Placer County master gardeners offer free workshop
Certain varieties of blueberries do very well in our region, with the right location and right soil. (Also protection from wildlife, hence the netting barely seen here.) Learn the specifics in a free class this weekend in Loomis. Kathy Morrison
This free class is a real treat, devoted to one of the most popular edible ornamental plants – blueberries.
Hosted by the UCCE master gardeners of Placer County, “Sweet, Nutritious and Wildly Popular – Grow Your Own Blueberries” will offer a primer on how to start your own backyard blueberry patch.
Set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, this one-hour workshop will be held in person at Loomis Library, 6050 Library Drive, Loomis. No advance registration is necessary.
“Imagine waking up during spring and summer and walking out to your garden to pick fresh blueberries,” say the master gardeners. “Learn the basics for planting and caring for delicious blueberries in your home garden.”
Native to the eastern United States, blueberries can be a little tricky for California home gardeners. Most blueberry varieties need a different variety for pollination, but which pairings are most effective?
Blueberries also need “chill hours” – extended time under 45 degrees – to flower and set fruit. Southern highbush varieties such as Misty and Sunshine Blue need less chill than northern highbush varieties – an important factor to consider for Sacramento-area gardeners.
To do their best, blueberries need acidic soil, making them a good companion to azaleas and other acid-loving plants.
Popular blueberry varieties for home gardens are semi-dwarf (under 3 to 4 feet) and often evergreen, making for handsome plants year-round. Their early spring blooms look like little white to pale pink bells. But it’s those delicious blueberries that make this home crop so desirable.
Find out how to get blueberries off to a great start and to keep them producing for years to come.
Details and directions: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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