower seeds will germinate at greater depths, they will not have the strength to push through the overlying soil.
Irrigation
Make sure the seeds stay moist; NOT WET. Avoid overwatering and make sure the location is well-drained to avoid root rot and leaf mold. Wildflowers are very hardy and drought-tolerant; more water than necessary is NOT better; when in doubt, err on the side of under-watering.
Patience
Wildflowers are somewhat more weather responsive than domesticated flowers – they will grow when they think it best. Here in our Valley, weather permitting it is possible to get some fall and winter color from your wildflower garden. If the weather runs too cold or wet, they will wait until spring to show up. This delay is NOT a sign of failure; it is how wildflowers have learned to survive.
Wildflowers can be a rewarding, low maintenance gardening project if you keep in mind they are “WILD” flowers and resist the temptation to micro-manage them. Generally, they will prosper best with what might be called benign neglect.
Fall is the perfect time for planting a perennial garden from gallon cans and four-inch pots. Perennials planted now will spend the winter putting down roots so come spring they will be ready to grow and bloom. Try drought-tolerant options this year. Planting in the fall requires much less water to establish. Drop-in and let us help you get started on a beautiful, blooming perennial border. You’ll find some of these bloom from summer into fall.
Salvia
Salvia Hot Lips
Salvias add water-wise color. The salvia family is endless! There are ornamental and edible members of this expansive family. They love the sun but even perform well with a little afternoon shade. Many Salvias are long-blooming, attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and require very little care once established.
Penstemon
Apple Blossom Penstemon
Penstemons are hardy evergreen shrub-like perennials with tubular flowers. The flowers are borne on spikes with color ranging from reds, blues, pink, salmons, purples, white and lilac. Penstemons attract hummingbirds. Penstemon are an excellent addition to the California garden because they are drought tolerant once they are established.
Shasta Daisy
Shasta Daisy
Shasta Daisies make excellent cut flowers as well as a beautiful addition to the perennial border. They bloom mid-summer through fall, finally giving in as the days get shorter and the temperatures drop. Shasta Daisies may be single or double petalled. A long leathery stem supports each flower. We have them in 4″ pots.
Lavender
Spanish Lavender
Lavender is a great looking perennial plant that is low maintenance, sun-loving, drought-resistant once established, and tolerant of benign neglect. — It is ideal for busy Valley residents who need to leverage their gardening time. By the way, lavender plants also make great additions to cut flower bouquets and are an ideal colorful, fragrant enhancement to dried flower arrangements or potpourri.
If there is one flower that really lets us know it’s autumn – it’s the Chrysanthemum or Mum! Richly colored and aromatic, the chrysanthemum comes in a dazzling array of colors. Choose from white, orange, yellow, maroon, and purple.
Mums are sun-loving perennial plants often blooming in both spring and fall.
Pop some color into a bed or container to set the stage for autumn. Add Soil Moist Granules to cut watering in half.
We are carrying fresh 4″ plants as well as larger one gallon pots. Each plant is loaded with blooms just beginning its bloom cycle.
Remove finished flowers as the fade to encourage future blooms.
Don’t overhead water because this encourages blossom rot.
Although we all know the chrysanthemum as one of the outstanding beauties of the autumn garden there are other glorious plants that should also have top billing especially Rudbeckia or Black-Eyed Susan. These will fire up your late summer garden with a burst of sunshine and perform well through fall.
Black-Eyed Susan has an upright growth pattern to three feet. The plants bloom from mid-summer through fall with a color range from warm yellows to browns and coppery tones capped with dark brown or black centers (hence the name Black-Eyed Susan).
Prepare the soil with Master Nursery Planting Mix as Rudbeckia like well-draining soil. Remove faded blooms to extend the flowering season. Use Sluggo snail bait on a weekly basis to keep slugs away from the foliage. Avoid overhead watering to prevent powdery mildew.
Rudbeckia make an excellent cut flower just immerse the stems in boiling water for 30 seconds before adding them to your floral arrangements.
Succulents are easy to grow, beautiful, and popular. And that is not hard to understand when you see all the advantages they offer, especially here in our Valley.
Why are Succulents so Grand?
Low Water – Succulents can withstand drought better than soggy soil. These plants thrive where others wilt from lack of water. Your water district recommends these plants as an essential part of landscaping and gardening water conservation.
Low Maintenance – These plants are about as close to “plant it and forget it” as you can get. Most are native to the harsh southwestern desert where they have learned to fend for themselves. If your time for gardening and landscaping is limited, succulents belong on your shopping list.
Versatility – These plants are equally happy to be in your garden, landscaping, containers, and inside your home as houseplants. As long as you keep in mind, they do have some special needs. Most require at least 6 hours of sunlight others morning sun only; all require fast-draining soil. Our Cactus & Succulent Mix works great! Location is important, and some will need protection during the colder months.
Good Looks – Fortunately, you don’t have to sacrifice appearance for all these benefits. Succulents are some of nature’s most beautiful and exotic plants. Outdoors, your succulents will liven up your garden and give your home an original look. Few plants attract as much attention as these. You can use them as dramatic accents or go all out and create a complete desert garden motif. Inside, dish gardens with succulents can provide an attractive tabletop decoration that is sure to be a conversation starter.
Off-Season Blooming – When most other plants are in their dormant cycle, and the rest of your landscaping has the winter color blahs, many of these plants are at their colorful best. The aloes are in their glory from December to January; the cacti, puyas, yuccas and agave flower from April to June. A well-chosen selection and placement of cacti, succulents and their cousins will give your landscaping a year-round color look your neighbors will envy.
Here at Alden Lane, we have a large selection available for you to combine or we can suggest combinations for you. With their wide variety of architectural forms, succulents are a great garden addition.
We also have many color selections. You may like the blues, bronzes, purples or pinks of the Echeverias or the fuzzy feel of the Kalanchoe.
These plants are among the most versatile of drought-tolerant garden offerings. They can express your artful side or your whimsy, whatever you choose. Also, they combine well with other low-water-use plants to make a lush garden display. Come in and catch on to this ongoing trend.
The salvia family is endless! Salvias add water-wise color & texture. There are ornamental, edible and native members of this expansive family. Salvia display a variety of colors both in flowers and foliage. You can often enjoy wonderful aromas from the leaves as well.
Salvias are sun loving with a few varieties appreciating a shade break in the afternoon.
Many are long blooming, attract hummingbirds and butterflies and require very little care once established.
Favorite Salvias:
Salvia greggii – Known as Autumn Sage, this variety is available in a number of flower colors – red, yellow, pink, white and purple. Erect growth to about three feet with medium green foliage. Plant in full sun.
Salvia microphylla – This salvia is more leafy and dense than the Salvia greggii. Bright red flowers are borne in 4-6 inch clusters. The plant itself can reach 3-5 feet tall. This salvia is easy to grow and can be cut back almost to the ground if needed without harming the plant. It has a very long bloom season in mild areas. Hummingbirds love it!
Salvia leucantha – This variety is commonly known as Mexican Bush Sage. Long velvety purple spikes set with small white flowers crown the top of arching gray-green foliage. Long lasting bloom from summer to the first frost. Makes a good background plant in a border or large planting bed. Cut back in winter if stems have become too woody.
Salvia guaranitica– The ‘Black & Blue’ variety is a 3-4′ shrub with spikes of dark blue and black flowers. This is a long bloomer, hardy to 20 or 25 degrees.
Salvia elegans – Known as Pineapple Sage requires a bit more water than many of its saliva relatives although still fairly drought tolerant. This is a hummingbird favorite – blooming in late summer to early fall (August to October) when food sources may be less abundant.
Native Salvia Favorites:
Salvia apiana – White Sage is much loved for its distinctive foliage.
Salvia clevelandii – Fast growing and highly aromatic.
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Salvia greggii – Known as Autumn Sage, this variety is available in a number of flower colors – red, yellow, pink, white and purple. Erect growth to about three feet with medium green foliage. Plant in full sun.