flowers
Year-Round Flowers in Your Garden
Evergreen Library, 2635 Aborn Road, San Jose, 95121
Did you know that by careful planning and plant selection, you can have beautiful flowers in your garden all year long? Find out from Master Gardeners!
Flowers
It's wonderful having flowers in your yard! Even if your main focus is raising vegetables, adding ornamental flowers enhances the look of your garden and makes it more attractive to the pollinators you need for a successful crop. While much of the focus of the UC sites is on edible crops, we have some links on flowers in the menu on the left side of this page.
- UC Pest Notes - Pests in Gardens and Landscapes—Flowers
Popping Wisteria Seeds Pods!
by: Allen Buchinski
It’s autumn, and that means my wisteria seeds will soon be popping! If you’ve ever seen this happen, you know exactly what I mean, but if you don’t have wisteria in your yard, it’s likely that you’re not aware of the phenomenon.
We all know that plants spread their seeds using different mechanisms; some of the most common methods are distribution by wind, water, and animals. But the most fascinating, at least to me, is explosive dispersal, where a seed pod pops open and flings its seeds away from the plant. The evolutionary explanation for this is to prevent overcrowding of seedlings around the parent plant, giving them the light and space they need to mature.
Examples of plants that exhibit explosive dispersal include impatiens, sweet peas, lupines, California poppies, and pansies. In fact, I love to pick a ready-to-pop impatiens seed pod and casually hand it to an unsuspecting person, then watch them jump with surprise when it goes off in their hand. (Try it with kids and they’ll be searching for every plant in the neighborhood!)
But I digress; let’s get back to the main topic. Wisteria is a member of the Pea family, Fabaceae (as are other exploders including lupine and scotch broom). Most of us know it as a climbing vine, with purple, and sometimes white, flowers in the early spring. Less noticeable, at least from a distance, are the seed pods that form afterwards.
Gardens to Attract Beneficial Insects, 2006
by Sue Van Stee and Joan Youngren
Overview:
Because this garden is an ongoing project maintained from year to year, the primary purpose continues to be choosing, planting and maintaining flowering plants that attract and sustain populations of beneficial arthropods and vertebrates including birds and lizards. We also try to determine the plant preferences of these various organisms. We share this information with other Master Gardeners and the gardening public.
Cut Flowers and Ornamentals, 2006
Nine Palms Ranch Trial, Spring - Summer 2006
Lead: Laura Balaoro and Milli Wright
Team Members: Jeanie Sunseri, Sandra Tamm, Nella Henninger, Tomoko Kodama
Overview:
In this trial, we were looking for annuals and perennials that make ideal cut flowers for the average home garden. Judging criteria were plant's performance, disease/pest resistance, and production during the whole season allowing for continual harvesting of flowers/foliage. Successful cut flowers stay fresh in arrangements for four days to one week.
We also included some edible plants that are ornamental and can be used with the cut flowers in arrangements.
Soil preparation:
We added composted horse manure to the plot. No additional fertilizer was added.
Seeding and Planting:
Seeding was done in mid-February and transplanted in May. Some varieties needed to be re-seeded
because of our unusually late Spring. Spacing was 18-24". All were planted in full
sun.
Watering:
Plot was watered with drip irrigation for 30 minutes three times a week at start then reduced to 20
minutes three times per week as the plants matured.
Pests and Diseases:
Gophers were the main pests. Trapping was the method used.
Zinnias and cosmos began to mildew in mid August, as the nights became colder. Birds were
eating the sunflower leaves, which may have affected the overall productivity of the plants.
Marigolds
By Lyle Pyeatt, July 1985
In spite of such misleading and commonly used names as African Gold and French marigold, these plants are native to the Americas. The distribution of wild marigold species ranges from Arizona and New Mexico through Central America to Argentina.
The marigold is an immensely popular warm season annual, and rightly so, because it has many positive qualities and few potential problems. No other plant is faster or easier to grow. Flowers are produced over a long period of time and are long lasting when used as a cut flower. There is a whole spectrum of interesting and different cultivars from which to choose.
Marigold types:
African or American (Tagetes erecta): These are tall, erect-growing plants up to three feet in height. Hybridists have also produced some dwarf cultivars (for example: 'Cupid' and 'Guys and Dolls') The flowers are globe-shaped and large, to five inches across. Red flower colors do not appear in this group, but there now are white-flowered cultivars. The Africans take longer to reach flowering stage than the French type.
French (Tagetes patula): Cultivars in this group grow 5 inches to 18 inches high. Flower colors are red, orange and yellow. Many cultivars combine red and orange in different bicolor patterns. Double-flowered cultivars predominate, but there are a number of others with single, daisy-like flowers. Flowers are smaller than those in the African group.
Species: This group probably is not as far removed from their wild ancestors as the much hybridized African and French types. Plants form compact, low mounds less than 12 inches high. Two species offered in the trade are described below.
Growing Sunflowers in Santa Clara County
by Nancy Garrison, former Horticultural Advisor, Santa Clara County, 1986
Sunflowers are exceptionally easy to grow
Just follow these guidelines and then check out the 2001 Sunflower Field Trials .
Plant In ...
- full sun.
- fertile soil with good drainage.
- spring after frost danger is past
And keep the following in mind ...
Top Daisy Performers
By Nancy Garrison, Horticulture Advisor
From Daisy Project - summer of 1992
U.C. Bay Area Research and Extension Center
Revised 12/14/92
Master Gardener volunteers from Santa Clara County planted and grew 36 different varieties of daisy-type flowers to provide a demonstration of the range of plant material available for use in the landscape. The top choices compiled from our field screening were based on insect and disease resistance, low maintenance in regards to deadheading, overall attractiveness and long bloom season. We had a serious problem in the field with Sclerotinia, which is a soil-borne fungi. It killed or severely affected many of our varieties. The top performers included the following:
Cladanthus arabicus (Palm Springs Daisy) -- Attractive, compact, but airy looking mounding plant with gray-green feathery foliage, 18" tall by 2' wide. Looks a bit like chamomile. Flowers are golden yellow about 1" across, sparsely covering foliage. Died out early in the summer.
Dahlberg Daisy (Yellow) Thymophylla tenuiloba -- Long blooming summer annual ground cover with bright yellow flowers 1' across completely covering ferny foliage. Plants form very neat uniform mounds 10-12" tall and 2' across. Minimum incidence of disease. Little water stress after 3 weeks of no irrigation. The purple variety died early in the season. May have been due to Sclerotinia.
Echinacea purpurea 'Bravado' -- Spectacular, late summer blooming cone flowers on long stiff erect stems--great for cutting. The 3-1/2" to 4" wide lavender-pink blooms, with beautiful, burnt orange discs, have petals that are more horizontal than drooping in habit. No evidence of insect or disease problems. Great bee and beneficial insect attractant!
