Redwood City
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*** Visit Our Garden Gift Shop
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Featuring inside décor and
exotic houseplants and orchids!
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Contact Information:
E-Mail:
Click to contact us.
Telephone:
(650) 368-5908
Address:
492 Woodside Road
Redwood City, CA 94061
Hours:
Sundays
8 am to 5 pm
Mon-Sat
8 am to 6 pm
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Be a Guest Gardener:
Gardeners love to learn from other gardeners "over the fence". We would love to include a tour and/or an article from one of our readers! |
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FEATURED QUOTE :
"The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies."
~Gertrude Jekyll
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Advance Tickets for the 2009 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show are now on sale at Wegman's!
The 2009 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show will be at the San Mateo Event Center from Wednesday March 18th through Sunday, March 22nd.
Come and meet some of the Wegman’s staff at our booth. Also, there will be designer gardens and hands-on demonstrations and seminars. Get some fresh ideas, see the endless possibilities for your garden and browse through a wide selection of specialty shops featuring unique flowers, plants, gifts, tools and more.
Advance tickets are a great Valentine’s gift for your favorite gardener. Early bird prices are $16 for adults through Tuesday, March 17th. On Wednesday, March 18th the price goes to $20 for adults. Youth tickets are available for $4.
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Fuchsias, often called “Dancing Ladies” because their many petals resemble the tutus of tiny ballerinas, are making a comeback in the Bay Area. All of the brightly colored flowering forms are hybrids of the native plants growing in South America.
Since the 1850’s, the San Francisco Bay Area--with its ideal fuchsia climate--was the center for fuchsia breeding, growth, flower shows and landscaping. Unfortunately, in 1981, the minute fuchsia mite entered the United States on contraband plants from South America. It quickly spread throughout the Bay Area and infected plants developed unsightly galls with twisted stems, leaves and flowers that rendered the plants almost unrecognizable. Many gardeners and landscapers gave up trying to control the mite and tore out their plants in the ground and dumped those in hanging baskets.
Since then, growers working with horticulturists from the University of California have developed a list of mite resistant fuchsias. Originally, most of these were the plants with attractive but tiny flowers; Fuchsia minutifolia and F. thymifolia. More recent hybrids have larger, more recognizable flowers; 'Fanfare,' 'Dr. Mahoney,' and 'Dr. Godroson.' So the good news is--one way or another fuchsias are back to stay in the Bay Area.
 Fuchsias grow best in a cool moist environment, a rich, organic, well-draining soil, with filtered sun and regular feeding. If you grow large fuchsias in the ground, they will probably need a trellis or espalier support in addition to soil well amended with organic compost. Leaf mold or conifer compost was the organic mulch of choice in the past but it is now largely unavailable. Redwood or fir compost to which a dash of ammonium sulfate has been added is an acceptable substitute. Fuchsia bushes should be trimmed to shape each spring.
Most gardeners still enjoy seeing their fuchsias in hanging baskets. These basket fuchsias should be repotted every year and treated as follows:
• About President’s Day, cut the top of the plant back to the edge of the pot, remove dead or crossing branches, knock the plant out of the pot and trim one or two inches of root off the root ball (sides and bottom).
• Repot the fuchsia in a suitable soil mixture (such as eight parts Gardeners Gold potting soil, two parts Gold Rush and one part perlite); water thoroughly.
• Fertilize your fuchsias once a month with water soluble Master Nursery Bud and Bloom Fertilizer (10-52-8 plus trace elements) or half strength twice a month.
• Water to keep the soil moist and until the water runs out the bottom of the container. This may be once every two weeks in February or once a day in August.
• When the new leaves emerge in March, pinch off the tips when two pairs of leaves are showing. Do this two more times to produce a bushy plant.
• If your plant is an old fashioned fuchsia and not one of the new mite resistant varieties, U.C. recommends spraying it with carbaryl (Sevin) once a month starting as soon as you transplant it if you had any mite damage last year. Otherwise, start spraying when you see flower buds. The mites are so small they can be spread by wind, insects and humming birds.
• Hang your basket in a place with filtered or morning sun, sit back and enjoy!
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On February 1st, the bare root rose season ends. After that we will be canning the bare root roses and your chance for savings is gone!
Come in and see our large selection of roses. So don’t wait or the savings will be gone.
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If you are looking for the perfect flower to bridge the gap between winter and summer, consider the primrose. Like a ray of sunshine on a damp and gloomy day, primroses (primula) provide early spring blooms in almost every color of the rainbow.
They prefer cool temperatures, and moist, rich, well-draining soil (with lots of compost). Primroses can tolerate full sun in spring but definitely prefer afternoon shade once temperatures get warmer. They can easily be grown indoors during winter, provided that you maintain cool night temperatures in your home (below 65 degrees), filtered sun and moist soil.
The most popular types of primroses include English primroses (Primula vulgaris/polyanthus), Fairy primroses (Primula malacoides) and German primroses (Primula obconica). All are heavy bloomers and well suited for garden planting or in containers.
Originally from England, most English primroses now are grown along the Pacific Coast. They produce large clusters of flowers above the foliage, with dwarf varieties just a few inches above the foliage and taller hybrids growing up to one foot above the foliage. They are available in almost every color shade.
German primroses are often called perennial primroses, since they can often come back to re-bloom the following season. They have larger rounded leaves, and grow up to 12 inches high, with taller flower stalks. The flowers come mostly in shades of red, rose and salmon.
Fairy primroses have a more delicate look, with smaller leaves and flower clusters on 6-12" stalks above the foliage. They generally are available in color shades of pink, lavender and white.
So if the winter blues are getting you down, chase them away with some perfect primroses!
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There is nothing ordinary about the patented blade design of Felco saws, including the Felco 600 folding saw. Unlike conventional saw teeth, which are filed, and alternately bent, the turbo-cut saw blade is taper ground and each tooth is honed to precise knife-edge sharpness. Fast, easy pull action is easier and safer than other saws. The shape of the turbo-cut blade is thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom-where the teeth are. This unique Felco feature keeps only the teeth in contact with the material to be cut. This prevents clogging and binding, since the sides of the blade never come in contact with the wood. Cuts branches up to 4 inches in diameter.
Overall length 14 inches, blade length 6 inches. Price $37.99
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Two Handed Pruner
• 3/4 inch diameter cutting capacity with 14 inch overall length
• Lightweight two-handed operation for easier cutting
• Forged, resharpenable bypass blade
• Cushioned non-slip grips
• Price $62.99 |
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Sharp pruning tools make clean cuts that heal quickly. Check out our Pruning Tool Renovation Service, which includes cleaning and sharpening and replacing missing parts for most pruners. If you're unsure whether we can service your tool, bring it in for assessment. |
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Trivia
Question: What bird has such a long tail that, when taking flight from a branch,
it must launch itself backwards in order to avoid ripping the tail to
shreds?
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Question, answer, and winner from January 8th
edition:
Question: This fruit is one of the oldest fruits to be cultivated, going back as far as biblical times. What is it?
Answer: The grape is one of the oldest fruits to be cultivated, going back as far as biblical times.
This week's winner: Sue Nemec
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| What You'll Need:
- 1/3 pound sliced pancetta, chopped
- 3 medium red onions, chopped
- 4 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch Swiss chard
- 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
- 3 quart hot water
- 5 cups coarsely chopped cored Savoy cabbage (6 ounces)
- 5 cups coarsely chopped escarole (1/2 pound)
- 1 piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (about 3 by 1 1/2 inches)
- 1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- Accompaniments: extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling; cooked ditalini pasta tossed with oil (optional); grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Step by Step:
- Cook pancetta, onions, celery, and carrots in oil in a wide 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, while preparing chard.
- Cut out stems from chard and chop stems, reserving leaves.
- Stir chard stems into pancetta mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total. (Set aside chard leaves.)
- Push vegetables to one side of pot. Add tomato paste to cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to caramelize, about 2 minutes.
- Stir paste into vegetables and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. (Paste may stick to pot, but don't let it burn.)
- Stir in tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up with a spoon, then add hot water (3 quarts), scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot.
- Bring to a simmer. Stir in cabbage, escarole, and parmesan rind. Simmer, covered, until greens are tender, about 40 minutes.
- Coarsely chop chard leaves and stir into soup along with beans.
- Simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes. Discard rind.
- Season soup with salt and pepper. If using ditalini, stir in just before serving.
Yield: 8 servings
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