Encore!

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

Think it’s too late to plant a garden? Mrs. P thinks it’s time for round two!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. You have to wonder who the EPA people talked to for this survey. Do they think our gardens instantaneously materialize via hand-held remote controls operated by couch-potatoes? Hello? Not in Bakersfield! With so many people asking me questions about gardening, I’m led to believe that we sneak in a lot more outside time than this governmental agency knows. Is there a secret conspiracy afoot? No, I think we all just lose track of real-time when we’re outdoors weeding, watering, and planting. I sure do. That’s when I think about what looks good, what doesn’t, and what I can do to make my garden look nicer. This is the reason for my column in Bakersfield Magazine; how to make our gardens look and work better.

The following are more questions that I wasn’t able to answer in my last column.

Question: What kinds of vegetables can I plant in the fall?

Answer: Almost as many as there are stars in the sky! We live in the Great San Joaquin Valley, after all. We feed the world! More than half of the top 20 crops in Kern County are planted in the fall. Your choices are only limited by what you and your family will actually eat. No fava bean or broccoli lovers in your house? Then try peas, spinach, beets, carrots, cauliflower, kale, or cabbage. Green onions are always a winner and usually started from “sets” or small bulbs in the early fall. Paired with home-grown lettuces, they will be the beginnings of a delicious salad. I grow many varieties of mixed lettuces from seed, although you can find pony-packs in the nurseries already started. Loose-leaf (“Red oak leaf”), Bibb (“Tom Thumb”), mesclun (“Napa Valley Mix”), romaine (“Rouge d’Hiver”), crisp head (“Nevada”), and the arugulas are all good salad green varieties.

Question: What can I do with all the green tomatoes left on the old vines?

Answer: You mean to say you live in Bakersfield and have never made Fried Green Tomatoes? OK, I’m thinking you want to know how to ripen them. Take an ice chest and put the green tomatoes inside along with some apples. They both release ethylene gas (don’t tell the EPA!) as they ripen. The extra “charge” from the apples will speed the tomatoes along to a rich red ripeness.

Question: Can I plant herbs in the fall?

Answer: Perennial herbs should be planted in the fall. Look for pots of chives, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram. An especially interesting herb I grow is Garden Sorrel. Used as a salad green or vegetable, this hardy perennial dates back before 3000 B.C. The English wrote recipes for cooking with sorrel in the 13th century, but its main claim to culinary fame resides with the French. The leaves somewhat resemble spinach. To taste a Chiffonade of Fresh Sorrel, Cream of Sorrel Soup, or a Sorrel Omelet is to experience a classy, French meal. My Larousse Gastronomique, the doorstopper-size encyclopedia of food, wine, and cookery, mentions sorrel no fewer than 30 times. Julia Child gives a lovely recipe for “Potage Crème d’Oseille” (Cream of Sorrel Soup) in her classic book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Scatter the seeds in your garden and bon appetit!

Question: I’m looking for some tough shrubs; ones that can take heat and wind but need little water. I would like more than just foliage though and want some showy flowers, maybe with a sweet smell.

Answer: Gosh, you want it all. Well, Hi Ho Silver, the Rangers are here! No, not the Lone Ranger—the Texas Rangers! Native to the Lone Star State (and Mexico), these evergreen shrubs are botanically named Leucophyllum frutescens. The “frutescens” part tells you they’ll smell “kinda purty.” The newer varieties, selected and trademarked by Texas A&M University and Mountain States Nursery in Arizona have wonderful names: “Rio Bravo,” “Cimarron,” “White Cloud,” “Silver Cloud,” “Thundercloud,” “Rain Cloud,” and “Green Cloud.” They are simply beautiful in a mass planting or alone as a single specimen. Their fragrant, bell-shaped flowers come in colors like purple, white, pink, violet, lavender, and rose. Some even smell like grape bubble gum! Plant Texas Rangers and you’ll thank me. Their foliage is quiet but those flowers carry a big punch.

Question: The colors in my yard seem to be in crazy competition with each other. My eyes almost hurt with all the oranges, purples, and reds. How can I make order out of the jumble of colors?

Answer: Simple. You need pockets of a light, neutral color to rest your baby blues. Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) and Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria) are perfect foils for plants with distinctive colors. Their silvery cast creates a harmonious partner between and amongst the flowers. Don’t overdo it. Too much silver is just as bad as too much of any one color and will look blah. Place silver and grey-leaved plants sparingly to achieve the best effect. Likewise, utilize different shades of green shrubs in between your brilliant colored plants.

Question: I want to grow a different, more unusual tree, maybe with perfumed flowers. What do you suggest?

Answer: Two trees come to mind. One which I’ve grown in my garden and another I’m hoping to try out. While not for every type of garden, they do provide the “wow factor” you’re seeking. The first is Bauhinia Tree, known variously as Hong Kong Orchid, Purple Orchid, or Butterfly Tree. It’s a deciduous tree that can be frost-tender unless planted against a fence or wall facing southeast or southwest. The light green, almost celadon-colored, twin-lobed leaves are unique to Bauhinias. The flowers are deliciously scented and really do look like orchids. I’ve enjoyed my Bauhinia. The second perfumed flowering tree is an evergreen, called Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans). It’s a patio tree which means it won’t grow more than 10 to 15 feet in height and 6 feet wide. It can be espaliered. Sweet Olive, a native of China, prefers afternoon shade. Its leaves are oval, glossy, and have powerfully fragrant flowers in spring and early summer. I’m told some Sweet Olive trees flower sporadically all year, which sounds great.

While most of you are busy during this time of year with back-to-school projects, the Great Kern County Fair, and preparing for Halloween festivities, take an hour or two to plant some old favorites for late winter and early spring flowering. You cannot beat this month for scattering seeds of forget-me-nots, nigella, sweet peas, bachelor buttons, calendulas, poppies, English daisies, feverfew, snapdragons, and stock. They come up almost by magic and will color and scent your garden effortlessly. Try to plant your sweet peas by Halloween and do remember to soak the seeds for eight hours in tepid water before sowing. Do not add any manure to the planting trench as it will somehow stunt the sweet pea’s growth.

I’ve been enjoying sitting under my covered pergola and wonder if the EPA considers this to be inside-outside time or outside-inside time? In fact, I’m wondering if the EPA folks even came to California for their survey because everyone I know spends way more than 10 percent of their time outdoors. I’m even thinking those EPA people just made up their stupid old figures because they live in Washington, D.C. and not in balmy Bakersfield.

Article appeared in our 26-4 Issue - October 2009