Jason Chen Botanical Designs

I don’t usually post pictures from home being that it’s a case of the cobblers own children have no shoes....... But while Covid has taken the world for a wild crazy ride, it’s also allowed many of us to focus more on things at home, things in the present, things that many of us have put aside for another day. My garden is a case of what not to do as a garden designer and a nightmare for any attending horticulturist. With increasing cases again, everybody please stay safe, and use common sense.

The rewards for tackling this monster has been justified. At its peak this week is ‘Paul’s Himalayan musk’(1916) a rambler.... NOT for the faint of hearts or those short in space....... unless you have a neighbor you dislike and have an evil streak in you. This is one of those roses I have always read about and dreamed of having, knowing I’ll probably never have the space for(along with others like ‘Senateur la Follette’, ‘Kiftsgate’, ‘Belle Portugaise’), I could g...row them but I’d regret it and feel bad that they wouldn’t be able to truly do their magic..... When I first tackled this behemoth, she was spanning 40ft of the arbor smothering a number of other roses.... today she’s down to 25..... let’s just say it was a test on patience and labor of love, cutting, balancing and trying to clean out 10+years of old growth....... I know most people would have ran for the hills or completely chopped her down to a handful of canes... It crossed my mind but my vision was exactly this.... snowy blushed confection and not a season missed. #rosepaulshimalayanmusk #ramblingrose #ramblerrose #roses #rosearbor #rosarian #jcbotanicaldesigns See more

Oops and wouldn’t you know it, it’s rose season again! A rose is not just a rose..... especially when it comes to old garden roses.... This Tea rose ‘Madame Berkeley’ has been steadily growing over the past few years. I did hack it a few times initially but quickly learned less is more. Tea and China roses generally have a relatively thin branch structure that needs time to build up energy to put on an outstanding display. They don’t need to be chopped down yearly and... in fact dislike being treated like the standard exhibition rose. Hard pruning often results in long shoots, branch dieback, more wayward branch structures, as well as decreases blooms. Instead prune lightly, cutting out(old, diseased, wayward branches, open the structure a bit and then let her do her thing. She will reward you with more or less a year round show of blooms, and have a more pleasing form. Basically a landscape rose, this one actually drops the blooms pretty cleanly as well. She gets occasional mildew in the fall but not enough to affect her show. They also relish in heat when others get fried, especially when the Santa Ana’s blow around. Win win for me! Top it off, with wide temp swings, her flowers develop stronger colours, deeper yellow and coral shades. See more

Well that’s going to mess up that song...... Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme......

Rose season is in full swing! First up ‘Mme. Grégoire Staechelin’ an old climbing hybrid-tea in a fantastically glowing pink. While highly fragrant and prolific in its blooms, it only blooms for about a month in the spring. Don’t prune more than 1/4 of it in the fall and winter if you want blooms! Second, is I’m guessing the modern-ish rambler ‘Treasure Trove’, long arching canes that are relatively thornless(prickless) with burgundy new growth. All of these have lost their tags long ago, half the fun in this rose garden is trying to figure out the names.

Sorry for the extended break from social media. Sometimes when you realize you’ve over extended yourself, you’ve got to take the time to reel it all in and recuperate..... happy holidays y’all! Insects and diseases are spread easily with how wide our global/national foot print is..... and with similar climes as many parts of Asia, many insects and pathogens have a grand olde time here in the US especially in the absence of their natural predators...... check yourself bef...ore you wreck yourself...... or our native habitats and gardens.... A perfect example is the Hemlock woolly adelgid(Adelges tsugae) which has unfortunately done a serious number on the trees in the mountains in NC and up and down the east coast..... Here in the southern US the Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) has done a serious number on the citrus groves in FL other states and is popping up here in SoCal.... It’s not just a bug.....

Ophf...... I’ve been bad about posting! So this is probably the last week or two, maybe 3, of getting Peonies at a reasonable price at your local Trader Joe’s, and I’ve been making full use of them. Go get them before the season ends! Which leads me to this post. Here in Zone 9-10 Coastal San Diego, some people can grow certain peonies and some folks can’t grow them at all. It’s about finding the sweet spot in your yard and about picking the right varieties and spe...cies. Quick generalized rundown: ~Herbaceous/European(even though originally from China and Central Asia): your grandmothers peony. P. lactiflora need more winter chill hours. ~Tree peony: deciduous shrubs developed from China, P. suffruticosa. ~Then you have other lesser known/grown species of herbaceous and tree peonies from the Mediterranean, Central Asia and China. California has two native species! ~ intersectional hybrids. Crosses of herbaceous and tree, which pick up qualities of both. They hybrid nature also makes for more vigorous growth and floral potential. Unless you live in Julian and Alpine where they get significant winter chill, I would skip most typical herbaceous varieties. Unless you want to commit to container culture and dump ice-cubes on it every night for 3 months during the winter. The intersectional, most commonly known as Itoh peonies are tried and true to rebloom for many here in San Diego. Developed by Dr. Toichi Itoh after WWII, these have the colours and silky qualities of many of the Asian Tree peonies, with the bloom power and herbaceous growth of its herbaceous parents. Best of all they don’t need as much winter chill hours as the traditional peonies. *Find a partial shade spot. Morning sun and afternoon shade has worked well for me. It also works to have a sunny top and shaded roots. And if it’s shaded all winter, even better! *Well drained soil, and adequate watering in mid spring and early summer as the plant is growing. *fertilize as the buds break ground in spring, balanced fertilizer and compost will do. *Don’t plant too deep! Keep the eyes/growth crown just below the soil. * They’re long term investments! Often takes a year or two for them to get blooming! They’re also not cheap, but they’re worth it! I always say, try them if you are a plant fanatic. You get bragging rights when they rebloom two years straight!

Busy spring!!! Means little time to post.... Correction, I didn’t make time to post. We always have time to do things, just what do you prioritize as more important and a must do on your list??? I’ve got plenty of materials for posting but I just haven’t taken the time to do so. Something that easily gets overlooked or people often think is beneath them is deadheading. You’re not any more important than those spent flowers especially if you want to cheapen your... gardening skills. Aside from keeping the plant looking clean and fresh, it also promotes more consistent flowering and extends the floral cycle. Once a plant flowers, the spent/pollinated flowers often signal to the plant to slow down or stop producing flowers(wasting energy on more) and it focuses its energy on providing seed. If it didn’t have the spent heads, they’ll keep producing. * Violas often go through a colour change and the petals curl inward and get wrinkles as it ages. * Daisies, open from the outside in, in circles starting with the petals, the Ray flowers. In the center the disk flowers are the last to open. To judge whether or not to dead-head, look at the inside. Notice the fresh flower has the black center of unopened flowers. Older flowers have the inner florets open, glowing a glorious orange and producing pollen. Time consuming but it’s all done by hand, follow the flower stalk down to the first leaf or two and nip it with your nails. It’s easier than with scissors. I don’t chop up top with clippers, tho quicker, it leaves noticeable stubble and then I have to take it out of the foliage.... I’d rather do it all once, a bit slower but more methodical. Go ahead dead head to provide a longer lasting display and it also forces you to be more intimate and notice things about the plant you’re working with.

Always a good reminder

It's been one of those pleasant weeds popping up in many gardens here and there, unfortunately popping up in wild areas, it hasn't been so pleasant. There are plenty of native grasses and non-native exotics that are prettier and provide movement!

Bugs among us..... Cleaning up in my parents yard, I found two great examples of why we need to be on top of our plants and ant problems.... First two pictures are of a colony of mealy bugs on ripening persimmons. The black smutz that you see in the first picture is what the ants brought in to cover and protect the mealy bugs(there was a lot more ontop as I was picking the fruit). They farm the bugs and in return, the mealy bugs poop out sugary, sappy poop. Appetizing ri...ght?!? The last picture is of scale insects which also excrete honeydew.... ants protect the colonies and in return, get a sweet treat. * Get control of your ant issue, when you do you'll see a lot less of the other pests. Terro ant bait stations work great among a couple others. * But when you do have heavy infestations of mealy and scale definitely treat it. First start by cutting the worst parts out and opening up the plant. I then treat with insecticidal soap or for a heavy case, Horticultural/neem oil to smother them. On certain smaller sensitive plants you might have to go in with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol to swab them out. * mealybugs, scale and aphids are major attractors of ants!

Fertilizing Camellias. St Patrick's day, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the general dates to fertilize. A good all purpose fertilizer for them is Cotton seed meal(6-2-1). Higher in nitrogen, it promotes good growth while gently acidifying the soil. 1/3rd cup for a 3-5ft plant is usually enough. Here in SoCal with our awful water quality, I generally add half a handful of soil sulphur(broadcast liberally around the root zone of the plants). Make sure to water the plants ...before hand and after application. Fall during the last feeding, I usually do a 1/6th cup(half of the 1/3rd) cotton seedmeal and 1/6th cup with a Bloom Booster(0-10-10). In winter at about December, you can do a light 2 tablespoon of the Bloom booster to promote better flowering and boost flower size. * If you notice more yellowing of the leaves as the season progresses, a dose of chelated iron often slowly alleviates the issue. In areas of higher alkalinity, the iron which is necessary for good growth, gets locked up in the soil. Unavailable, plants respond by turning yellow often with green vein-age. *If you've not fertilized yet(if you're here in SoCal) go ahead and do 1/4cup with half cottonseed and half bloom booster. ~ Other parts of the country where autumn is setting in, just give a few teaspoons of bloom booster, the nitrogen in cottonseed meal could push an undesired late-season flush of growth.