Each year customers ask us for our recommendations on which fruit trees to add to their yards. There are so many wonderful options to choose from. Our fruit tree grower, Dave Wilson Nursery, has identified their Top 50 Fruit Trees for home gardens. Take a look!
The green leafy goodness of houseplants have made a resurgence in popularity in the last few years. These last 6 months have multiplied the interest.
Our living and working space has moved from outdoors to indoors – more than 85% of a person’s daily life is spent indoors. While developments in technology have allowed people to remain connected through the computer environment, it is not without the rise of “technostress”. Most people are instinctively drawn towards green spaces – and plants are the perfect way to bring this greenery indoors. Research has shown that greenery can have a beneficial impact on mental health.
A Trio of Green Beauties – Sansevieria, Monstera & Pilea
Taking in natural green is good for clearing the mind, reducing stress and increasing happiness. Other benefits of surrounding yourself with plants, reported in Psychology Today, includes lowered blood pressure, improved productivity in workplaces, general improvement on well-being and improved job satisfaction.
An added bonus of indoor plants is that they help to reduce pollution, which may be why we feel that little bit better when we are around them or working in a workplace that has them.
The history of Alden Lane is not complete without recognizing a gentleman who shaped our new garden center. Dear friend and industry colleague, Ernest Wertheim passed away at the age of 100 years, 7 months and 4 days.
Our Friend, Ernest Wertheim
Ernest was a landscape architect who became a world renowned garden center designer. We were fortunate to be personal friends and engaged the services of his San Francisco architectural firm, WVK. Ernest and his partner Jack Klemeyer made history by designing state of the art garden centers all over the globe, we are grateful to both for their vision and great skill in their backyard. Coincidentally, the first garden center they designed was my husband’s, Orchard Nursery and Florist Lafayette in 1954 for the previous owner.
Ernest’s longevity stemmed from embracing youth and new technologies. He never stopped learning. He had tremendous stamina and capacity always outpacing those he consulted for. He was a passionate planner who challenged his clients to think through their needs, asking the hard questions. He was a peace maker and always a broker of goodwill.
My husband, Tom Courtright, I and Ernest spoke at a garden symposium and had flown out of San Francisco. Our return flight was delayed by 4 hours. We enticed Ernest to talk about his life and WWII experience. The result of that fleeting 4 hours was numerous speaking engagements and a book called Chasing Spring available at Alden Lane.
The book recounts the life of a boy born in Berlin, becoming a landscape architect, fleeing to safety in the United States, being inducted into the US Army as an enemy alien, providing intelligence that saved countless lives, ultimately working directly with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific.
Ernest’s bright light will live on in his family, friends, colleagues, clients and countless projects along with the many lessons taught along the way.
I’ll close with the last passage of his book
“A Place to Rest”
On the upper part of the mountain in Alpine Meadows there is a steep slope that is covered with striking Sierra primroses (Primula suffrutescens). The perennials, endemic to California, come out after the snow has melted. For years our family would hike up the mountain to see them in bloom which, depending on the season, is in mid-July or early August
It is on the mountain in Alpine among the primroses where both Margrit and I would like to be put to rest. We hope our ashes will provide some nutrients for these beautiful plants, just as my relationship with plants has nourished me. My love affair has been with me through the innocence of childhood, the nightmares of Nazi Germany, the separations and losses of loved ones, the horrors of the battlefield, the transcendent landscapes, the gift of good friends, the joy of family and many lessons I’ve learned that humbled me and hopefully made me a better person. How lucky I have been.
We are bringing in a number of these gorgeous 2-gallon miniature roses and we will donate $5 from the purchase of each rose to the Rotarian Foundation Livermore. The Foundation provides grants to our favorite Valley non-profits needing a hand during these challenging times. The rose cost is $39.99, $5 of which will be donated.
Rose History
Alden Lane Nursery owner, Jacquie Williams-Courtright served as the California Association of Nurserymen state president in 1996-1997. Each president is asked to select a theme for their year. She wanted to buoy the spirits of industrymen who had just experienced two challenging years so she decided that her theme would be “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. The theme resonated with the membership and fortunately the economy was “rosier” during her year in office.
One nurseryman took a special interest in Jacquie’s theme. Ralph Moore, world renowned plant breeder and owner of Moore’s Miniature Roses in Visalia, had known Jacquie since her time at Cal Poly where he would regularly come to teach and engage the youth of the industry. He was proud of Jacquie’s accomplishments since her graduation and wanted to recognize her contributions by naming one of his miniature roses in her honor. What a tribute!
Citrus are the most versatile of the trees and shrubs that grow in our valley. They can be grown as specimens, in hedges, as espalier or in containers. Citrus plants offer beautiful foliage, decorative fruit, and fragrant flowers. Growing citrus can be easy; the difficulty is in selecting the variety which you will enjoy the most.
Growing Citrus
Choosing the Site Citrus prefer a hot south or west facing location with good draining soil. Test how well the soil drains by digging a 1’x1′ hole. Fill it with water. The water must be gone in 24 hours. Citrus should not be planted in a low or soggy spot that has poor drainage or in a lawn. If the water does not drain, it may be necessary to raise the overall soil level by creating a mound or building a planting box or look for an alternate planting location. An open-bottom-box measuring 3’x3′ wide and 8″ deep makes a great raised bed. A reflective wall or fence is helpful and planting citrus under the south or west facing eve of the house will provide some important protection from winter cold temperatures.
Preparing the Planting Hole
Dig a hole three times as wide as the root ball and just as deep as the root ball. The edges of the planting hole should then be dug out deeper than the center to accommodate additional soil amendments. (See Illustration)
Improve the existing soil from the planting hole with Master Nursery Acid Planting Mix at a ratio of 75% Planting mix to 25% existing soil. To this improved soil, add the appropriate amount of Master Nursery Master Start and Osmocote Slow Release Fertilizer, mix thoroughly.
Planting
Plant by carefully removing it from its container. Gently rough the outer edges of the root ball if the soil is tight, and place it in the hole so that the top of the root ball rests slightly higher than the existing ground level (never place any soil above the root ball, covering the stem). Back-fill around the root ball with the improved soil mixture. Tamp to compress the soil as you go. Use some of the extra soil to build a circular dam around the new plant to hold a generous quantity of irrigation water.
Watering
Water the plant thoroughly after you have finished planting it. Let the water soak in, and then water again. Citrus plants need less frequent watering than most garden plants. Give it a deep soak once or, at most twice a week, depending on the weather, (frequent watering is the most common cause of failure with citrus). However, to preserve the crop, never let the plant dry out during the bloom & pea-sized fruit stages.
Now is the prime Camellia time! Our Camellia japonicas are budded & blooming with spring splendor.
Camellias are among spring’s first bloomers. The lovely shrubs spend the year standing tall in the shade garden with glossy evergreen foliage. Even in fall, springs buds are beginning to fatten up. They’re exploding into bloom now and are ripe for selecting.
It’s the perfect time to pick the flower style and color you love. Among the many varieties we stock are:
Camellia ‘Buttermint’
DEBUTANTE A medium-sized peony flower with light pink blossoms which appear January through early March.
KRAMER’S SUPREME has large, lightly fragrant, full peony, deep red to rose-red blossoms which appear late February through March.
NUCCIO’S GEM a medium to large, formal double flower with pure white blossoms which blooms January through early March.
PEARL MAXWELL a large, formal double flower with shell-pink blooms which appear early to mid-February through March.
SILVER WAVES A large, wavy, semi-double flower with white blossoms and sprays of stamens which appear February through March.
Camellia ‘Ferris Wheel’
Take a look at relative newcomer FERRIS WHEEL. This red, pink and white striped semi-double is quite the stunner.
Planting
Camellias are slow to moderate growers. Habits vary from compact and upright to loose and spreading. Plant in well-drained organic soil (Acid Planting Mix). Filtered or bright shade all day is the best exposure, early a.m. sun before 10 or late day sun after 5:00 p.m.would also be okay. Protect from the heat of the day.
Feed monthly September through March with Master Bloom and monthly April through August with Master’s Azalea, Camellia, Gardenia Acid Food. Quarterly applications of Iron will keep your leaves bright green.
We also have a sizable collection of Sasanqua Camellias. Sasanquas typically bloom earlier than the Japonicas.
Thank you goes out to designer Eric Teberg, and Rafael & Team for pulling a stunning Alden Lane Nursery landscape exhibit together. Be sure to see our award-winning garden at the fair!
For gardening in the shade, don’t forget Primroses. These blooming beauties will flower for the months ahead and bring cheery relief to the dreary winter garden. They grow in a multitude of colors.
Primroses come in a few different varieties and feature candy store colors for the shade. They bloom into May and look great with needlepoint ivy or dark green boxwood.
Planting
Plant Primrose in morning sun or bright shade. They will thrive in a pot with Master’s Pride Potting Soil, or the flower bed into soil improved with Master Nursery Planting Mix.
We usually grow them as annuals to be replaced at the end of bloom, but technically they are perennials, you can nurture them along year after year.
Look around and you may see the light green ferny foliage of California Poppies sprouting, or California Buckwheat seedlings emerging in loose soil. These volunteers are a delight, and their appearance means the time is right to start a selection of the many native Sages, or Salvias, as their genus is known. The combination of warm soil, seasonal rains and milder sunlight means plant now to get a head start on establishing a good root system before next summer’s heat. Sages are members of the mint family, and as a group share some characteristics that make them terrific in the garden: aromatic foliage; showy, pollinator favorite flowers; and deer resistance. Here are some drought tolerant selections to add to your landscape:
Hummingbird Sage – A low spreader which grows up to a foot tall, it appreciates afternoon shade. The magenta flowers are sweetly strawberry scented and are eagerly sought out by hummers.
Cleveland Sages – Very fragrant, clean scented 3′ – 4′ shrubs bloom in late spring with fantastical, stacked pom-poms of blue-purple flowers. Choose from: ‘Pozo Blue’ is neatly rounded with purple-blue flowers; ‘Winnifred Gilman’ has darker blue-violet flowers and is a true blue sage; ‘Allen Chickering’ has gray green foliage and lavender flowers.
White Sage – Gleaming silver white foliage and white to pale pink flowers are hallmarks of this scented favorite used for incense. Bees are particularly attracted to it. A compact selection grows to 2 ft.
‘Bee’s Bliss’ – Lavender blue flowers crown this low mounding shrub in spring. Leaves are somewhat fuzzy. This is a great selection to drape over a wall.
Who we are: We are a group of quilters who are gifting bed sized quilts to fire survivors from California’s most destructive fire in history. Fire survivors are suffering from total loss of homes and tangible heritage, as well as PTSD. Our quilts which they choose help fill an emotional void in their lives, and help them have happy special beds and homes at night which is when the PTSD is worst since the fire came suddenly at night with little to NO warning.
What we are NOT: We are not a 501c3 charitable organization – please contact us if you need a 501c3 charity for donation purposes, we may be able to assist with this.
Use this link to see a KPIX story on who we are and what we are doing: https://cbsloc.al/2L00M0
What we need: Completed bed sized quilts – the bigger the better! Quilts should be large enough to cover a person in a twin sized bed with some hangover on the sides (twin mattress is 39″ x 75″). If in doubt, lay down and see if your quilt will cover you to sleep!
Long Arm Quilters willing to quilt one or more quilts – We have donations of quilt tops and have exceeded our capacity to finish them.
Batting and Backing – Quilters are donating large tops to be finished, it is an expense to provide the batting and backing for these quilts. We have been offered wholesale pricing on these items and welcome cash contributions – every dollar helps finish a quilt! Wide backing in 2 yards or more cuts are welcome, as well as batting in twin-sized or larger measurements
Quilters to sew quilt tops (or completed quilts if you are able) – We have kitted up quilts available so there is no expense involved, just time and stitching energy. We also have a wish list of what people would like, so if you want to “adopt” a fire survivor’s request, we can put you in direct contact with a fire survivor and you can have the joy of making a personal gift for them. Fabric is available as we have had generous folks offering up lovely fabric to assist with the cost. We currently have a backlog of about 100 quilt requests, mostly queen and king sized. Have a stitching party with your friends and help someone along the way!
Quilt runners – we have folks from all around the state working on our quilts, perhaps you travel regularly and would be willing to be a quilt courier helping cut shipping costs for people donating quilts!
Talk to us at our booth at Alden Lane if you want to learn about our project!
Camellias are slow to moderate growers. Habits vary from compact and upright to loose and spreading. Plant in well-drained organic soil (Acid Planting Mix). Filtered or bright shade all day is the best exposure, early a.m. sun before 10 or late day sun after 5:00 p.m.would also be okay. Protect from the heat of the day.
