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Experienced gardeners are well aware of this reality and have even come to enjoy the ephemeral nature of their outdoor spaces.
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Pampas grass is a huge, but stunning grass that produces feathery plumes. We explore its care, keeping it in check, and growing healthy grass. Join Kevin Espiritu as he explains all about this interesting grass.The striking, feathery blooms of pampas grass are prized by floral arrangers and gardeners alike. It’s even been used by float decorators for the annual Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, California since the early 1900s! Named for its original home in the grassy plains of Pampas, Argentina, this tall ornamental grass was first introduced to Europe sometime between 1775-1862. It arrived in California in about 1848, going into commercial gardening shortly thereafter, and has become a common sight in coastal areas. In the 1940s, it was even planted to help prevent erosion. But if it’s not kept in check, this tall landscape grass is known to spread like wildfire – and may become a fire hazard itself. Here, you’ll find ways to manage your pampas grass plants and ensure that your plants flourish in garden beds or containers.Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) is also commonly known as tussock grass, cortadera, paina, and pluma. People grow pampas grass as an ornamental privacy screen, a garden border, or as an accent.This feather duster shaped grass is native to the Pampas region of Argentina, South America, and also to Brazil and Chile. It is invasive in much of North America, which is why it’s best for many growing pampas grass to do so in pots and raised beds. This ornamental grass is a perennial evergreen year-round in every temperate zone. In those regions with cold winters, it loses its evergreen status. The green leaves of pampas grass are razor-sharp, and can easily slice – so watch out! In spring, lovely seed heads in the form of feathery plumes emerge from the grass clump. As the wind scatters seeds, they germinate, rooting deep into the earth. Pampas grass is dioecious, and it’s difficult to tell which plants are male or female until the plumes emerge. Female flowers are much wider and flayed at the sides. Female pampas grass catches pollen from the more compact male flowers via wind and insects. Those who want to grow new plants should purchase separate plants that include both male and female flowers. However, gardening both sexes of plants is not recommended in the temperate zone in North America because pampas grass is classed as an invasive species, and it’s listed as one of the 16 Invasive Species Sold at Garden Centers in one of our posts. The clumps form so densely in areas where it remains evergreen that native plants have trouble gaining or retaining an ecological foothold due to lack of space. When people plant pampas grass in a zone or space that doesn’t have cold winters, they risk the spread of thick stands up to 20 miles away. One great way to control the spread of these ornamental grasses when you’re gardening it is to cut the plumes from either male or female plants as soon as they emerge for floral arrangements. Another way to control this perennial grass is to only purchase female plants, which won’t be pollinated and won’t spread like wildfire – or provide fodder for wildfire.While the majority of pampas grass falls into the selloana species and subdivides into roughly 25 varietals, there are other species that also use the common name pampas grass.
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There are many excellent blueberry varieties the PNW. Blueberries will provide more than delicious fruit; they offer outstanding ornamental value as well. In fall and winter, the leaves and the bark of young branches turn glowing shades of yellows and reds. All blueberries will bloom at approximately the same time but the fruit will ripen at different times from July through October depending on the variety. Think about whether you want blueberries that ripen all at once for freezing or canning, or if you prefer a longer harvest for fresh eating throughout the season. Typically, you’ll have the best fruit production with two blueberry plants. If you only have room for one, choose a self-fertile variety. However, we still recommend two plants if you have space because even the self-fertile can produce better yields with two plants. Growing Tips Choose a location that receives full sun and has well-drained, acidic soil high in organic matter (such as compost). Although blueberries like moisture, they don’t like to be sitting in soggy soil! Generally speaking, anticipate that you’ll likely need to water deeply 1-2 times per week. With any fruiting plant, avoid overhead watering and sprinkler systems; a drip or soaker hose is an excellent watering method. In the first year, pick off all the flowers so that the plant can focus its energy on developing a strong root system. This is hard to do but you’ll be rewarded with better crops in later years! In containers, try smaller, dwarf varieties that stall small and compact but still bear lots of fruit.
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Think it’s weird to eat broccoli leaves? It’s not—the broad outer leaves of the broccoli plant are edible and delicious, and grow so well in the garden that they beg to be used more in the kitchen! (And less in the compost pile.)And I’m talking the broad outer leaves that surround a head of broccoli, not the few tiny and uninspiring leaves stuck to the head of store-bought broccoli. Most people don’t realize that you can eat broccoli leaves, or that they’re just as edible and delicious as the broccoli head itself. And I can’t blame them, considering broccoli always comes in a neat little package at the grocery store or farmers’ market. It’s a surprise to many people that the broccoli we buy and eat is actually a very small portion of the plant itself. So where does the rest of it go?The growth habit of broccoli plants. Unless you grow them yourself, you never see the massive greens that broccoli heads spring from.On my Romanesco broccoli plant (Brassica oleracea ‘Romanesco’), which grows larger than your everyday broccoli, the mature leaves span up to 2 feet long with hefty ribs and stems. Even though the plant is typically grown for its flower bud (what you commonly know as a head of broccoli, or a floret or crown), the flower is a relatively small part of the crop, and it seems like you wait alllll spring (or fall) for the prize. (A prize that sometimes never arrives, as anyone who has waited fruitlessly for a bud can attest to! But that’s a different post on the ails of growing broccoli at home.) A broccoli plant only produces one significant head per life cycle, with occasional secondary sprouts that form in the axils of the leaves. These side shoots always turn out smaller than the center head (think bite-sized), which is where baby broccoli comes from. This specialty vegetable that you sometimes see at farmers’ markets or gourmet grocers is simply a bonus harvest — not broccoli picked early. Knowing all that, it seems wasteful to use such a modest portion of the plant when the rest of it is so good.Health benefits of broccoli and broccoli leaves Broccoli is considered one of the most nutritious vegetables on the market, providing 100 percent of the daily value of vitamin C in a single cup of chopped broccoli. It contains a full nutritional lineup of B vitamins, potassium, iron, calcium, minerals, and fiber. When compared to the stems, the florets have a higher concentration of protective phytochemicals like beta carotene and sulforaphane (the latter of which has been shown to protect against certain cancers). But broccoli leaves are their own superfood, with even higher amounts of beta carotene than the florets, along with vitamin A (which is important for vision and skin health) and phytonutrients that aren’t found in the florets or stems. That means if you’re a gardener who’s used to composting broccoli leaves or ignoring them while you wait for the heads to form, you are missing out on the many free health benefits of this amazing crop.How to harvest broccoli leaves If you grow your own broccoli, you can start to harvest a few of the outer (older) leaves every week once they reach 4 to 6 inches long. After the plant forms a crown, you can harvest the broccoli head but continue to pick the leaves until you can no longer keep up… seriously! Broccoli is an incredible cut-and-come-again crop, and new leaves remain tender even when the rest of the plant is getting tall and unwieldy. When I lived in Southern California, I could keep my broccoli growing year-round in the mild coastal climate (zone 10b). These second-year plants were still thriving despite having all the crowns harvested moons ago, and on some of the plants, I’d stripped them clean of leaves to cook with!
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Deciduous magnolias may not be as well known as their evergreen cousins, but they are no less beautiful. Star magnolia is a stunning tree that falls into this group. Join gardening expert Melissa Strauss to talk about planting and caring for your own star magnolia. If you’re looking for a magnolia tree that can handle the cold, this Japanese native is the perfect pick. It is low-maintenance, widely adaptable, and hardy down to a whopping -30°F (-34°C)! Unlike its southern magnolia relatives, star magnolia trees are hardy to zone 4 and come from mountainous regions. Growing up in tropical zone 11, I had no idea how beautiful any of the magnolia trees were. Certainly, I had seen photos of their large, creamy white blooms, but without seeing one in person, it’s hard to grasp the true beauty of a plant. When in college in North Florida, I first encountered the Japanese magnolia. I was smitten from the first look. One smaller subset species worth adding to the garden is the star magnolia tree or Magnolia stellata. Here’s how to grow this showstopper! Japanese magnolias are wonderful blooming trees that prefer mild climates. They are more cold-tolerant than the evergreen types, so you can grow them in a wider range of climate zones. These deciduous trees produce incredibly beautiful flowers in spring, soft, attractive foliage in summer, and they even offer a bit of fall color. They are relatively easy to care for and require only a modicum of maintenance once established. This star of the garden is a flowering deciduous small tree or large shrub. Compact varieties of star magnolia trees may only reach 10 feet tall, while standard types may grow up to 25 feet at maturity. They are moderate growers, putting on between one and two feet per year, depending on their environment. In general, Japanese magnolia species are spring bloomers, though they vary by species. Star is an early bloomer, beginning in February, depending on the climate. The colder the climate, the later they bloom, up until about April. The flowers open from soft, fuzzy buds and look like large, white stars, which is where this species gets its name. The flowers are between one and four inches across and are usually pure white. A couple of cultivars have yellow undertones, and some have a touch of pink. Depending on the variety, they have between 7 and 30 petals and a light, pleasant fragrance. Rather than the rounded, tulip shape of other plants in the genus, these have elongated, straplike petals. Orange fruit cones develop over the summer and provide food for birds in the fall. They can have one or multiple trunks, depending on how you prune them while young. In general, they have more branching than other Japanese cultivars. The bark is attractive, lightly textured, and silvery gray. The foliage is soft and oblong. It changes to bronze in the fall, but it’s not particularly noteworthy in contrast to the spring blooming habit. Star magnolia trees are native to Japan, where they grow in the highlands of the island of Honshu. This part of the world has cool summers, cold winters, and quite a lot of snowfall. It’s a mountainous region, and higher elevations experience a greater fluctuation in climate. This species came to America in the 1860s. The ideal time to plant a star magnolia tree is while it is still dormant. In late winter, before the buds break, dig a hole that is two to three times the width and as deep as your root ball. Choose a location with some shelter from the wind, as a late frost with strong winds can harm developing buds. Water the tree well before planting to hydrate it, which reduces shock. It’s a great idea to amend your soil with compost to give it an extra boost from the beginning. Position your root ball in the hole and backfill, then water it thoroughly. For the first three to six months, water it two to three times per week. Once established, continue to water weekly in the absence of rain for the next two years. Applying a layer of mulch around the base will help hold in moisture, which magnolias appreciate. Leave some space around the trunk to avoid fungus and pest infestation.
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