The Heat Is On!

It was cool and cloudy a few days ago and now it is really hot. I took the girls to see my mom before I headed out to Pasadena. I dropped off two roses that are prone to rust near the coast. Only time will tell if the rust is due to the weather. I have been cutting the blighted leaves on the tomatoes. Now the weather pattern has dramatically changed for the better. When the eggplant is growing very rapidly then you know that your tomatoes are also doing very well. I also planted some cucumber seeds and put a trellis around them. My plans are to plant my blueberry bush and make sure that the tomato plants are getting enough air circulation. The tomatoes were given a dose of Dr. Earth fertilizer. The fruits are getting bigger but something is nibbling on a few of them.

Busy Thursday

It was a sunny Thursday. No marine layer. The girls and I drove to John Muir High School in Pasadena. It was the CSA distribution day. The girls helped to fill the bags while I worked in the rose beds. Yikes, it was a lot of clearing I had to do. Why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? I did the same thing yesterday but I was not able to stay long because I got here at 11am. The damn narcissus! Why? I made water wells for all the roses and I could not get myself to finish one section of it. It was just densely packed with amaranth and more narcissus. I had to pull out a few dead rose bushes. It was sad. I had to stop and get myself out of there because I was not going to sit in traffic like yesterday. It was a lot of traffic going there today. I am never going to escape the traffic in Los Angeles.

We drove to Koreatown, got some lunch and drove to my own garden. I watered all the roses and harvested another zucchini. I am taking the plant out this weekend for sure. I am already done with eating zucchini. The girls picked the last of the blackberries and blueberries.

There is a lot of zucchini at the school garden!

Mulch Day

It has been warmer, sunnier, and the marine layer has not been lingering as it use to. The weather is a mystery because it can be sunny and hot in one place and cold and cloudy in another place out here in Los Angeles. Anyway, my family went to the garden together and I watered all the plants and cleaned up some of the areas that needed weeding. The Charles Darwin is my favorite rose at this moment. I just can't get over the creamy yellow blooms. The tomatoes are just doing better than before. I have been pruning some of the leaves to keep is nicely aerated since it can get ugly later on. The blight is not as bad.

The zucchini was just massive. I ended up cutting some of the leaves because it was covering my eggplants, basil, and some other herbs. I put on a good layer of horse manure on the soil to keep it moist. I know I am going to have a whole bunch of zucchini. The echinacea plant is just lovely right now. It is blooming profusely. I pulled out some grass that has been looking unruly in a corner. My back neighbor has so much stuff hanging over my side. I had to push it all back. Yesterday, I saw a great deal at OSH. O'Neal blueberry bushes for $12.99 in Pasadena. It was bigger than a gallon pot. I ended up getting 2 for my mom and one for me. Visiting nurseries is my passion. My husband got a little irritated because it was Father's Day. I also bought 3 little coffee plants. I am so happy because I have been looking for more indoor plants to accompany my ever growing fiddle leaf ficus bunch. I am always looking for deals. Anyway, a few years ago, I bought a 1 gallon blueberry bush for $15. That was so expensive!

The sweet million tomato has more tomatoes on it. I broke off one while I was taking off some of the leaves. I felt soooo bad but it happens just like when I am harvesting blueberries. Sometimes the berries drop from being touched ever so slightly.The Big Rainbow flowers have been pollinated. I can see the tiny fruits forming. I just hope that the weather keeps up. The kale is still bagrada bug free and producing beautiful green curly leaves. This year is the first year that I have a minimal amount of tomato plants. Last year I had 10. The less plants, the bigger the harvest since the plants are not competing for all the nutrients and space. Overall, I think the more mulch I layer on, I get less weeds. I don't have to water as much and it keeps the maintenance low. I am always surprised at the fellow gardeners. When they water, the water just runs right off the soil. The soil is not holding in the water because there is not enough organic materials in there. Our community garden is extremely sandy. You really have to amend it heavily. When you see a lot of worms, then you have it just right. The rose above is blooming over my neighbor's plot. I hope she enjoys it because she is such a nice lady. My husband built her garden last year and it looks beautiful. The sun came out and we saw a lot of swallowtail caterpillars. My dill had a few caterpillars on it. My dill is so sacred right now. I am not buying any more dill at the store.

I am waiting for pickling season and the dill is a necessity. The mulberry tree still has a lot of fruit on it. My girls climbed the tree to get them. Now, I am scared that one of them might fall and break something like last time. Paranoia sets in. Every time I see an avocado tree I think about the broken arm. Kids are kids and accidents happen. My younger fell over the wheelbarrow and she had her cry wolf pain scene. My husband scared the crap out of her because she is so dramatic. I thought she broke something for real. So that was my gardening for the day. I mulched all the roses, around the roses, the zucchini, the tomatoes, and herbs. I got rid of the oregano and marjoram. I am going to plant the blueberry bush so that I won't have all the slugs living underneath my herbs.

Why I Love Gardening

When I was in junior high school in Brooklyn, there was a little greenhouse in the middle of the school courtyard or something. When it snowed, the place looked magical. I was mesmerized by the things growing in there. Now, my memory can be fuzzy at my age but I distinctly remember the botany teacher. I always wanted to study botany but that did not happen.
If I had to do one thing in life-just one thing, that would be gardening. I find comfort in the soil, the worms, and the plants. My hands suffer every day due to the chronic hand washing but when I garden, the desire to wash my hands goes away.
I look at my little urban garden in the middle of who knows, and I feel such delight. I like order and tidiness. I like my garden to be inviting and full of life. Without my garden, I wonder how I would have coped with the stress in my life.

This is the dill I planted a month ago. It is still small but it is thriving. Dill hates to be moved or bothered due to its long taproot. Dill hates a lot of water. It is a pain in the ass herb until it gets to a certain stage and then snip! You can take as much as you want for your cooking needs. I am like dill. I like to stay in one place and start slow. I like to be in the front on things. So gardening has always been therapeutic for me. It was never hard, I did not get frustrated, I just wanted to grow things.

My tomato is finally producing. This is Sungold. It has a lot of fruit on it. It will be  a while before any of the fruit ripens. My last post was about growing tomatoes. I know I sounded a little dramatic but sometimes growing things can be hard or expensive and it takes a lot of COMMON SENSE. It is not rocket or PhD science. Anyway, you learn from trial and error. One must never give up but always be positive when gardening because you are doing it for yourself and nobody else.

Zucchini...I have 4 of them growing in different stages.

Lacinato Kale

cut and snip chives

 

Growing Tomatoes

My Sungold

If you are going to spend more money growing tomatoes than buying it at the farmer's market, DON'T GROW IT. If you are going to buy soil, fertilizer, and a tomato plant, misc.. stuff like a tomato cage, twine, more fertilizer, then don't bother. That will set you back about $50 dollars or more. Now if you have tomato cages, twine and you have soil or soil in nursery pots that just needs to be amended, then you can think about it. Seriously, growing your tomatoes can be rewarding but if you are shelling out money and you end up at the end of the season with a measly amount of tomatoes, then you are going to be let down. Sometimes, I hate growing tomatoes but I do it because I know for the $1.99 heirloom plants times 3- that I bought 20 miles away at local Japanese nursery in the Valley will either disappoint me or make me happy. It will be like buying myself two cups of Café Latte. Then I also have backup tomato plants that were free planted nearby just in case it all fails. I already have the soil, the fertilizer, the means to make growing my tomatoes cheap.  I have 5 tomato plants and supplement them with tomatoes grown from seed. So far, I had to take one out. The three have been cut back due to blight that goes around in the community garden plot. If you grow tomatoes with other people, you will have problems. Just leave your tomatoes alone and do not overwater unless it looks limp in the morning. Plus, I garden where it is mostly overcast in the summer it is cool. The tomatoes can take a beating with that kind of weather. When it is August or September, the weather is amazingly great. Then I plant my cucumbers. I am going to keep my fingers crossed!


My Big Rainbow

My Aunt Ruby's German Green

The Dreaded Blight...JUNE GLOOM in the AFTERNOON

I was at the garden yesterday and noticed the blight on my tomatoes. I have like 5 back-ups plants but the heirloom tomatoes were affected. Holy Crap! I cut the affected leaves and also cut a stem back. This always happens. At least in Hawaii, the weather is warm and consistent. It is in the low 60's as the sun goes down with the marine layer out here 5 miles from the ocean. This was the highlight of the afternoon. Whole bunch of gorgeous blooms. The rust was there on a few of the rose bushes but there is nothing I can do about that. I am not spraying anything in my vegetable garden. The zucchini plants are coming along just fine. They have grown so much since last week. I would not be surprised if there was a fruit on it.I went to OSH and purchased terra cotta pots for my students as gifts. I am going to put seed packs in them. Great minds are always growing. Anyway, my school garden looks lush. I am not looking forward to the 100+ temperatures.

Monday in the Garden

 

This Mammoth Sunflower is the tallest one I have ever grown. Only one seed somehow survived after all the birds and squirrels feasted on the last one. My students and I waited for this one to finally show its face since March. It was growing slowly and I can see why. The students were so amazed at the beauty of the flower. It was an overcast day and that made the yellow pop out like the sun.

I had to get on a chair to take this picture. I was afraid of falling off or the chair sinking in. Last Friday, I sprinkled on some composted horse manure in the garden. I can see the difference in the plants already. The buddleia bushes are going crazy with their sprays of bloom. The color below is my favorite. I have 4 different colors in the school garden. We see butterflies all the time.

 My favorite color!

 This is the Charles Darwin. I longed for this rose from many months. Well, it was not what I expected. It is such a creamy white color tinged with yellow. I have a lot of off white/white roses already. I thought the rose was going to be yellow. Maybe I did not read the description in the catalogue carefully.



My Jude the Obscure had signs of rust a few months into ownership. It does not help when the air is also very cool in the community garden. There is rust spores in the soil. I once stripped the whole plant and sprayed it with some organic spray that controls rust. DID NOT WORK. I rather not spray especially when my nose is in contact with the plant. Anyway, a few of the David Austin roses are susceptible to rust. The worst one is The Squire. I have a lot of space between the roses. It is hard to take care of roses. I spent all Saturday just grooming my plants. Grooming takes a long time but in the end, your roses look happy and they will bring more joy in the weeks to come.

I also dug up my stunted BIG RAINBOW tomato plant that had its top broken off by daughter. Since it was not growing properly, I am going to plant BLACK KRIM in its place. I brought two plants from school to get acclimated to the coastal weather. We will see how this one grows.

Final Saturday

Lady of Shalott

My husband is getting his Master Gardener certification and today was the last day of class. Hooray! 12 consecutive Saturdays and many arguments later, it is all done! Will it be my turn next year? Do I have to be a Master Gardener? I have been gardening forever. My husband had a great time.  I took the girls to the garden today and we just enjoyed all the roses, berries, bugs, and the sunny weather. I was walking by a nursery and I have David Austin rose radar. I sensed it and turned around to see Lady of Shalott right there. Too much time on my hands!

 I put this arrangement together with lemon balm for a friend.

 Another apricot colored rose. This is Lady Emma Hamilton in full bloom.

 This is kind of a deformed bloom.

 Picking the blueberries.

 Gardening Angel...maybe or maybe not!

 Charles Rennie Mackintosh has adjusted very well.

I have seen rust on this rose.

 

Garden at Dusk

Garden at 8:15pm. It was quiet and so peaceful. I was there yesterday but today, I needed some time to decompress after finishing my resport cards. I had to chance to enjoy the time there.

I planted some dill yesterday. This time, I am going to leave them alone. They hate to be disturbed.

This is Tea Clipper. Apricot colored and very pretty. I will have to wait until the flower is in full bloom.

This is Miss Alice. I think this rose has such a delicate simple bloom. 

 My James Galway is doing so beautifully. The blooms look like ruffles.

This is one of the roses in full bloom.

 The Generous Gardner

 Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 A Shropshire Lad


Strawberry Hill

Sunday Gardening

My family went to the Natural History Museum for the Bug Fair. There we enjoyed all the insects and other creepy crawlies. My husband met Ron Finley. The garden there looked really nice. It was very kept.

The fruit trees, the vegetables, herbs, and all the other plants were nicely labeled. I thought that it looked too orderly. If your garden looks this neat and weed free then you must have a lot of volunteers working. But something was kind of interesting with the garden. It seems like nothing was being harvested. The blueberries were netted and the berries were definitely ripe. Maybe it is just for show and demonstration. The garden is just in a perfect spot. Honeylove.org was there.

This is what I picked up from Muir HS. I went there and helped out a little. I don't think there is much for me to do. There is a lot of work to do there but I have not been there for 3 weeks and it was overwhelming. The newly planted bare root roses were still struggling to get going. The narcissus and the amaranth were taking over and the roses were not getting enough sun and nutrients.  I had to clear some of it by cutting the other stuff out of the way. All I can do is hope for the best. For some reason, I needed to rest but had to go and meet my brother for lunch. In the box, I have some dill, tomato, pineapple sage, zinnia, and lavender seedlings. I am excited to get them into the school garden. The roses in my garden are just blooming in profusion. The Jubilee Celebration was moved and the roots were disturbed a month ago but ever since I put it into the ground for good, it is doing well.

Happy Mother's Day

Oh my what a week it was! First we had some real rain on Monday and Tuesday. Then the heat came once again and it was a scorcher this weekend.  I had a great harvest of blueberries and mulberries. There is a mulberry tree in our community garden near the compost pile. The reason it has such amazing mulberries has to do with the fact that it is getting a lot of nutrients from the compost pile. Who knows? After a few mulberry picking session, you get tired of your fingers and clothes getting stained with the reddish juice. The blueberries are paying for itself. I was visiting San Gabriel Nursery today. They had some good blueberry bushes out there for sale. Still it is hard to shell out twenty or thirty bucks but after a few years, it is quite worth the investment. I got a couple of 15 gallon nursery pots and a few gifts for my mom for Mother's Day. She came with me.

Oh my, this is the most fragrant rose besides Gertrude Jekyll. I had to pick one because I wanted to take one to my mom. The fragrance can make you just swoon over it. It is just too hard to describe. Got to smell it to believe it. It looks like a cabbage. This rose made me a David Austin fan. I never really cared much about roses until I met this one. My first rose bush ever. I watered the garden today, picked some blooms for my mom, planted a few more zucchini seeds, harvested the argula, picked the blueberries and deadheaded the roses. All this morning because I was sick yesterday.

This is one of the mini-bouquets I made for my mom today. It is so nice that I can just walk into my little garden and pick to my delight. It is so important that the roses have a sweet scent. All the roses that I see at the store don't have any scent due to the fact that maybe they are bred that way so they last longer. I also think that Mother's Day is in May when the roses are at their peak especially in Southern California. The heat is so unnatural though at this time. The petals get all crispy and ugly at the edges and sometimes, they just get deformed.

My present to my mom and some.

I think my mom has a Valencia orange tree. Right now it has the most juiciest and sweetest oranges on it. This tree has given us a lot of oranges over a decade and it is going on strong. We even gave our daughter a middle name in Hawaiian-orange blossom since we love it so much.

 This is my Kaffir lime tree that my mom has been babysitting for the past few years. It is relatively small but the leaves and the fruit are just fragrant. It loves the heat and I look forward to taking it with me in the future. Sometime I take a break and garden at my mom's. She has so many amazing plants and trees. Before I got married, I planted two fig trees. Mission and Kadota. One stands for me and the other for my husband. Interesting right? It has been 10 years since and the trees are just beautiful. Thank you mom for making me a gardener just like you! I love you very much!