If Daylight Saving Time just happened, can the first day of spring — and the semiofficial start of gardening season — be far behind? Read on for tips and plant suggestions from local experts that will inspire you to get digging. (Psst! You might also want to draw a big ol’ red circle around April 13.)
Shakra
The person: Quin Shakra and fellow Ojai Valley farmer Justin Huhn started All Good Things Organic Seeds in 2011, using open-pollinated seeds saved from herbs, flowers and vegetables grown at Mano Farm. The 1.3-acre property near Meiners Oaks also is the site of their Mano Farm CSA, or community supported agriculture program.
The plant: Grown from seed, Riverside onion (allium cepa) is a yellow Spanish onion with a sweet flavor and thick skin that makes it a good candidate for storage, said Shakra.
“An open-pollinated, short-day onion seed can be hard to find,” he added. The reference is to plants that have been pollinated by bees, wind or other natural processes, and to onions that start to bulb when day length reaches 10-12 hours.
Riverside Onion (Allium cepa) is available from All Good Things Organic Seeds.
Lisa McKinnon/ The Star
For best results, sow the seeds in flats six to eight weeks before the last frost in spring, or direct sow after the last frost. Harvest the mature bulbs when the tops begin to dry down.
Mark your calendar: Huhn will present a free lecture on “Planning and Planting a Seed Garden” at 11 a.m. April 13 at Flora Gardens Nursery, 245 Old Baldwin Road, Ojai (call 640-0055). For information about or to place orders for All Good Things Organic Seeds, visit the website at http://www.agtoseeds.com.
Here’s a tip: Learn by doing by volunteering at the farm. Shakra might reward you by knitting you a colorful hat like the one he’s shown wearing here.
————
O’Connell
The person: Jo O’Connell earned degrees in horticulture in her native Sydney, Australia, before opening the Australian Native Plants Nursery in the Casitas Springs area of Ventura in the early 1990s. She has worked on revegetation projects in the Australian outback and in South Africa, and helped create what is now known as the Conservation Endowment Fund of Ojai’s Taft Garden.
The plant: Grevillea ‘Superb’ and any of the more than 350 versions of the evergreen flowering plant in the protea family are good choices for Ventura County gardeners, said O’Connell.
“They come in all sorts of colors, are available as everything from a ground cover to a hedge, and hummingbirds love them,” she said. The nursery’s selection of grevilleas includes ‘Casitas Pink,’ an O’Connell creation that produces pale pink, cone-shaped blooms.
Grevilleas are drought-tolerant and prefer little to no fertilization. If you must use plant food on or near a grevillea, chose one that is very low in phosphorus, said O’Connell.
Mark your calendar: Normally open to the public by appointment or when the gates happen to be unlocked, the Australian Native Plants Nursery will have an open house and spring plant sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 13 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 14. The nursery’s address is 9040 N. Ventura Ave., but the entrance is off Nye Road (call 649-3362 or click on http://www.australianplants.com).
Here’s a tip: “Never put a dry plant in a dry hole,” said O’Connell. “We haven’t had a lot of rain this winter, so it’s important to fill your planting hole with water and allow it to drain into the surrounding soil before adding your plant,” she said. After planting, follow with an organic mulch like broken-down oak or eucalyptus leaves.
————
Bob Sussman
Lisa McKinnon/The Star
Also known as southern island mallow, the California native plant lavatera assurgentiflora ssp. ‘glabra’ is available at Matilija Nursery in Moorpark.
The person: Bill Sussman is a former banker turned California native plant specialist and iris propagator who opened Matilija Nursery in 1992. Its current Moorpark location has been in operation for 18 years.
The plant: Show some California pride by growing a variation of lavatera assurgentiflora, also known as island mallow because it is native to the Channel Islands.
The shrub with maple-leaf shaped foliage and hollyhock-like blooms needs little water, can handle semi-shade to full sun and attracts bees and butterflies by flowering nearly year-round, said Sussman. Lavatera grows fast, making it a good choice for wind breaks and privacy hedges.
Lavatera blooms in a range of hues, from the deep pink of assurgentiflora to the cream-with-purple-stripes seen on the lavatera assurgentiflora ssp. glabra growing at the nursery. Planted four years ago, the bush is now about 10 feet tall by 8 feet wide.
Mark your calendar: Workshops will be available during the nursery’s fifth annual Carnival de Iris focusing on Louisiana, Pacific Coast and tall bearded reblooming varieties from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 13. The nursery is open from 8:30 a.m. to noon Mondays through Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment at 8225 Waters Road (call 523-8604 or click on http://www.matilijanursery.com.
Here’s a tip: Like many plants, California natives look best when arranged according to a “big stuff in back, little stuff in the front” plan, said Sussman. It’s also a good idea to group fewer types of plants together instead of attempting to grow one of everything, he added. For an example, visit the Meadow Display at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
————
Daigre
The person: Scott Daigre is owner of Powerplant Garden Design based in Ojai and co-founder of Tomatomania!, a seedling sale that started at a Pasadena nursery in the 1990s. The event now features more than 100 varieties of hybrid and heirloom tomato plants as it tours California, Maryland and Virginia.
The plant: What’s not to like about a tomato named for an alien species from the TV series “Babylon 5”? Vorlon is “a phenomenal tomato, a gorgeous black beefsteak on a big, tough and productive plant,” said Daigre. “The taste? Can’t even describe it. Too good.”
Mark your calendar: Tomatomania! will visit Otto Sons Nursery in Fillmore from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 12-13. The address is 1835 E. Guiberson Road (524-2123). If the supply of Vorlon seedlings runs short, Tomatomania! staff will be on hand to suggest alternate varieties. Daigre will present a free tomato-gardening class at 10 a.m. both days. For information about other stops on the tour, visit the website at http://tomatomania.com.
Vorlon, a beefsteak variety, will be featured at Tomatomania! in Fillmore.
Photo courtesy of Scott Daigre
Here’s a tip: If you’re growing tomatoes in the ground, soak the rootball every three or four days for the first few weeks. Once tomatoes start growing, water deeply and even more infrequently. The plant will inevitably yellow in places, but more water won’t fix that and may even dilute taste, said Daigre. Feed around the roots at planting, and again once the plants begin to flower.
If you’re growing tomatoes in containers, water the plants as often as every day when the weather is hot. You’ll need to feed more often, too — every 10 to 14 days.
Speak Your Mind