| Soquel Nursery Growers October 2006 Newsletter |
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| Soquel Nursery Growers October 2006 Newsletter |
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| Fall is Prime Planting Time This is the best time of year to plant many perennials, shrubs and trees. The soil is at its warmest temperature of the year, stimulating root growth while the days are short, slowing down leaf growth. This combination gets plants off to a healthy start. It makes for longer-lived, sturdier plants and a big growth spurt in spring. |
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| New Zealand Tea Trees Great Leaping Leptospermum! These popular shrubs make a dazzling splash in winter and early spring. Leptospermum scoparium wins a prize for Most Versatile Form. If sheared regularly they stay dense all the way to the ground. You can also selectively prune them up to show their intriguing gnarled and twisted branches with fibrous bark. You can train them into a standard, make them into a formal hedge, shear them into balls, cubes, cylinders, etc., or simply relax and enjoy their picturesque natural shapes. Their darling little papery flowers come in a variety of colors. Appleblossom, Burgundy Queen, and Snowflake all grow to about 7'x 5'. Nanum ‘Tui’ is a dwarf variety, 3’ x 2’. Single pink flowers with dark centers are followed by interesting button-like seedpods, which remain on the branches. Finely textured bronzy-green foliage. |
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| Appleblossom |
Burgundy Queen |
Snowflake |
Nanum 'Tui' |
| Ericas Heaths burst out of their summer anonymity with clouds of tiny pink bells in winter. We have two of the best varieties for our climate, a tall one and a short one. Ericas prefer sandy, acidic soil and moderate water. Shear lightly after bloom but don’t prune hard. |
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Primulas 4” Polyanthus Primroses are here to brighten those bleak winter flowerbeds. We have the short-stemmed Danova series and the Pacific Giant series. New for us this year is the double-flowered ‘Paloma Mix’ in various shades of pink, plum, and yellow. |
| Violas Violas or Pansies are excellent for quick winter color. We have three kinds in 1-gallon cans. They are now all listed together in our availability as “Violas Assorted”. Ultima Morpho: Vivid yellow and blue. Antique Shades: A mix of peachy pinks, yellows and burgundy red. Imperial Frosty Rose: New! Purple and white. |
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| Combo of the Month This bright and cool mix of textures and colors makes a complete garden if you add some grasses. left to right: Cistus ‘Sunset’: Fuzzy pale green leaves, bright crinkly papery pink flowers. Hebe ‘Coed’: Shiny olive green leaves, fuzzy purple flowers. Teucrium fruticans azureum: Silver and blue. Westringia ‘Wynyabbie Gem’: Finely textured grey-green and lavender. Penstemon ‘Midnight’: Dark green bold-textured leaves and deep purple-blue flowers |
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Myrica californica Myrica californica or Pacific Wax Myrtle is perfect for a screen or as a specimen shrub. Its bright green foliage looks fresh and tidy all year. Its natural form is a uniform, rounded globe. You can also train it up as a small tree to enjoy its smooth white bark. The leaves have a wonderful sweet spicy smell. Occasionally it produces small, dry, waxy berries. Myrica californica tolerates a wide variety of soils and watering conditions, but is longest lived in somewhat dry, well-drained soil. It will grow to about 15’ tall and 8’ wide. |
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| Salvia uliginosa The unusual sky-blue color of Bog Sage is a delightful addition to the fall garden. This is a good plant for that problem spot with poor drainage or constant moisture. It will grow in drier areas, too. Vigorous growth to 4’ tall and 6’ wide. Cut back in winter for best appearance. It makes a sparkling combination with orange flowers such as Leonotis leonorus and Arctotis ‘Pumpkin Pie’, ‘Orange’, or ‘Sunspot’. |
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