Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—Flowers produce seed. That is their priority. Flowers that do not rely primarily on wind for pollination are colorful and fragrant merely to attract pollinators. They deteriorate as seed develops after pollination. Many flowers finish bloom between summer and autumn. This can generate an abundance of true to type seed to potentially collect for the next season. Seed of...

UNITED STATES—Cool season vegetables will replace warm season vegetables during autumn. Also, cool season annuals will replace warm season annuals. Neither simple task is easy for warm season plants that continue to perform too well to remove. Conversely, some finish early. Autumn annuals may compensate until cool season annuals become more seasonable. Summers here are long, dry and somewhat warm....

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—White and black are supposedly opposites. White is a combination of all wavelengths of visible light. Black is a complete absence of such light. In other words, white is a mixture of all colors, while black is the absence of any color. This seems contrary to the common perception of white as a complete lack of color, and...

UNITED STATES—Pups of the most familiar type are canine. Most are puppies of domestic dogs. Some are foxes or wolves. A few are seals, otters or various other animals. Garden variety pups do not get much consideration though. They develop into new progeny of plants rather than animals. Unlike baby animal, they are genetically identical clones of their single...

UNITED STATES—Within the outdoor rooms of home gardens, shade trees are ceilings, shrubs and hedges are walls, and turf and ground cover plants are floors. That is why the selection of plants for such purposes is as important as the selection of paint and carpet for indoors. Among ground cover plants, durable turf grasses for lawns are the most...

UNITED STATES—Gardening is fun. Furthermore, gardens are pretty. Some gardens also produce fruits and vegetables. Not very long ago, production of fruits and vegetables was more of a priority for more gardens. Some big gardens generated firewood and a bit of forage for livestock. Contemporary abundances allowed gardening to become more aesthetic than utilitarian. Such abundance may not seem so...

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...