Smart & Sustainable, Green Garden Design, Coaching & Seasonal Maintenance


Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: It's A Daffodilly Day!

Flickr photo credit: PresleyJesus








Thanks little bag o' bulbs!

You may be interested in a related post from the back of the stack: Plant Now for Spring Daffodils.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Coming Soon to Your Sacramento Neighborhood: The Lovely, Border Forsythia


Forsythia x intermedia, Border Forsythia
Classification: woody broadleaf deciduous shrub
Origin: hybrid cross from F. suspensa and F. viridissima (both native to China and Korea)
Sunset Zones: 2 - 11, 14-16, 18, 19
Structure/Form: mounding, arching, fountain-shaped. Spreads by layering, so has the ability to establish clusters.
Density/Texture: dense
Mature Size: 6 - 10' (depending on variety) tall, and equal width or wide depending on variety).
Growth Rate: moderate to rapid
Foliage: opposite, elliptically shaped leaves with fairly prominent serrations. These leaves are approx. 3 - 5" long, dark green on top/pale green undersides. The stems have lightly colored glandular bumps or scars, "lenticils", and the mature stems are hollow, but solid at nodes (like bamboo).
Flower, Fruit, Seeds: 4-part trumpet-shaped yellow to golded yellow flowers run the length of the bare branches before the leaves appear. The flower display lasts about a month between February and April.
Uses: accent, background, informal hedges, espallier (very nice look), cut flowers, winter forcing (budded branches can be forced for blooms).
Propagation: cuttings, layering occurs naturally (horizontal stems start rooting where they touch damp soil)
Care & Maintenance: as with many basal growers, thin at the base (prune after bloom 1/3 of the stems to the ground starting with oldest branches and weak or dead wood). Looks best without cutback, but will tolerate pruning.
Cultivated Varieties: 'Spectabilis' (deep yellow), 'Lynwood Gold' (tawny yellow), 'Spring Glory' (lighter bright yellow)
Comments: like the flowering quince, the early blooming forsythia is a delight with it's yellow sprays in the late winter/early spring landscape. After it blooms it is rather non-descript, but blends nicely with other background shrubs. 

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Panama Pottery

It's the "gathering ideas together stage" for my California State Flower, Food and Garden Show garden display. I'm thinking Modern Mexican, so I'm looking for Mexican pottery, maybe sculpture ...
indigenous clay sculpture
I loved these pieces in the window at Panama Pottery,  locked up in a metal shed. For sale?

copper and metal gate fountain
 I also really liked the fountain made with a copper basin attached to a metal gate (by Jorge Lozano of Lozano's Art in Sacramento)!

strawberry jars at Panama Pottery
These strawberry jars might work ... I'm  incorporating edibles in my landscape... vegetables, citrus ... hmmm.....strawberries?



I was told that the inventory is low at this time of year (January/February) but really picks up starting in March and April. I saw a large volume of pots on hand, so it must be crowded in the spring. The company carrys a wide range of pottery, handmade terra cotta that they fire on site, as well as Talavera pottery, imported from Mexico ...


Talavera pottery

lots of pottery
and, a wide range of imported pottery, both rustic and glazed.



It also has sculpture ...
more Talavera

classes (mosaic, clay hand building and wheel throwing, for teens and adults),



and, if you're ready to go big time with your ceramc art, studio spaces that are available for rent.
Storage Lockers at Panama Pottery
 ...lizards, clay knife holders, and a peek into one of their storage lockers for their resident potters,

Beehive Kiln at Panama Pottery
who get to use their beehive kilns. Very impressive!



If that's not enough variety for you, one of their potters is also a farmer who brings in fresh eggs and seasonal produce available on Saturdays, sometimes. Check them out, they're happy to have visitors, even school tours! Panama Pottery, celebrating its 98th year in business!

Panama Pottery Sign

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.