Come join the swallowtails, mayflies, & bees in flirting with flowers!

July 22 is right at your doorstep, the day of the East Bay Garden Conservancy's Open Gardens.
Start at any of the gardens listed on the website.

My garden is close to Harlan Hand's Memorial Garden published this week in the Chron.

 In my garden you will find a fiesta of colors, reds, oranges, yellows, blooming in Dahlia's zinnias, agastaches and more.

At the end of the documentary, Queen of the Sun, one answer to the need for supporting bees was to plant flowers. Planting flowers is part of the scene of sustainability. Bees and other pollinators need flowers.
I've got flowers! Come get some ideas, and if there are seeds you are welcome to gather a few.

Annies' Annual's are well represented in the garden, as are the local nurseries, and many plants from Suncrest growers.

From Annie's there are annuals and perennials in bloom in the tiny native front 'meadow'.
And from Suncrest, dark leaved dahlia's and bright red flowering coral 'tree - shrubs' both backing up the bronze patina of the large sculpture.

All the gardens on the tour are a must see. Go to the website and get a map to organize your day.

I will be giving a demonstration in my garden at 11 am. on how to make concrete stepping stones, and painting demo for terra cotta pots.

See you in the garden!

If you were to come to my house, you would find 7 very full bouquets of flowers plopped between in-progress ceramics. In full swing for the Garden Conservancy East Bay Open Day is what's happening here. I spoke to Erin over at the Conservancy in the fall asking her why the East Bay has not been on 'open days' for awhile. Her reply of 'not enough interest' was met by me with well I'm intersted. A bunch of other gardeners came on board, even as it's scheduled for the awkward month of July. Thus bouquets. My garden is in full bloom right now. Weird. Huh! I nod my head in disbelif while cutting roses, snaps, calceolaria, clematis, scabiosa saying to myself..if not now l when?  Part challenge, part experiment, part foolishness I'm cutting back in the hope of cut and come again for a lot of things and making space for a new crop of 4 inchers mostly from Annie's Annuals. Annie has got year round color over there. There are a lot of flower friends that I like to see that just come in the summer. Zinnias, caliopsis, bachelor buttons, petunias, sunflowers to name some favorites. And then there are the vegetables. I'm still planting beans, tomatoes, various squashes along with a new crop of lettuce.

So hope that you come for the open day to see how it all turns out. July 22. There is much more info on the Garden Conservancy website www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/

Ann Leyhe of Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore has some color combo surprises for you in her garden as does Leslie Piels of Toad's Potted Plants (both will have their gardens on this year's tour) jJoin the three of us at Mrs. Dalloways on July 14^th for a preview presentation, conversation and summer tea with berries at the book store. Check out. Mrs Dalloways..www.mrsdalloways.com.

This will be the last open garden here for a bit. The garden will not be open the first two Sunday's of July as I'm doing this prep work and also taking a few days hiking or glazing ceramics.

Next year I'm thinking of organizing some workshops or something instead of having the garden open. Not to say that this is your last chance, but it is for awhile so hope you can make it on the 22nd.

In the meantime, my garden adventure for the year here at home was making a small meadow of california natives, a mix of annuals, perennials, bulbs and shrubs in the front garden. Wanted to see what could be done with color and texture with a new palette. Made for a wonderful meadow up until now so we will see if supplementing with a few new additions from Annie's and a major cut back will extend the bloom time.

More garden notes to come on the blog and facebook.

See you in the garden, or nurseries,

Keeyla

Night Hunters If you have been considering the advocation of becoming a night hunter, snail and slugs will provide you a hunting ground to practice in. Wearing a mask might further spook your neighbors who will already be questioning you when meeting by the garbage can in the morning when depositing the compost bucket into the green can. In my case, my neighbor Jill questioning. "Was that you Keeyla shining a light into my bedroom window at 11:30 at night"? Could it really have been that late? It could. After all is done, I head out to the garden to gather up snails & slugs into one of those compostable milky white bags you get now at the health food store. I count them. You would think that after getting 60 of the lil' buggers on Tuesday there wouldn't be any more to harvest Thursday night. Not so. Plenty more. Where do they come from. In my garden I look everywhere. I know that they are especially fond of the inside rims of pots and succulent strapped shaped leaves like you find on agapanthus. At this time of year, April, I'm out saving my ranunculus. ( Do you know that I heard on the radio that Octopi is now Octopuses?) That is the kind of random thought that occurs to the brain collecting ranunculus feasting slugs. Believe it or not, I say a little prayer..telling these cute, slimy, slipping along bent stems with their feelers out critters that they are welcome back in another form that helps my flowers. As water, perhaps, is what I'm thinking. It helps my guilt as I plunge yet another one into my compost bag. I used to dig a hole in the daytime in prep for my nightly hunts so when I caught one chewing away at the stem holding up some flower or another, I'd deposit it in the hole to be covered over. Hurrying them up on their way to becoming compost. Still think that is a good practice if you have the foresight to dig a hole. So often I refer to my Mom as a path finder in my life as a gardener, not so when it comes to snails and slugs. Cory's snail bait in the bright yellow and red box was an always to be replenished supply of the garden shed. I don't like using poisons.  Beer pans work for while, copper collars for awhile. And the web is full of suggestions. I prefer to go out and hunt them down. You can feed the snails on corneal and lettuce and serve them up as escargot. I tend to prefer my garlic on french bread to dip into seafood soup with my snails sea faring relatives. My neighbor has one of those 'coal miner' lamps that is on a stretchy band to put around your head. It's on my list of things to get someday. I just use a cheapo flashlight. One client who didn't like to get the slim of snails and slugs on her fingers, told me that she used chop sticks to catch them. One student asked me  what do with a snail she'd found.  I told her to, excuse me, kill it, she picked up a rock and smashed it with such force that it splattered all over her face. Please don't follow her example. And yes, getting rid of the gooey slim does present a problem!  When people tell me what a great job I have, I agree, but then think of the list of job chores comparable to dealing with snails and slugs. While I've offered  clients my snail hunting services, I've yet to be taken up on this. I've grown quite fond of going out into the garden at night. Gives you a whole different perspective and somehow a deeper bonding with your plants. In the evening dew drops suspended on the edges of leaves and stems is what brings out the snails and slugs..I'm rather sympathetic to that as it is quite glittery by flashlight. --  There are some precautions to be made to nocturnally inclined gardeners. Two eager midnight maidens reported to me how they slimly escaped the  'talons' or rather the 'fangs'  of death  on a darkened garden path by stepping on poisonous snakes. One barely came out alive taking over a year to recover the other almost lost a leg and the blackened swollen limb was no picnic to endure. So those inhabiting snake or other dangerous animal territories should take all precaution. The rest of us knowing the lay of the land before venturing out is a good idea. A note: I've added to my catch of night crawlers; grubs, cut worms, earwigs, and walking sticks. Have fun joining the 'Night Crawlers'

Painterly Pavings

In answer to your questions about Painterly Pavings I'm posting some this and that.
To get going you need to have a design.
Lately working with many clients; I like to start with drawings. Sometimes inspired by paintings. Sometimes by leaves. There are a gazillion starting places for designs.
Currently cement is my main materials....with various, lots of stuff, introduced..that is smushed into the wet concrete. Again only one approach.

I have on my agenda to makes some concrete stepping stones...good place to start..take pictures...but with my busy schedule..who knows when that will happen.

In the meantime, here is a drawing for a patio that I laid out in construction chalk today.

See ya soon...

 

Fruiting Pears

Victor at Berkeley Hort. Nursery told me to plant more flowers next to my fruit trees. Duh! "The blossoms need to be pollinated." In February and March when your fruit trees come into bloom often there are not enough flowers close by to attract bees. "Plant lots of flowers so that the blossoms will get pollinated so that you have more fruit." I'm going to take Victor's advice. He went on to say composite flowers are the best. I know that Calendulas will do the job as they bloom well even in winter.

My next note is to plant Fava Beans and Peas. I'm already on my third try after the rats and birds have mowed down two crops. 'Dust yourself off and try again.' This week replanting is on my list. As late as it is.

It's not too late to add to your New Year's Res. list to make sculpture for this year's edible garden. Follow the path of blue pears... Make a place in your edible garden for delicious looking art. Then on a rainy day make paintings...If you are practical you can laminate them for place mats.

Happy Gardening in the New Year,

Painting & Bulbs - Time to rethink and renew

This is no day to plant bulbs. Nope, too hot. What I'm up to with color on a hot day like today is PAINT. One of the easiest, cheapest and most instant gratifications with color. Two benches and a door got new coats to protect them from winter wets. Over at a clients together we took paint and brush following drawings done at the kitchen table...out into the garden to draw then paint images of her dogs on pots.  I will have to 'run' over and take some pics.

Yes, get out your paints. While you are at make plans for where you are going to place and plant your bulbs. One friend wanted to know which ones will come back. First we scouted out her garden naming the color combos for the different areas. No pen in hand she committed the colors to memory. Once color coded; on to bulbs. Sparaxis for a long border topped her list. "Do you like yellow and red together?" she asked. "Yes." "Yes I do like yellow and red together." Sparaxis has red petals with yellow centers. Perfect and they come back. As do the yellow ones.

Here's the list I gave her of bulbs that will return:

Muscari grape hyacinths (blue or white):  the fancier ones have not returned as well.

Freesias, especially the egg yolk yellows which are also fragrant, are great hanging over the edge of a pot.

Ixia:  wonderful for naturalizing; make a meadow with grasses

Ipheion:  starflower or wisely blue - good in rock gardens and at edges

Peruvian Scilla:  a wonderful blue

Homeria will bring the slugs and snails out, but very reliable

Tritonia:  an african bulb that has a lot in common with freesias

Hoop Daffodil and most of the smaller daffodils

Crocus

Scilla

Lilies:  some have a strong return; great for pots

I plant tulips and ranunculus as annual bouquets.

Bulbs are my choice for giving Spring The Wow and the Yes factor. 'Like sunshine coming up from the ground' one passerby said of the trumpeting daffodils.

In addition to painting there is a lot of cutting and pulling going on. Compost heaps heading for the green can. Soil being turned and amended.

On your garden to do list: Reminder to fertilize all acid loving plants with an organic mix to be topped with mulch. Acid loving includes blueberries.

This year I'm even cleaning out several container plantings that have been 'going' for about six years. Time to rethink and renew. Mostly I'm clearing space for the bulbs.

After planting bulbs with the soil turned over wildflower seeds will get thrown about to fill in the gaps both in the flower garden and between the climbing fava beans and peas.

The more you get done now the more you can enjoy spring unfolding in waves of color.

This year I'm returning to earlier loves. Natives both in bulbs and flowering perennials are making a comeback. Pink flower mop heads of buckwheats are bee favorites and hummers seek out the tubular orange flowers of the california fuschias...Zauscheneria or epilobium.

Happy Gardening,

Keeyla Meadows

Keeyla's article in the SF Chronicle!

 

A quick primer all about bulbs

Keeyla Meadows, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, November 5, 2010

    

I open my garden in March for Show and Tell. What I have to "show" are bouquets of blooming-their-heads-off, full-of-sun-shining-light, colorful bulbs. Sadly, in March, what I have to "tell" visitors wanting to know where they can get these spring beauties for their own garden is that I planted these bulbs in November. Well, here it is November, so you are in luck. Now is the time to be fearless with the use of color in your garden by planting bulbs.
While a vast array of flowering and some edible bulbs are available, I always start with my tried-and-true favorites and branch out with a few newbies.
Color is key in how I organize both my planting zones and bulb selection. A bouquet of different types of bulbs including tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, freesias, muscari, lilies and more, are planned for each area of the garden. A favorite matching palette in shades of maroon and yellow is made up on Tango 'Honey Bee' lilies, ranunculus 'Cafe,' and tulip 'Gavota.'
I concentrate my design and plantings around what can be seen from the windows as the weather may be wet during part of the bloom season. Bulbs planted in containers of various sizes work well both in focal spots outside windows and at entries, balconies or on window sills.
After deciding where to plant the bulbs, make lists of what to plant. This is the hard part because there are just so many to choose from.
One approach to bulb selection is practicality. Which bulbs are easy, reliable, will return and even multiply? Do you want natives or edibles? The practical list is long but does not include the reigning beauty: tulips. In California, Tulipmania is a short thrill. Still, just for their sheer amount of saturated color, these beauties will find a way onto your list.
To top off your bulb display, seed the spaces over and between your planting with spring wildflowers. Poppies are my favorites; the seeds are economical and will bloom through the season, providing forage for pollinators: bees, birds and butterflies.
Whether you concentrate on color, edibles, natives or a combination, come spring, you'll have your own garden bouquet for Show and Tell.

Inside: Landscape designer Keeyla Meadows' guide to spring bulbs and wildflowers that attract pollinators and people. L4

A word on organics

This year, while searching the Internet for red tulips, I came across EcoTulips ( www.ecotulips.com). Jeroen Koeman, who calls himself "The Tulip Man," is a pioneer in organic tulip farming. His growing fields in Holland are pesticide-free and benefit by a process of crop rotation-sharing pastures with the cows of an organic dairy. He says that his red 'Ille de France' doesn't need added fertilizer, just a handful of compost dug into the soil. I'm still using organic bulb food. Koeman's EcoTulips are pre-chilled, leaving your fridge free for turkey stuffing instead of tulip stuffing (one friend cooked his wife's tulips for their Thanksgiving meal!).
- Keeyla Meadows

Bulbs for spring show and tell

Here are some of my tried-and-true spring favorites. Note: The rule of thumb when planting bulbs is to make the depth of the hole twice the width of their diameter. I've experimented and found chilling tulips four to six weeks in the fridge is necessary. I plant all my bulbs between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

Color

Tulips are the reigning beauty of spring bulbs. Here are my favorite varieties by hue:
-- Salmon: 'Menton,' 'Big Eartha,' 'Apricot Beauty'
-- Yellow: 'Big Smile,' 'Jaap Groot'
-- Purple: 'Passionale,' 'Violet Beauty,' 'Blueberry Ripple,' 'Purple Prince'
-- Magenta: 'Gypsy Love'
-- Nearly black: 'Queen of the Night,' 'Negrita'
-- Green: 'Spring Green,' 'Greenland' (green and pink )
-- White: 'Maureen'
-- Orange: 'Orange Emperor,' 'Orange Queen'
-- Orange tones: 'Princess Irene,' 'Gudoshnik'
-- Red: 'Ille de France'
Daffodils are easy and a must for those with deer and gophers, as those critters don't like them. Plant them in drifts by trenching out long furrows. With grassy foliage, 'Golden Bells' (Bulbocodium) is a container favorite.

Edibles

Crocus sativus is a savory for edibles enthusiasts. It sports those golden saffron threads so essential for Moroccan tagines. Crocus could share a pot with onion sets, garlic and grape hyacinth, topped by a seeding of borage. Share the forage with the flybys: Bees love borage. Drop blue borage flowers along with the blue "beads" of grape hyacinth spires on salads, or float in soup.

Natives

Skip from forays into color and flavor to jaunts on the wild side of gardening. Nevin Smith, founding horticulturalist of Suncrest nurseries and author of "Native Treasures," has some suggestions for planting out native bulbs. When asked about which to start with, he replied: "Many of the brodiaeas are good with the dichelostemmas being probably the easiest." You can see why they are simply called 'Blue Dicks.' But don't let the lingo stop you in your tracks: There are stunners on this path. He continued: "Brodiaea elegans, coronaria and californica are all good beginners' bulbs." To my question on how to get Mariposa lilies and Brodiaeas to return, Nevin instructs: "Plant them in well-drained soil, with little summer water and a top dressing of crushed coarse gravel." Use native seeds ( www.larnerseeds.com) for bulb cover, and you are on your way to planting a meadow. Next to my list of native bulbs, I make a note to take spring walks to see these splendors in the wild.
- K.M.

Keeyla Meadows the owner of design/buiild/landscape company Keeyla Meadows Gardens & Art andauthor of books including "Fearless Color Gardens: The Creative Gardener's Guide to Jumping Off the Color Wheel" (Timber Press, 2009). E-mail comments to home@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/05/HOB51G3GKO.DTL

This article appeared on page L - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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