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by Mary Crowell
 Recently I read this quote from the editor of a magazine that made my heart sing, as a friend of mine is want to say. “Ah, to be so appreciative of nature, and so intimate as to be in harmony with her.” This is how I feel about my garden and gardens in general and the reason I do write this monthly garden column.
January, usually the coldest month in our SF bay area, is the time to prune, clean up yard debris, plant spring flowers and, of course, look at catalogues and magazines. Wait until frost is over before doing some of the pruning, difficult as it might be, as it will be best for the plants to have some protection. Try using a
product called Cloud Cover when frost does occur. Be sure to use Sluggo to control the slugs and snails at this time, it is considered to be nontoxic to pets and kids.
It is the right time to prune the roses and hydrangeas as they are cold hardy and appreciate going dormant. Also prune perennials, wisteria, grapevines, and last year’s bulbs. Most bulbs profit by allowing the stems to wither. Don’t braid them as some tell you to do to tidy them, as it breaks the layers needed to allow the nutrients to return to the bulb or rhizomes. One can plant gladiolas this month and next. Roses can be pruned back to an outside 5-leaf node and all hips should be pruned off. Most garden centers, arboretums, rose societies and nurseries are having pruning demos for free. Shrubs benefit by pruning for shape before the new growth appears. I am not personally into annuals but now is a good time to plant primroses, pansies, snapdragons, stock, cyclamen, Iceland poppies, and flowering kale. Fertilize
citrus, gardenias, camellias, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Plant deciduous trees, grapes, berries, and wisteria. As for container planters, they need your attention to be weeded, repotted, or refreshing their soil. Don’t forget to water when they are under the eaves or in a protected area.
Every year in January in this column, I tell about myself and why gardening means so much to me. I live in the San Mateo Village, retired from the University of California, where
I worked as a Medical Technologist at San Francisco General Hospital. As an amateur (and I stress this) gardener, who maintains, with a very helpful husband, a 13 year old garden that started with grass when I moved from SSF. I also have about 1000 container plants, the majority of which are cacti and succulents. Since retiring in 1991, I was able to have time to go to school with CA Garden Clubs, Inc. and become a master floral designer and flower show judge, judging and entering horticulture and floral designs in shows and fairs. As an offshoot of my interest, I am currently a member of the San Mateo Garden Center, for whom I write this
column, President of the Peninsula Succulent Club, member and past Pres. of the San Francisco Epiphyllum Society, member of the San Mateo Rose Society and two design guilds, Bay Area Floral Arranging Guild and Furyu. These activities keep me out of mischief, retirement allows me time to give programs on horticulture, floral designs, table designs and crafts to garden clubs and design guilds, usually with my friend Shane or my husband John, as I am too scared to do so by myself. I also have a volunteer job with California Garden Clubs Board as the Cactus and Succulent Chair.
My father was a wonderful gardener who had a super flower and veggie garden wherever we lived when I was an Air Force brat. My mother took Ikebana classes for years and some of it must have rubbed off. In our very small garden in San Mate
o, we have a perennial border and a side cactus and succulent garden along with a wisteria, a gardenia, a citrus, some bulbs and glads, a rose bush called “Betty Boop”, and a hydrangea in the front flower bed. In the back yard, we have the many container plants, about half cacti and succulents, the rest a mixture of cymbidiums, bromeliads and perennials. When my epiphytic cacti are in bloom in the spring, May-June, we usually have an open house in our garden. Watch for that date.
You may ask me questions at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, or write to me c/o the San Mateo Garden Center News, 605 Parkside Way San Mateo, 94403.
Mary, John and >^..^< >^..^<>^..^< in San Mateo, CA
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