Gardener's Quote of the Day

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.
~Hanna Rion

Gardening on the radio?? Mark your calendar!

Bay Area gardeners: Listen to the Ronn Owens Show on KGO at 11am, August 14th, to get your gardening questions answered by Sloat's gardening expert, Richard Avery. This hour of gardening talk will cover sustainable gardening, reducing water use, preparing for fall and spring bulbs. Tune in!!

San Francisco, 3rd Avenue location - We have 5 gallon fragrant plumeria in bud and bloom and lots of abutilon (flowering maples -- which are not related to maples at all but they do have maple-like leaves on sprawling tinker toy stems and nodding bell shaped flowers in a range of colors.). These are shade lovers, perfect for SF tunnel entrances. Abutilons can grow up to 10 feet or more but are easily pruned to a manageable size.

San Rafael location, on Lincoln Avenue - Huge assortment of deer resistant grasses, acers, liatris, asclepias, echinacea, cestrum nocturnum, romneya (drought tolerant), roses, assorted vines, penstemon, aeonium, dahlias, bougainvilleas and many assorted custom planters for sun and shade.

Donna Chapman, our very talented bedding buyer in Danville, created this for July 4th. Neato!

All about Cuphea!

These natives of Mexico and Central America are definitely frost-tender, although they may survive light frosts in Sunset zones 16-17. All attract hummingbirds. They can take full sun or part shade and regular water. They should be cut back in early spring.

Most of us are familiar with Cuphea hyssopifolia, ‘Mexican Heather’. This woody evergreen perennial grows 1-2 feet tall, and to about 2 ½ feet wide. It carries its tiny flowers along the stem, blossom colors range from pink, purple, white and orange. The tidy well-behaved growth habit makes it ideal for use in small beds, formal edging for borders, along paths and in containers. This plant would look nice paired with nepeta, cosmos, stachys, Achillea ‘Moonshine’, tanacetum, penstemon, nicotiana, and gaura.

Cuphea ignea “Cigar Plant’ is another compact grower, it can grow to 1 foot or taller, and as wide. The ‘cigar’ refers to the shape of the orange-red tubular blossoms carried at the end of the stems. Adorable! These would like mixed with zinnias, lantana, rudbeckia, salvia ‘East Friesland’, diascia, and nemesia.

Cuphea llavea, ‘Bat-Faced Cuphea’ can grow 2-3 feet tall, and 3 feet wide. This plant is not drought-tolerant, it grows along stream banks in Mexico. Use Zeba granules when planting to get it off to a good start. The red-and-purple 1½ inch long flowers are where the name comes from, compact varieties have both coral-red and vibrant pink blossoms. They can be planted with Hypericum “Tricolor’, Agastache, Salvia uliginosa, Carex testacea, mimulus, crocosmia, alstroemeria, scented geraniums, and asclepias.

Sloat custom planters in stores now!

Starting this month at all locations, look for Sloat custom planter creations, designed by our talented staff and perfect for your front door.

Flowers for butterflies!

The North American Butterfly Association's list of top butterfly nectar flowers. Check it out!

http://www.naba.org/ftp/baca.pdf

Snapshots from our stores!

A carnivorous plant! Nepenthes


what a neato coleus!


sunflowers and red geraniums


Great phaleonopsis


calibrachoa


dahlias are still in stock!


lantana -- butterfly food!


nemesia in 5 colors below....










scabiosa (another butterfly food) and nasturium


Dahlia and Nicotiana


lobelia and alyssum (attracts beneficials)


more dahlias and gaura


yarrow and scented geraniums


lilies

Summer Children's Garden Arts Series

Pottery Sample Sale through Tuesday, July 17th!

We toured the displays yesterday and the new samples are incredibly unique -- very impressive stuff! The sale starts on Sunday and quantities are definitely limited. There is no back stock on the pottery pictured below -- it truly is one of a kind!

Updates from our stores!

Sloat Blvd. location - New in store: we have great butterfly bushes, flowering maples in 6 colors, cannas, yarrows and sages. We also have a terrific selection of 1 gallon tomatoes and peppers ready to plant and harvest in our SF summer of September & October! Also, a terrific selection of summer color in jumbo packs and 4 inch pots to freshen your garden: vinca, lobelia, marigold and nicotania. In perennials we have gorgeous salvias and lots of succulents to choose from. It's a great weekend to pop some color into your pottery!

Mill Valley, Miller Avenue location - Salvias in many different varieties and colors. Dahlias, fuchsias, butterfly bush and crape myrtle.

3rd Avenue location - 4" Calibrachoa hybrids in a wide variety of colors including some of Assistant Manager Mike's favorite varieties of Superbells: Tequila Sunrise & Cherry Pink. Great for hanging baskets and window boxes!

All about Agastache & Aeonium. Both are on special this month!

Agastache (pronounced ah-gas-TAH-kee-whew!)

This perennial herb (also Sloat's plant pick of the month) is also called “Hummingbird Mint” or “Anise Hyssop”, the flower spikes not only attract hummingbirds but butterflies and bees too. The name ‘agan’ means very much, the ‘stache’ comes from ‘stachys’, meaning spikes. They have an upright growth habit with stiff angular stems, different species grow between 1 ½ feet to 4 feet tall. They are native to the southwestern US and northern Mexico. They need only moderate water once they’re established, after their second growing season. Agastache likes full sun and excellent drainage. You can also mulch around them with a fine gravel, the gravel will release a little extra heat at night for these sun-lovers.

All species are highly aromatic; some smell like anise or root beer, some like are sweet with a hint of lavender and some smell like bubblegum!

It makes a wonderful addition to the perennial border, blooming summer through fall, and will re-bloom is dead-headed. They bring a delicate texture that contrasts well with bold textures like sedum ‘Autumn Joy”, pennisetum rubrum, big dahlias, campanula medium, amaranth, Shasta daisies, Echinacea, euphorbias, salvia ‘East Friesland’, hemerocallis ‘Stella ‘Doro’ or ‘Green Flutter’. Blooms can be red, orange, pink, purple, or blue-ish.

They are hardy if you leave the stems on over winter to absorb any frost damage. In mid-spring cut the dead stems off to about 4”-5” above ground level. Fertilize half strength with Maxsea All-Purpose in the spring.

In the fall fertilize with EB Stone’s all Purpose Organic Food. Divide these plants in the fall.

Aeonium

These succulent subtropical perennials are native to the Canary Islands. Some are also found in Madeira, Morocco and eastern Africa. They will take full sun on the coast, but light shade is preferable in the hottest areas in the Bay Area. Aeoniums do well in containers, in the landscape they need excellent drainage. That’s why they do so well in the sandy soil of the Sunset or the Richmond of San Francisco. In clay soil they may do better in a raised bed.

The fleshy leaves are held in rosettes at the branch tips although there are some low-growing forms that don’t seem to have any branches. After several years the rosettes produce a single flower stalk in spring or summer. Branches that have flowered die, but more branches can grow. Older plants can become leggy. To encourage branching, cut back branches several inches below the rosettes. Cuttings are easily rooted; let dry for a few days, then plant in sandy soil kept barely moist until new growth appears.

They are NOT hardy, meaning they need protection from frost. Containers can be moved under eaves, plants in the ground should be watered the day before the temperature drops and covered with Harvest Guard, our insulating cover/seed blanket.

They are available in greens and bronzes, with red edges and white/red/salmon variegations. They would look fabulous planted with blue oat grass, other succulents, miscanthus, phormiums, achilleas, anigozanthos, and leucadendrons.

Summer Container Watering

Keep up on watering container plants...we have a few suggestions to help!

First and foremost: water each plant to the top of the container rim so that water can soak through to the bottom of the roots. This is a critical key to all watering!

Specific instructions for container watering: For larger shrubs and trees, citrus, Bougainvillea, California natives, and out of bloom flowering shrubs, apply “pink Osmocote”.

Avoid watering native plants later in the day even if they are wilted. It has been found that watering them in this stressed state is more likely to kill them than not. Wait until the next morning.

Do not water Bougainvillea, Citrus, Fremontodendron, Romneya, Fescues, or Magnolias every day. Let them dry out first.

Vegetables and herbs often get over watered as do hanging basket Fuchsias, Begonias and New Guinea Impatiens. If the plants are wilted in the middle of the day and the temperatures are at or near 85+, LEAVE THEM ALONE! The plants have turned on their survival mechanisms and closed their stomas to save water. Shut stomas = loss of turgidity=wilt. The soil is probably still moist enough, adding more reduces oxygen for the roots and creates a stewing environment –not good for roots. The result is yellow leafed, stunted peppers and tomatoes, dead fuchsias and sad looking flowers. If the plants are still wilted at around 4:00 pm, go ahead and water (even though its against the morning only rule).

Plants do not need to be “kissed”. There is a vein of thought that plants like a shower on a hot day to cool them off and create some humidity. Plants will release more water out of their bodies in a humid environment (think diffusion) than they have water reserves in their cages (cans) thus becoming even drier! It also encourages disease, wrecked flowers and sunburn (those water droplets are like little magnifying glasses)

Pottery Sample Sale. Put it in your calendar!!

The July/August Gardener's Notebook is here!

We cover: succulent gardening, gardenias, gophers, night blooming plants...

Click the image below to read this month's issue.

The July/August Gardener's Notebook is here!

We cover: succulent gardening, gardenias, gophers, night blooming plants...

Click the image below to read this month's issue.