Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—Nature is smart. It should be. It has been operating efficiently since the beginning of time. That is certainly longer than anyone has been gardening in defiance of nature. Imported plants that need unnatural watering and soil amendment continue to benefit from nature. Some assets, such as weather, are direct from nature. Some, such as mulch, are copied. Summers...

UNITED STATES—Saturation of the soil should be a rare problem within the local chaparral climates. Water is a limited resource. That is why plants that are not native or endemic to other chaparral or desert climates rely on supplemental irrigation. Many exotic species would not survive through the locally long and dry summers without it. Water is only sufficient...

UNITED STATES—Home gardens and landscapes should be compatible with their respective climates. For local chaparral climates, plants that do not need much watering through the long and dry summers are appropriate. Aquatic plants are the extreme opposite. They require regular replenishment of the ponds that they inhabit. Arid warmth increases their need for water. Aquatic plant can not be 'drought...

UNITED STATES—Oleander that inhabits freeway medians is poisonous enough to be hazardous. Two tons of Buick cruising at 65 miles per hour past such oleander has more potential to be hazardous. The risk associated with toxic plants within freeway medians is as limited as their accessibility. Remarkably durable and resilient oleander is therefore quite practical. Realistically, established oleander is quite...

UNITED STATES—Many popular annual bedding plants have potential to be perennial if they get a chance. Cyclamen commonly perform as a cool season annual, only until replacement with warm season annuals. However, after summer dormancy, their tubers can generate foliage and bloom again for several following winters. Replacement is just easier than maintenance. Real annuals complete their entire life cycles,...

UNITED STATES—Summer began more than a week ago. Subsequently, the dog days of summer continue from the third of July to the eleventh of August. These 40 dog days are the 20 days prior to and after the twenty-third of July. That is when the Sun aligns with Sirius, the Dog Star of the constellation of Canis Major, or...

UNITED STATES—Green is the most common floral color. It only seems to be rare amongst flowers because almost all green bloom relies on wind for pollination. Thus, neither color nor fragrance is useful to get the attention of pollinators. Actually, green flowers do not get much attention at all. They are easy to ignore in the wild, and generally...

UNITED STATES—'Mediterranean' translates as an adjective that describes being at the middle of the Earth. Those who inhabited that region many centuries ago considered the Mediterranean Sea to be central to their World. That was long ago and far away. Nonetheless, climates here and now are somehow Mediterranean. Maybe semi-arid climates of Italy are Californian. Mediterranean climates are temperately warm...

UNITED STATES—Fads certainly complicate gardening. Most are merely marketing tactics. Most are bogus. Many even contradict their justifications! For example, most new, trendy and supposedly sustainable plant cultivars are genetically weak because of extensive breeding. Drought tolerance likewise has potential to be a constructive fad but is so commonly misapplied. Incidentally, its terminology is somewhat inaccurate. Drought is an extended...

UNITED STATES—New England is famous for spectacular foliar color through autumn. Such color is merely seasonal though, and almost exclusive to deciduous vegetation. With few exceptions, its color range is limited to variations of yellow, orange, red or brown. It happens thousands of miles away and is difficult to replicate on such a grand scale with locally minimal chill. For...