Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—'Chill' could almost be a pleasant euphemism for 'frost'. Both words describe cool or cold weather that occurs during winter. The obvious difference is that one is good, and one is bad. Chill is a minimum duration of cool weather that some plants require through winter to maintain their schedules. Frost is weather that is cool enough to...

UNITED STATES—The Santa Clara Valley was formerly famous for stone fruit orchards. The San Fernando Valley was formerly famous for citrus orchards. The Wenatchee Region of Washington is still famous for apple orchards. Many variables influence which agricultural commodities grow or grew in each region. Of these, one of the more obvious is temperature and 'chill.' Citrus could not be...

UNITED STATES—Poinsettias, Christmas cacti, cyclamen, various forced bulbs and several other seasonal potted plants are again becoming popular. It happens annually prior to Christmas. Heath, heather, rosemary, English holly with berries, and delightful compact conifers have been gaining popularity for many past years. Seasonal potted plants are increasingly diverse. Unfortunately, few survive for long after Christmas. Forced bulbs exhaust their...

UNITED STATES—Even as autumn weather cools, smoke rising from a simple old fashioned brick chimney is a rare sight nowadays. A smoking stovepipe is rarer. Modern building codes forbid the installation of new fireplaces or wood stoves within most municipalities here. Modern air quality ordinances severely limit the use of existing fireplaces and wood burning stoves. Furthermore, existing fireplaces and...

UNITED STATES—Gardens might be colorful throughout the year here. There is not much time between the latest of the autumn flowers and the earliest of the spring flowers. Winter flowers are glad to compensate for the lapse. Of course, there are plenty of flowers in spring and summer. Nonetheless, dried flowers are more popular now that there are fewer...

UNITED STATES—Evergreen plants retain foliage throughout the year. Deciduous plants defoliate for part of the year. That is the simplest explanation. The various reasons for shedding or retaining foliage are not so simple. Annual plants die after their single growing seasons. They cannot live long enough to be either evergreen or deciduous. Some plants just may be both. Foliar color,...

UNITED STATES—Arborists are horticulturists. They just happen to be more specialized than most. Many or most other horticulturists work with flora that they engage from the ground. Arborists work exclusively with trees. Some must leave the ground to do so. The most experienced and educated arborists are those certified by the International Society of Arboriculture or ISA. ISA certification requires...

UNITED STATES—Autumn is also fall for a reason. It is the season during which most deciduous foliage will fall. Some deciduous trees that lack good fall color may look neater without their shabby old foliage. Sadly though, the splendidly colorful deciduous trees must shed also. All that collective debris that succumbs to weather and gravity gets messy, and can...

UNITED STATES—Red berries that ripen through autumn and into winter are becoming prominent. They are too brightly colorful and profuse to hide. Those that do not attract too much attention from wildlife may linger after floral color fades. Some may last longer than the earliest fall color. Otherwise, if wildlife consumes all of the red berries, that is what...

UNITED STATES—Autumn is also fall here. Actually, 'fall' is the more popular name. It had been the popular name in England during the Sixteenth Century. The (generally) French name of 'autumn' became more common there during the Seventeenth Century. Yet, both names remained in use in the American Colonies. That is why autumn foliar color is more simply fall...