Ghetto Gardening 2015
"Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw."
– Henry David Thoreau
10/8/15:
In the spirit of Ghetto Gardening, I'm sharing another easily obtainable free resource: these handy zone maps. USDA plant hardiness zone maps and Sunset magazine climate zone maps.
I'd noticed that gardening websites and books often referred to zones, but how they're determined and labeled varies with the source. On the USDA map I live in zone 9, and according to Sunset I'm in zone 17: an area of the California coast that has a mild climate, long summers, and is in the "fog belt". The USDA site suggests that my zone is good for growing some plants I'd not considered before. So now I'm interested in trying parsnips, rhododendrons and wisteria next year.
Also in line with my plan to adopt gardening strategies that are suitable for this environment, I attended a free event hosted by the local "Wetlands Watch" group. I learned more about the flowering plants that grow wild around here, then purchased some black sage, red salvia, and purple angelonia at the native and drought-tolerant plant sale. It was a very enjoyable early autumn morning. I also attended a birdwatching slideshow, and got to pet snakes during a reptile presentation.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a full-size version.
Wetlands Watch event.
Black sage grows well here.
Drought-tolerant red salvia.
Last week it rained (a tiny bit) for the first time in forever. I had forgotten how it brings an aroma of greenery, earth, and asphalt to the air. An "El Niño" level of precipitation is predicted for winter. A decisive end to this drought would be such a relief. I've spent months watering the garden and lawn in 80 to 90 degree weather, trying to keep it all from drying up, and a true rainstorm seems like a memory from another life.
The free GrowIt! app (helpful for identifying my plants with the images I post there) is having a fall photo contest for loyal users, so I am going to work on improving my garden photography. I take most of the shots here with my tablet computer, which allows greater adjustment of settings than my iPhone's camera, but tends not to capture bright reds and pinks well. It'd be nice to invest in a good SLR before long, but we are upgrading the monitor for our main home computer first and it is wise to only have one large expenditure at a time.
During my last wander around the garden store, I checked out the bulbs available to plant in fall for spring and summer blooms. The info I've read suggests planting "before the first frost". This site seems to have good general advice: Fall Planting Tips for Bulbs in Northern California. We usually don't get temperatures low enough for frost until late November, so I'll decide on varieties this month (perhaps irises? definitely more gladioluses and lilies) and colors (the yard could use more orange). Then I'll refrigerate them for a few weeks while planning which pots to put them in.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying the last of tomato and pepper season, and am happy to have finally persuaded our little postage-stamp of front lawn to be greenish and not as patchy.
