UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County

Event: Plant Clinic, Saturday, July 10, 10 amnoon, Online Have a problem with one of your plants? Come ask us "face to face" at our Plant Clinic Online! http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/events-calendar/

Bloom Alert: Blueberries Master Gardener Rebecca Schenenberger shows us the blueberries ripening in her yard.

Tip: 3 Sisters garden Master Gardeners planted a 3 sisters garden, a Native American agricultural tradition. Planting three seeds - corn, beans, and squash represent the most important crops. When planted together, the Three Sisters, work together to help one another thrive and survive. View our 2020 3 sisters garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrGgCs7EqOY

Tip: Ewe what’s that green bump? Master Gardner Rebecca Schoenenberger explains it's a syrphid fly larvae which are beneficial insects. If you’ve got aphids this guy/gal will take care of them for you! White stripe line down the back helps distinguish this larva from similar looking pests.

Tip: Resist the urge to overwater on hot afternoons! Master Gardener Eugene Wong explains, on hot afternoons, it is natural to see some plant with droopy leaves. It is also natural to want to immediately give it some water. But stop, just for a moment. Poke a finger into the soil near the root to see if the soil is still moist. If it is moist, wait until the next morning to water the plant. What may be happening is the wilting is only temporary for plants that have adequa...te soil moisture on hot days. Many plants with large leaves such as squash, cucumber, sunflower, and many others may droop because they cannot absorb water fast enouh through their roots to replace the water lost through their leaves. Adding water at this time is not necessary and may actually be harmful to the plant in some case since the extra water may prevent oxygen from reaching the roots. Plants will often recover in the evening as it cools down. One of the reasons to water plants early in the morning is to allow the soil to partially dry out and allow oxygen to refill tiny airspaces in the soil. Roots take in this oxygen from the soil as part of its processes to make use of available nutrients. Suffocating roots contribute to poor growth and may kill the plant.

Garden Mystery: Master Gardener Jeff Jenks had a garden mystery - his plants were disappearing, where did they go?

Bloom Alert: Grevillea 'Long John' An Australian native, it's a drought tolerant bush that grows up to ten feet tall with spiky leaves and pretty flowers. Picture courtesy Elizabeth Evans

Event: Make Every Drop Count, Saturday, July 3, 1011 am, Palo Alto Demonstration Garden, 851 Center Dr, Palo Alto Come to this talk and demonstration to see how master gardeners are managing their summer vegetable garden with an eye to conserving water. http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/events-calendar/

Bloom Alert: Purple Smoke Tree Master Gardener Elizabeth Evens shows us the purple smoke tree growing at Martial Cottle park. These trees are native to Europe and Asia, are not drought tolerant but have dramatic blooms that last most of the summer.

Tip: Thinning Fruit If you don’t thin the fruit to what the fruit tree can support, the tree will do some of it for you. This is called June Drop and is perfectly natural. It helps you with not having to make as many hard decisions about what to keep. Soft fruits like peaches and apricots need a few inches between them so that they don’t touch and spread rot. Fruit that grows in clusters like apples should have no more than 1-2 fruits per group. Spacing needs to be balanced w...ith the quality of the fruit, with a focus on keeping the larger fruits that are round in shape and free of blemishes. Thin when the fruit is less than an inch in diameter so as not to waste the tree’s energy. Shaking the tree can also cause weak fruit to fall. The result will be larger fruits and just as much overall yield by weight. Another way the tree can shed extra fruit is by breaking off a branch that is too heavily laden. Photo: Apples in need of thinning, by Laura Monczynski

Tip: Drought The drought situation is very much in the news now and on our minds. After an even drier winter than usual, water restrictions are already being discussed. As gardeners, we are able to affect it as well as be affected by it. We can continue the movement of replacing thirsty lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping. Valley Water has a Landscape Rebate Program to help pay homeowners for making the conversion. We can irrigate efficiently by watering early in the morn...ing and targeting water to the root zone while avoiding runoff or other waste. And we can prioritize the plants with more value, including food production or long-term investment. https://ucanr.edu/News/For_the_media/Press_kits/Drought/ https://www.valleywater.org/water-conservation-programs

Garden Bug: Master Gardener Shirley D'Addio explains California native bees are great for your vegetable garden. Bumblebees get their name from the noise they make inside a flower. The bumblebee you see are female workers who groom the pollen back into pollen baskets on their legs. They live in colonies in nests built in the ground.

Tip: Cottony Cushion Scale Scale insects populate the stems or branches of plants and suck out the nutrients. Some are soft and some are armored during part of the life cycle. Cottony cushion scale is a soft variety that is often seen on apple trees. The crawlers are reddish and the females develop elongated white egg sacs on their backs, but it is most likely the molting skins that look like cotton that will alert you to their presence. Small infestations can sometimes be ...wiped off with gloved fingers. Natural predators may also move in to take care of the problem. There are beetles and parasitic flies that can provide good control. Keeping ants out of the tree will also help because ants will protect the pests in order to be able to eat their sugary exudate. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7410.html Photo: Cottony cushion scale, by Laura Monczynski

Tip: Basil There are so many different varieties of basil, from Thai basil for Asian dishes to Italian basil for pasta sauce to African Blue basil for attracting bees with its flowers. Most are grown as an annual herb and need a little attention to keep them producing leaves throughout the summer. If they go to seed they will complete their life cycle. As soon as you see flowers forming, cut or pinch them off so that the energy will continue to go into the parts you want to e...at. You can harvest individual leaves for making a caprese salad, keeping in mind that the lower leaves are the oldest, or you can cut entire plants if you are making a batch of pesto. It’s also best to cut the plant before flowering if you are drying the herb. You can allow some plants to go to seed if you want to plant the same variety next year or if you want to attract beneficial insects to your garden. Hybrids are propagated from cuttings. http://www.plantgrower.org/uploa//4/65545169/basil_pdf.pdf Photo: Basil going to flower, by Jack Kelly Clark, UC

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Garden Visitor: Skipper. "The skippers are a worldwide family of about 3500 species that appear to be 'sister' to the rest of the 'true butterflies'. The clubs on the tips of the antennae are usually hooked. Our California skippers fall into two or three subfamilies: the spread-wing skippers (Pyrginae), the folded-wing skippers (Hesperiinae), and the Heteropterinae. The spread-winged skippers are generally dark brown and hold both sets of their wings open when landed. They... use a wide variety of hostplants, including oaks, Ceanothus, legumes, mallows, and even saltbush. California genera include Pyrgus, Heliopetes, Erynnis, Thorybes, Epargyreus, and Pholisora. The folded-wing skippers have a characteristic posture when they land: the forewings are held at a 45o angle to the rest of the body while the hindwing is held open and flat. This gives them a 'fighter-jet' like appearance. They are largely orange and tawny, and many have whitish chevrons on the ventral hindwing, although some genera are dark brown. All members of this group feed on grasses or grassy-like plants (like sedges and rushes) as caterpillars, and as a result, they are often called the grass skippers." More information about Skipper varieties can be found here: http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterfly/common/Skippers Video by Master Gardener Rebecca Schoenenberger.

Bloom Alert: Lantana camera - Lantana. Lantana come in many colorful varieties; pictured here is one that is yellow to red, and one that is yellow to pink. Lantana are quite popular for their bright colors, and long season of blooms for pollinators. In Santa Clara County they can be frost tender if we get sustained freezing temperatures during winter. https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm Lantana can also be invasive in California, so we urge you to use cautio...n when planting Lantana. Especially, if you live close to the urban wildland interface you may want to refrain from using any invasive plants. Pictured here at the Guadalupe Community Gardens the Lantana are pots, so that it is contained from spreading by roots. https://www.cal-ipc.org/pla/profile/lantana-camara-profile/ Photos by Master Gardener Rebecca Schoenenberger. See more

Tis the season to turn those pumpkins you grew all Summer into Fall decor (and pumpkin pies). Succulent decorated Fall pumpkins & photo by Master Gardener Rhonda King-Curry.

Tip - Spiders are beneficial. Many people fear spiders, but they are a very beneficial predator in the garden. Next time you see one consider - having a little mercy - and catch & release the spider outside. "While you are home working, learning, or relaxing, you may have noticed a few other critters sharing space with you. If some of these critters have 8 legs, we have a video to show you how to catch and release them!" https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm

Harvest Time: Pineapple Guava - Feijoa (Acca) sellowiana. In Spring this tree has lovely red flowers that bees & hummingbirds love. Now in Fall, those flowers have been pollinated to become fruit; from approximately September - November Pineapple Guava are producing fruit. Pineapple Guava are very drought tolerant, and they are an Arboretum Allstar. https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant/pineapple-guava They can be grown as a hedge or a singular tree. Once established they produce prolific fruit, and you'll have plenty to share. Photos by Master Gardener Rebecca Schoenenberger.

Tip: Vegetable Planting Chart - Many vegetables can still be sown by seed in Fall & Winter. Here is our Vegetable Planting chart for Santa Clara County: http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu//v/vegetable-planting-chart/ Vegetables that can be started from seed in October including: Arugula, Beets, Bok Choy, Cilantro, Collards, Dill, Fennel, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Peas, Radishes, Spinach and Turnips.

Bloom Alert: Eriogonum fasciculatum - California Buckwheat. One of the most common Buckwheat found throughout California: https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi California Buckwheat has a leaf structure similar to Rosemary, but the bloom is quite different. Big flower clusters offer pollinators nectar throughout the Summer. As the season changes to Fall the flowers turn rust colored, and then become more seed than nectar. Leaving these rusty seed heads on the plant into Fall will help provide seed for bird habitat. Photo by Master Gardener Rebecca Schoenenberger.

Online Class: Thu, Oct 22, 6:00 p.m.7:30 p.m., ONLINE Reuse Graywater and Rainwater in Your Yard http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/events-calendar/... This is a free class, we will not ask for your credit card information. You'll be taken to a registration page. You will be asked for your e-mail. We will not use this e-mail for anything other then sending you a link to the Zoom session.