Yolo County master gardeners' monthly talk looks to fall
Planting typically begins in October, but it's good to know ahead of time the types of garlic that are right for the region. Kathy Morrison
If you're up on your Greek myths, you'll remember that Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Zeus. Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, who after Zeus' intervention permitted her to live "up top" two-thirds of the year, and one-third with him. Demeter is happy and tends the havest, so the story goes, while her daughter is present, but shuts everything down during those months when she's gone.
When our daylight drops below 10 hours per day, we enter what horticulture folks have dubbed the "Persephone Period." In the Sacramento area this year, that period begins on Nov. 19. Daylight will go back above 10 hours on Jan. 22, 2025.
This limitation of daylight may affect human mood and activities somewhat, but it has a profound effect on our plants, especially edibles. Explaining that effect is part of the monthly Kitchen Garden Chat coming this Saturday online with the Yolo County master gardeners.
Master gardener Treva Valentine will also discuss seed saving and tips for garlic ordering. (Many popular varieties sell out, so it's good to have a couple of options.)
The one-hour Zoom workshop begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. It is open to all interested gardeners. The Zoom link is: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/98028723763
For more on Yolo master gardener activties, go to https://yolomg.ucanr.edu/
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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