26 Sep 2008
October Gardening Hints for Valley Center
As we move into October, Valley Center is still quite warm, so a lot of the expert advice you see on television and in magazines on fall plantings usually doesn’t apply to us, or the timing is off a bit.
Don’t plant any tropicals, roses or natives yet. Wait until at least next month. When you do, make sure that your soil has been cleaned, amended, fertilized and cultivated. According to our own Shirley Skinner, “You only get out what you put in”.
Vegetables: We like to start carrots, beet, celery, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, spinach, turnips, peas or radishes from seed. The best layout for peas is a north/south trough.
Perennials: Now is the time to divide and clean cluster-type plants like Iris, Daylily, Clivia, Bird of Paradise, Shasta Daisies and Gazanias. This is also a great time to clean and cut back Geraniums. Go ahead and continue to fertilize your Roses, Camillias, and Azaleas.
Succulents & Cacti: Go ahead and plant the many interesting varieties, textures and colors of these great plants. Your landscape doesn’t have to look like a desert. Mixed with annuals and perennials, you will have a prize winning garden.
Annuals: From seed, you can now put in Alyssum, Columbine, Delphinium, Foxglove, Larkspur, Nemesia, Phlox, Stock, Snapdragons and best of all, Sweet Peas.
If you don’t want to wait, nurseries will have packs of these along with Iceland Poppies, Pansies and such. If you buy Stock, get the gray-leafed, which truly outperforms
the green leafed. If you have problem soil, or your seeds haven’t spouted in the past, try making mudballs with seeds incorporated in them (meatball-sized mud with seeds) and just place them on your flowerbed and then water daily. I use this trick when planting California Poppies instead of just scattering them.
Bulbs: The South African-type bulbs can be planted now: Freesia, Watsonia, Sparaxis and Narcissus. You should wait to plant Ranunculus until November.
Remember – we’re your local garden club (with a Master Gardener), and would be glad to answer your landscaping and gardening questions. Send your questions to: mariellen92082@yahoo.com and we will answer your questions in this column.
Mariellen Kast
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