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About Scenic Nursery | Our Guarantee
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| 1313 Scenic Drive | Modesto, CA | 95355 | (209) 523-7978 | ||
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January 2004 ArchivesJanuary 30, 2004The Importance of Latin NamesSuzanne Hively, over at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has an excellent article on the importance of latin (also called botanical) names. The goes back to my earlier post about how Garden Diaries are very helpful. A big part of garden diaries is the log of all the plants going into your garden (with botanical names). That way, if your friends want to know what you have, you can tell them Pennisetum villosum, instead, "feathery grass stuff" January 29, 2004Garden Club MeetingJust a reminder that we're less than 2 weeks away from the Modesto Garden Club's Monthly Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 12th at 11:00 am, and the speakers are: The Meetings are held at the Senior Citizens Center at 211 Bodem, Modesto. The Modesto Garden Club has been an important link to the beauty of Modesto for the past 80 years and the tradition continues today. The club’s 700+ members range in age from 5 to 100! So if you love gardening or just want to learn more – come join the club! January 28, 2004An Interesting Early Spring GardenWhen I visit yards doing bids for the Garden Crew, our garden maintenance division, I am struck by the lack of early spring color in most yards. I am until I remember what I realized quite a few years ago, People buy what looks good the day they visit the nursery. If it’s out of bloom forget it. When someone visits Scenic Nursery during the nice spring days in April and May your garden looks great in April and May. If you want to make your garden interesting year round you have to schedule visits year round. Remember, in California Scenic Nursery is open 12 months of the year. Scenic Nursery is open in the cold of the winter, rain of the spring, heat of the summer and fall. Some things you miss seeing include the old fashioned spring blooming Spireas, Forsythias, Oriental magnolias, flowering almond, yellow flowering Carolina Jessamine. There are a large number of things that are at their peak during the bad weather of the spring that most people don’t think of when adding to their garden. I recommend a visit to Scenic Nursery every 2 weeks year-round just to see what’s different. Two visits a month that’s all we ask! Peach Leaf Curl is an endemic problem here in the valley. If you have Peach, Nectarine, Plum, Apricot or Almond Trees, you need to spray every year for it. We recommend 3 applications of MicroCop & Sta Stuk to control Peach Leaf Curl. The first application should be after the leaves have fallen (so right now is a good time), with the second a third application following at 6-week intervals. We have MicroCop & StaStuk available in a bundle pack for $14.39. Don't forget to get a sprayer to apply it! You can read more about fruit tree spraying schedules here. Scientists have discovered that the world's largest (and smelliest) flower is related to the Poinsetties. The flower is called Rafflesia, and it reproduces by attracing carrion flies with the smell of rotten meat. The flies pick up the pollen, and pass it from flower to flower. January 27, 2004Real-Life Flower PowerHere's an interesting story about genetically modified plants being used for good things. Apparently scientists have genetically modified ARABIDOPSIS thaliana commonly called Thale Cress to detect landmines. The flowers turn red when planted on top of buried land mines. The full story is here. January 26, 2004Seed PotatoesHave you ever grown your own potatoes? Now's the time to do it! Seed potatoes are different than store-bought in that they haven't been treated to retard sprouting. Pick up our potato planting handout along with your spuds. January 25, 2004Soil TestingDr. Bob Black has a good article on the benefits and drawbacks of soil testing at the Manila Sun Star. Keep in mind, this is a Filipino Newspaper, so some of the advice is geared directly to tropical areas. The comment about people using lime every year is a perfect example. This is really only needed in areas with summer rainfall every year, like the Eastern Seabord, etc. Still, the article is fairly useful for any gardener wondering about when (and when not) to test. January 24, 2004More Wildlife StudiesOk, so we have a birdwatching study, maybe we should start up a Tree-Octopus Study. Do people in Oregon have special feeders for them? Or do they just steal the bird seed out of birdfeeders, like squirrels. Thanks to Philip for the link In England, they have a nation-wide birdwatching study, to track the numbers of all the bird populations. Do we have anything similar here? If not, we should. Something I noticed in the article. It points out: Since 1979 the study has charted the serious decline of the house sparrow, starling and song thrush and the rise of tits and collared doves.
This rather ironic, because the starling is running rampant here in California, and is very successful at pushing native birds out of areas. The problem has become so bad that some naturalists are destroying starling nests just so the native birds can struggle on. Maybe we could trap them, and ship them back to England? January 23, 2004Candied Rose PetalsUse these on candy trays, as a garnish for fruit cups, as a decoration on cakes or pies, or to adorn a serving platter for a special meal. You will need: Begin by slightly beating the egg white in a small bowl. Sprinkle a layer of sugar on a small plate. Dip the rose petals first in the egg white, then coat both sides with sugar. Dry these confections on a rack. Store the candied petals on wax paper, each layer separated by a paper towel or piece of cheesecloth. A handful of strongly scented rose petals will delicately flavor a punch for any party. You will need: 2-3 hours before you wish to serve the punch, put a good handful of fresh, scented rose petals into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the roses and pour over it a large bottle of sparkling wine or sparkling cider, along with the juice of one lemon. Chill. When ready to serve, strain off the liquid into a punch bowl and add additional fresh rose petals and any berries in season. Serve in tall glasses for an elegant treat.  These make a healthful snack the kids should love! A nicely wrapped sample, with the recipe attached, also makes a good holiday gift. You will need: Snap off the stems and tail of the rose hips you have gathered. Discard any imperfect ones. Split the hips open. With a teaspoon turned over, force the seeds out of the hips and throw the seeds away. Cover the hips with cold water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Drain well. Once cool, roll the hips in granulated sugar and spread thinly on waxed paper to dry. Store in an airtight container.  You are invited to check some helpful info about levitra | levitra | http://www.levitra-online-best-pharmacy.info/ | - Tons of interesdting stuff!!!
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