Raising awareness of these plants is a statewide effort
No flowers on it at the moment, but the matting tendency of Vinca major is obvious. Kathy Morrison
California gardeners with any experience likely have planted something that they've lived to regret. The tree that throws up suckers, the flowers that reseed too fully, the shrub that grows into a sticky, smelly mess. But at least these are confined disasters, which could be (probably should be) "shovel pruned."
The really dangerous plants are ones so vigorous that they can spread from gardens into open landscapes, pushing out native plants and causing ecological damage.
The worst of these infamous species are on a Do Not Plant List. They include such disasters as pampas grass, water hyacinth and highway iceplant. These botanical thugs are receiving some extra attention during California Invasive Species Week, which runs through Sunday.
PlantRight.Org, the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) and the California Native Plant Society have pushed hard to persuade nurseries to stop selling these plants to landscapers and home gardeners. Officially, 15 of them are "retired," each one a victory for the state's ecosystem, but that doesn't mean these plants aren't still out there: Scotch broom and blue gum eucalyptus, for example, are still evident around California -- and add to fire fuel loads, meaning they're dangerous near homes.
Check out the PlantRight current list as well as the retirees. The list includes alternatives to plant that resemble the thugs but are either native or much better behaved.
Meanwhile, I'm going to work harder to get rid of that periwinkle (Vinca major, not the cultivars), which some previous resident planted in my back garden. Such a pretty little plant, but really nasty when it gets near streams, apparently. Here's what PlantRight says:
"Because periwinkle grows rampant in many California backyards, new populations of this plant also commonly spread from locations where yard waste is dumped."
And this: eek! "Periwinkle is a fast-growing, competitive plant that forms dense mats of growth. These mats crowd out other plants and degrade animal habitat in infested areas. Riparian areas are especially susceptible to periwinkle, where the far-flung vines crowd out native vegetation. It is also a known host to the bacterium that causes Pierce's disease, which is a deadly disease to grapevines."
Oh, yeah, it's gotta go.
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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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