Give your San Diego garden a gift this month with native wildflowers. It’s also time to start trimming fruit trees and renewing mulch before the winter rains start.
Poinsettia and Christmas Tree Care
Most of the 40 million poinsettias sold annually in the United States originated at the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas. If you’ve brought one or more home this season, you can care for them by giving them indirect sunlight, an indoor temperature of 68 to 70 degrees, and water when the soil feels dry to the touch. It’s best to remove them from their holiday foil wrappers when watering so they can drain completely. Overwatering can quickly kill poinsettias.
To keep your Christmas tree fresh, cut off an inch of the trunk when you purchase it. If you can’t get it indoors immediately, keep it in a shady location in a bucket of water. When you’re ready to bring the tree indoors, cut off another inch of trunk and put it in a stand full of water. Check the water level in the stand daily during the first week and frequently after that to keep it from drying out. If you are using a living tree, it’s best to keep it in the house for no more than 10 days to two weeks.
Gifts for San Diego Gardeners
If you’re looking to buy a gift for the gardener in your life, quality garden gloves, pruners, clippers and trowels are always useful. Books for San Diego gardeners like “Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening: Month-by-Month,” and Nan Sterman’s “California Gardener’s Guide, Vol. II” are great. For edibles enthusiasts, try Rosalind Creasy’s “Edible Landscaping” and Ivette Soler’s “The Edible Front Yard.” Native plant lovers will enjoy “California Native Plants for the Garden” and “Reimagining the California Lawn,” both from Cachuma Press.
If you’re not sure what to get, gift certificates from specialty nurseries as well as memberships in the San Diego Horticultural Society and San Diego Floral Association will always be appreciated.
Grow Native Wildflowers
California poppies are only one of many native wildflowers that can brighten spring gardens. Here are some suggested by the Theodore Payne Foundation, originators of the wildflower hotline for the state.
- Coastal Poppy – Golden yellow flowers with orange throats blossom above the gray-green leaves of this low-growing plant. Thrives in sunny coastal areas.
- Beach Sun Cups – Sandy soils are preferred by this ground-hugging perennial with lemon-yellow buttercup-like flowers.
- Globe and Bird’s Eye Gilia – These easy-to-grow annuals are ideal companions for California poppies. Globe gilia has showy orbs of sky-blue flowers. Bird’s eye has violet-edged white petals around dark centers. Both grow a foot tall or more tall. Sun.
- Baby Blue Eyes – An earlier bloomer, baby blue eyes are about 6 inches tall with watery blue and white flowers. Thrives throughout San Diego County in shade to part-shade.
- Farewell-to-Spring and Winecup Clarkia – These late-spring bloomers with flowers in shades of pink extend the season. They make good cut flowers, and grow 2-feet or more tall.
- Tidy Tips – Spring and winter bloomer in the sunflower family up to 2 feet high and 6 inches wide. Daisy-like yellow and white flowers. Seeds germinate with winter rains and don’t need supplemental water. Prefers clay or loamy soil and full sun. Nectar plant for Checkerspot butterflies.
Individual seed packets can be ordered at www.store.theodorepayne.org where you’ll also find a seed sowing guide.
San Diego Gardens Tips Source
A lot of information for San Diego Gardens comes from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. They are a great resource for all of your gardening needs including planting, pests, vegetables, and water use. They even have a free hotline where you can get your home gardening and pest control problems answered.