January 29, 2019
Things to do in the Native Garden for Week 1/28
We’ll between this week and last, not much has changed except the end of winter is closer with spring is on the way. What does all this mean? During the cold months you want to trim things back and clean things up because plants are dormant and/or the growth is generally slow. If you’re going to trim and clean you’d better get on the program because plants are just beginning to grow. Since plants are just beginning to grow it’s also the best time to plant.
All through the nursery new leaves are just beginning to come up. Just take a look….
These are new leaves from a Penstemon palmeri. 
One of our pacific coast irises is showing lots of new leaves in the center.
This is narrow leave milkweed – Asclepias fascicularis or monarch caterpillar food breaking winter dormancy. Notice too the yellow aphids have already found it.
New roots are beginning to grow vigorously – take a look at these new white roots growing in one of our pacific coast irises. Note the yellow green tips of the roots.
Some of the penstemons are also starting to bud- can spring be far away?
These are Penstemon parryi, an Arizona native. Some of our native penstemons are right behind it.
At the nursery we’re transitioning from “winter” seeds like some of the grasses, penstemons, and buckwheats to stem cuttings. Below is group of Ceanothus arboreus. They will root out in couple more weeks then they’ll move to a small container then finally a 1-gallon pot ready for your garden. At this time of year this process takes about 8 weeks.
Can spring be far away!
