Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
August, 2011
Regional Report
Alternate Heavy and Light Feeders
When you plan the layout of your fall and winter gardens, consider which new crops should follow those just removed -- alternate heavy feeders with light feeders. Heavy feeders include beets, broccoli, cabbage, celery, collards, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, okra, parsley, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, squash, and tomatoes. Light feeders include carrots, chard, garlic, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, rutabaga, shallots, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
Keep Picking!
Continue to keep vegetables picked, whether or not you will use the harvest that day. If many fruits are allowed to become overmature on the plant, production will slow and then cease.
Root Herb Cuttings
Mature, woody, spreading herbs can be propagated by dividing the plant and using the new outer shoots as starts for new, more vigorous plants.
Root Shrub Cuttings
Root cuttings of azaleas, ceanothus, carnations, fuchsias, geraniums, honeysuckle, hydrangeas, English ivy, marguerites, pachysandra, roses, succulents, verbena, wisteria, and evergreens -- especially arborvitae, euonymous, holly, juniper, and yew. Geraniums and impatiens make nice winter-blooming houseplants.
Drying Flowers
Choose a dry, sunny day to harvest globe amaranth, baby's breath, cockscomb, lunaria, strawflower, and statice for drying. Cut them before they're fully open, or they'll shatter as they dry. Hang stems upside down in an airy room to cure.
