by angela@diggingbliss | Nov 3, 2014 | fall, flowers, landscaping, seeds, talini's nursery, wildflowers
Right now, after we’ve had our first real rain, is the perfect time for Californians to go crazy sprinkling wildflower seeds all over the land! I planted California poppies a couple days ago. What will you plant? I’m partial to Renee’s Carefree Annual Wildflowers Scatter Garden, and the poppies-only mix. Find the sunniest, most inhospitable part of your yard and sprinkle away.
I planted the poppies (pictured below) in a narrow crack between asphalt and concrete out front at Talini’s Nursery. Just sprinkled and forgot. No water. No work, because Mother Nature took care of the rest.
We may have paved paradise and put up a parking lot, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put a little paradise back into that parking lot!
I’ve also had really good luck with the native CA bulk seed mixes from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply.
Watch this inspiring video!
by angela@diggingbliss | Nov 25, 2013 | bulbs, fall, flowers, landscaping, pansies, tulips
I finally dragged my lazy ass out front to plant my tulips. They’d been chilling in the fridge since arriving from Colorblends several weeks ago. Had they been in there for the full six weeks? I don’t know. All I know is, we got a break in the rain and Thanksgiving is Thursday and I need room in my fridge for holiday food, not tulips.
“What? I thought these were shallots! They’re in the stuffing!”
First, I dug the planting hole. I skipped the bulb auger this time because I had a hundred tulips to plant and realized I should just dig out the entire swath of soil along the front edge of the bed. I actually only got ninety-four of them in the ground. That’s because my basil is still growing and I can’t… won’t… pull it until I make several more batches of dairy-free pesto.
I’ll plant the leftover bulbs in a container. As happens to me sometimes, strange things happened while I was out front. A homeless man walked by and turned back to ask me the time. I gave that to him, but then he… clearly not a neighbor and clearly emboldened by my politeness… asked if I know someone named “Laura” who lives on my street. Dude? Don’t. Even.
“Not at all.”
I replied in a voice that encouraged him to keep walking. When creepy drifter guy was gone, police helicopters started hovering over my street, announcing something from the loudspeaker that I couldn’t quite make out. I think it was about a missing boy. Then a police car cruised by, circled back and then took off. I don’t think the two unsettling events were connected; just random strangeness that punctuated what was otherwise a lovely fall day of bulb planting. Usually, my neighborhood is quite idyllic.
As the afternoon sun waned, the soil came out, the bulbs went in, the soil went back in, the pansies went in, my back began to groan. I didn’t add any granular fertilizer to the soil, so I will hit the pansies with liquid fertilizer in a couple weeks; these bulbs contain all the nutrients they need in order to bloom.
I decided to plant a flat of ‘Dynamite Wine Flash’ pansies over my bulbs. Meg and Michael at the nursery helped me settle on that color over ‘Antique Shades’, which I also liked. The flat sat untouched for a week since my mind was pulled in other directions by other distractions. You can tell by the roots that they needed to go into the ground… stat. It feels good to have tulip planting out of the way. Now we get to sit back and wait for the show.
Guarded within the old red wall’s embrace,
Marshalled like soldiers in gay company,
The tulips stand arrayed. Here infantry
Wheels out into the sunlight. — Amy Lowell, A Tulip Garden.
by angela@diggingbliss | Dec 7, 2006 | annie's, bargains, fall, nurseries, nursery
Just a reminder… to myself and others… that we only have until December 31 to get the 15% discount on plants at Annie’s Annuals. We’re nearing the end of the northern California prime planting season, but heck, I’ve seen plants go in the ground in January and not even blink. What? Plants don’t have eyes? Oh, you sticklers…
The plain truth is that nurseries have a hard time selling non-blooming plants and right now not a lot’s blooming. As long as you know what you’re looking for– or are in the mood for some surprises– and the plant looks healthy, you can find great nursery bargains. Fall-planted trees, perennials, shrubs and cool-season annuals get an excellent head start, mostly in the form of crucial root growth, compared to those planted in Spring.
Bay Areans, you can just plant and plant and plant whenever you feel like it because you live in the land of perpetual springtime. Am I jealous? No way, Jose. Picture a San Franciscan kneeling in his garden, humming a techno-folksy tune while planting pansies and then boom, The Big One. Pansies flying, the ground undulating and perhaps opening up. Nah, Valley winters are ok by me. Valley living is ok by me. Makes me feel grounded. Literally.
I do want to make a mad dash to Annie’s soon, though.
If you order online, note the following disclaimer: * Discount applied at checkout to new orders only. Does not include shipping.
