JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2003 Serving You Since 1955 981 Alden Lane, Livermore, CA www.aldenlane.com (925) 447-0280 Announcements Watch the Valley Gardener for great gardening tips with host Jacquie Williams-Courtright. Tune in 4 days a week on Cable Channel 30. Monday: 9 am & 3:30 pm, Friday: Stars For 3 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday: 7 am, 11 am & 2:30 pm. Your Garden Livermore-Amador Valley Garden From Down Under Club meets the first Tuesday of the month, join us on January 7th at 7 p.m. at Alisal School, 1454 Santa Rita By Lydia Roberts Rd, Pleasanton, Ca. For more No, Im sorry we havent got Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe waiting to go information call Bev at 485-7812. This months speaker will be: Simone home with you, but we have got some beautiful floral stars that are center stage Martell, author of Expectant this month in the garden while our Californian talent is still preparing for their Gardener will talk about what we performance later in the season. can look forward to in our gardeners. The climate in much of Australia and New Zealand is Mediterranean, similar to On February 4th hear Judy Sandkuhle, Central California. It can be a Little cooler here in the winter but most of the plants owner of Sunset Color, talk about her suggested below are hardy to 20 degrees F. They are evergreen and flower from favorite plants and flowers. winter through spring bringing a welcome touch of color. Generally they are easy to care for. They need little to no fertilizer, especially do not use a high phosphorus fertilizer as this can kill them. First signs are yellowing If you like armloads of cut flowers in of the leaves and an application of iron will usually cure the problem if phospate the spring and summer you can start poisoning is suspected. They are also drought tolerant once established. So what by planting gladiolus, dahlias and are you waiting for read through the cast list below and bring a sparkle to your other summer blooming bulbs. garden. Alden Lane has a full complement of Hardenbergia is an evergreen vine with masses of purple, pink or white flowers them available starting in February. that thrives in sun or part shade. Leptospermum or tea trees are a wonderful selection of shrubs that make great backgrounds to the shrub border or hedges. Especially look out for Crimson Glory which has dark red flowers against Remember Seed Potatoes are burgundy foliage. Grevillea is a huge family of plants that range from low growing available this month. Choose red, white and russet, purple and yellow Coastal Gem to 6-8 ft. shrubs like Robyn Gordon. They have masses of varieties. tubular pink, red, cream and yellow flowers that the hummingbirds love. They are great on banks or hillsides. Callistemon has wonderful fluffy red flowers just like a Bottlebrush hence its Crabgrass Alert! Prevent this common name and again comes in sizes to suit all gardens. Westringia is one of noxious weed in January. Crab- my favorites, especially Wynyabble Gem which grows to about 4 ft. with grey grass is an annual weed common in green evergreen leaves and light purple flowers heaviest in the spring but inter- lawns with pale green-yellow foliage mittently throughout the year. For shadier parts of your garden dont forget the spreading through your darker green Correas or Australian Fuchsias with their hanging bells in shades of cream to lawn. Crabgrass dies with the onset on cold weather, leaving seeds that red or the Sollyas or Bluebell Creepers which can be grown as a ground cover will sprout as the spring weather or climber. And last but not least are my absolute favorites which are the Boronias. warms the soil. Jan. and Feb. are the Red Boronia has feathery evergreen foliage to approximately 6-8 feet tall and months to prevent crabgrass from has bright pink flowers which are very fragrant, and Brown Boronia has unusual sprouting in your lawn. Applying small brown flowers that are intensely fragrant, reminiscent of freesias and can Masters Lawn Fertilizer Plus Crab- perfume even during the colder months. grass Control now will prevent So come in and see our selection and you could have an Oscar-winning crabgrass seeds from sprouting. performance in your yard this February. The Fragrance of Spring is Coming in Roses There are so many roses to choose from in our huge selection. If youre a novice the possibilities are overwhelming but dont worry we have experts to help you! Collectors will be thrilled with our extensive selection of old roses, Austins and more. And for those of you looking for the new award winners we have them! We purchase only the finest and largest top quality roses available. Once the roses arrive at the nursery they are immediately planted with a quality blended soil mix. This ensures proper root protection, a successful transplant and early establishment. A slow release fertilizer is also added to maximize healthy growth and bloom. By providing the best in quality and experience we can supply you with the finest roses available in the greater Bay Area. Stop by Alden Lane this month and choose some of the new introductions and All American Rose Selection winners to grace your garden through the coming years. Presenting the 2003 All American Rose Winners: Other new introductions: Cherry Parfait provides a refreshing show especially in Bellaroma, an exquisite hybrid tea with an intoxicating the heat. This grandiflora flowers freely with large sprays of fragrance, is Jackson and Perkins Rose of the year. Bright white blossoms edged in red. yellow buds reveal warm yellow petals blushed rich pink, Hot Cocoa produces stunning displays of chocolate- set off by glossy, dark green foliage. orange to dark red blossoms. This floribunda is easy to The J&P floribunda of the year is aptly named Flirta- grow and has excellent disease resistance. tious, for its enticing blooms and sweet, intense perfume. Eureka captured the judges attention with its novel Creamy buds open to lightly striped petals tinged pink and apricot to copper-apricot blooms and exceptional vigor and yellow at their base. strong disease resistance. This floribunda is an excellent Its not just gentlemen that prefer blondes; everyone will choice en masse or mixed with perennial plantings. love this creamy apricot hybrid tea rose named to honor an Whisper offers luminous ivory white blooms and light American legend, Marilyn Monroe. This new introduction musk fragrance. Perfect blossoms unfurl from classic, from Week Roses holds its own in the heat and has superior greenish white buds on a vigorous hybrid tea bush. vase life and perfect flower form. Give Your Roses Some Zing For Spring With Daves Fertilizer Program!! This recipe will catapult your roses into glorious blooms and luxuriant growth. This Program provides for general plant vigor, and wonderful looking roses For use on established (planted for at least 6 months) roses only in FEBRUARY and AUGUST, for each rose: 4 12-12-12 (NO SUBSTITUTES) ½ cup per rose (5# bag for 18 roses) 4 Magnesium Sulfate 2 tbs per rose (5# bag for 70+ roses) 4 Chicken Fertilizer 1 shovel per rose (1 bag for 9 roses) 4 Bone Meal ½ cup per rose, (4# bag for 18 roses) 4 Sulfur* ½ cup per rose (5# bag for 18 roses) Sprinkle the first 4 ingredients around each rose and RECIPE FOR A GOOD GARDEN SOIL mix into soil if possible. Then sprinkle the chicken Amend the valley soils to give your plants their best opportunity fertilizer around each rose and water everything in. for growth. Keep this recipe handy for your planting needs. For To supply sulfur, use one of the following: Iron each 100 square feet add: Sulfate, Iron Plus, or Ph Adjuster-plus. Iron containing n 5 bags Master Gold Rush or Bumper Crop (10 cubic ft.) This products can stain; wash off adjacent paving after amount can be tripled if you are just starting out. application. n 5 pounds Iron Sulphate to acidify, break up clay and add iron DO NOT combine this recipe with systemic rose n 10 lbs. Master Vegetable Food, or Master Flower Food or fertilizer. It poses a serious health risk to pets if Master Formula 49 (can be used for ground covers). ingested. Pets are attracted to the bone meal and may n 50 lbs.gypsum. It loosens hard soils as it adds sulfur & ingest systemic rose food if it is included in this recipe calcium. (An excellent addition in our heavy soil.) or applied other months in the same area. Mix well with your soil to a 4" depth and water thoroughly. January & February Gardening Calendar þ Continue pruning fruit trees, roses and other deciduous trees and shrubs. January is ideal as most trees are in a dormant state. WARNING: Do not prune spring blooming shrubs and trees such as lilac, quince, flowering cherry etc. until the blooming period is over. þ Turn over A New Leaf Free of Peach Leaf Curl! (Early January Spraying). Stop over wintering disease spores and insect eggs from taking hold of your garden this spring. Use MASTERCOP plus SPRAY GRIP for strong and effective control. If it rains within 24 hours of the application you must reapply. þ January is Sweet Pea seed starting month for most of the fancier sweet peas. Start them indoors where its warm and move them outside when they are 3 or 4 inches high. They will grow and establish themselves now, and produce blooms for wonderful displays late this Spring.