Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—California buckeye, Aesculus californica, is an enigma. How does it survive while defoliated for so much of the year? Not all are so mysterious. Those that live in sheltered or forested situations behave like normal deciduous trees, by defoliating in autumn, and refoliating in spring, after a brief winter dormancy. Those that are more exposed in warm and...

UNITED STATES—The need to deadhead so early in spring is one of the few minor consequences of spring bulbs. Long before it becomes necessary to deadhead zinnia, canna and rose, the first flowers to bloom as winter ends are already finished. Many are those of spring bulbs. Their lingering deteriorating bloom can be slightly unappealing. What is more of...

UNITED STATES—Arborists are very specialized horticulturists. They prefer to work with trees. Of course that is not as simple as it sounds. Some are nurserymen who grow trees. Some select appropriate trees for landscape design. Even some of the orchardists who work with many trees of a similar type have earned this prestigious designation. Decades ago, we still knew...

UNITED STATES—'Perennial' is a simple adjective that describes something that last for more than a single year. Horticulturally, it is not this simple. After all, every plant that is not an 'annual,' which completes its entire life cycle within only one year, is technically a 'perennial.' Those that develop lignified (woody) parts instead conform to such categories as tree,...

UNITED STATES—Olive orchards formerly inhabited some of the regions that became urban in California. A few orchard trees remained within urban gardens of the homes that encroached on them. Unfortunately, for those who did not utilize the abundant olives, these trees were horridly messy. Many decades ago, pollarding eliminated the mess without eliminating the trees. Pollarding is extreme pruning that...

UNITED STATES—September began with the warmest weather of the year. Such weather is not uncommon for late summer here. It can happen as late as early autumn. Still, it can be disconcerting while weather should be cooling. Cool season vegetable plants that are technically now seasonable dislike such warmth. Cole vegetables are particularly responsive to weather. Cole vegetables are within...

UNITED STATES—Some gardens continue to recover from the exceptionally wintry weather of last winter. Frost damaged some plants, and killed a few. Wind damaged trees. Excessive rain caused erosion and saturation. This collectively unpleasant weather inhibited some from maintaining their gardens. Yet, some plants that require vernalization are performing splendidly. It seems like an odd juxtaposition. Bloom of some plants...

UNITED STATES—Some vegetation excels at exploitation of wildlife. All sorts of flowers use color and floral form to attract pollinators. Also, many flowers rely on fragrance or flavorful nectar for this same purpose. Furthermore, many flowers employ a combination of such techniques. After pollination, many species produce fruit to draw wildlife to disperse their seed. This includes winter berries. Just...

UNITED STATES—A dressed turkey that is packaged for retail sale in a supermarket is not ready to be eaten right away. If frozen, it must be thawed slowly. It must then be unwrapped; and little bag of giblets must be removed from inside, before the turkey gets stuffed and finally cooked. Although the inexperienced sometimes cook, a turkey with...

UNITED STATES—A south or west facing fence is a perfect place to grow pole beans. Twine can be strung in a zig-zag pattern between single rows of partly protruding nails along the top and bottom. The spacing of the nails should match that of the pole bean plants. Bean seed sown at the base of the fence germinate and...