walterandersen.com facebook.com/walterandersens twitter.com/walterandersens online store videos San Diego’s Independent Nursery Since 1928 TM APRIL 2019 How To Control Pests After A Rainy Season By Ken Andersen IN THIS ISSUE How To Control Pests 1 Tomatoes From A To Z 1 Pretty Pentas And Pollinators 1 Tips For Attracting Pollinators 3 Citrus Leaf Miner Old Ben: Hawks 4 Old Ben Specials 4 Special Event: Growchella 5 To Do List: April 5 For The Love Of Roses 6 Spring Class: Cheese & Herbs 7 Shawn Styles of KFMB and Ken Andersen shooting a segment. Aphids Poway Rose Show Details 8 April Classes 9 Last month, Shawn Styles of KFMB for early signs of pest activity. The April Special! 9 Channel 8 interviewed me about the earlier you catch the problem, the projected increases in insect popu- easier it will be to control. During the lation after the rainy winter we have segment, we discussed using traps to had. Insect and pest activity tends to control insects both inside the home boom after a wet winter due to the and out. Pantry moth traps are great increased amount of food and habi- to have around even if you don’t Pretty Pentas Are tat available. My best advice is to keep have a problem because they will Popular With Pollinators an eye on your garden by looking continued p2 By Melanie Potter Tomatoes From A To Z By Melanie Potter Our nurseries may have the largest selec- tion of tomatoes you will find and maybe the only ones alphabetized on the sales racks! That makes finding your selection easier, unless you’re not sure what you want. Here are some basic facts about tomatoes, followed by a list of what is in stock so far. Yes, we do expect more! When the pretty Pentas arrived, we Determinate knew there would be a rush to buy them and it was a real treat to see Determinate types grow in a compact, them lure a plethora of pollinators. bushy form and require little or no staking. Fruit is produced on the ends of the It’s not often we see hummingbird branches and most of the crop ripens at the moths, but the Pentas and Verbena continued p2 have been a popular feeding ground continued p2 04.19 2 How To Control Pests continued from p1 Pretty Pentas continued from p1 trap the moths before they have are attracted to the yellow color. They a chance to invade the food in your land on the board and become stuck pantry. Another great trap to use to it. This not only helps control the during warm weather is the Citrus insects, but allows the growers to see Leaf Miner trap. This pheromone trap what insects may be on the rise and will catch the male moths before they plan their controls accordingly. These mate, preventing the females from traps are available for use in your yard laying eggs on your citrus trees. If and both stores carry them. you have ever toured a greenhouse Editor’s Note: See the episode here, operation, chances are you have seen http://www.cbs8.com/clip/14784520/ the small yellow boards placed at super-bloom-could-mean-super- regular intervals. These are sticky traps, bugs-in-san-diego. and some insects, whitefly, aphid, etc, • Tomatoes continued from p1 same time. One or more successive making them ideal for sauce but also plantings will ensure an extended excellent for slicing. Cherry tomatoes harvest period. Determinate types are are bite-sized and come in several often the choice of those who want a shapes like oblong, pear-shaped or large supply of ripe fruit at once for round. Low acid tomatoes are a great canning. alternative for people with medical diets, cold sores, stomach problems, Indeterminate and acid reflux. for them and the Skipper Butterflies Indeterminate varieties continue to this spring. Adult hummingbird moths Varieties At Our Stores Include: grow and produce fruit all season feed on nectar from a variety of until frost. Tomatoes in all stages of Ace, Arkansas Traveler, Beefmaster, flowers, but their larvae need more development may be on the plants at Beefsteak, Betterboy, Big Beef, Big specific food plants such as sever- one time. The plants set fruit clusters Boy, Big Girl, Black Carbon, Black al species of honeysuckle, dogbane, along a vining stem, which grows Krim, Brandwine, Celebrity, Champion, or some members of the rose family vigorously and long. Under optimum Cherokee Purple, Cherry, Constoluto such as hawthorn, cherries, and conditions, some can grow over 15’, but Genovese, Early Girl, Health Kick, in most home gardens, they generally Jubilee, Juliet, Jetsetter, Kelloggs plums. Butterflies also spotted the reach about 6’. Some indeterminates Breakfast, Lemon Boy, Little Sicily, Pentas and are frequent diners as have a bush form with stockier vines, Momotaro, Mortgage Lifter, Patio, well the bees that buzz about them. which set fruit clusters closer together. Pearson Improved, Principe Borghese, Pentas are perennial, but can be Red Cherry, Red Grape, Red Pear grown as annuals. The flowers are Semi-Determinate Roma, San Marzano, San Diego, Sun- brightly colored clusters of star- Semi-determinate are in-between gold Cherry, Super Bush, Supersteak, shaped blooms. Pentas grow to 24” these two types. The plants will grow Sweet 100, Yellow Brandywine and Yel- tall but you may encounter them as larger than determinate varieties, but low Pear. Additional heirloom varieties not as large as indeterminates. They include Big Zac, Big Brandy, Hillbilly tall as 6’ in Hawaii. They hail from produce a main crop that ripens at Potato Leaf, Giant Belgium, Cuostralee, tropical Africa. once, but also continue to produce and Garden Peach. Pentas make great bedding and con- until frost. Editor’s note: If you spot some fine tainer plants. Ideally, Pentas prefer Other Variables Italian varieties on the list, they are tried to be planted in full sun and in moist, and true and were recommended by well-drained soil. Pentas will dry out Tomatoes are also grouped by use, our own Tonino, whose grandparents quickly, so give them supplemental shape, and size. Slicing tomatoes are lived in Italy and grew tomatoes. Tony water during dry spells. Give Pentas large and juicy, while paste (sauce/ also reports that you can successfully a dose of fertilizer on a monthly basis roma/plum) tomatoes are drier (con- grow bush tomatoes in pots on bal- to keep up flower production.• centrated flavor), with fewer seeds, conies! Selection changes weekly. • 04.19 3 - Tips For Attracting Pollinators By Kate Karam, Monrovia Make A Note: Both stores will be closed April 21st for Easter. Bountiful Blue Blueberries By offering plants that flower from early spring until the first hard frost, your garden can help provide nutrients for the entire life cycle of bumblebees and other pollinators. Remember, no garden is too small to help create habitat for pollinators. Combine your space with those other gardens around you and it all adds up! Here are a Few Tips for Attracting Pollinators: —Determine which pollinator-friendly plants are appropriate for your region. —Plant lots of them! Make sure there is Honeysuckle ‘Caesalpinia pulcherrima’ at least 3 x 3 feet of each plant species. These can be planted together, or in lawn unmowed, pile up grass clippings via, fuchsia, trumpet vine, honey- other areas of the garden. in a sunny spot, and create a nesting suckle and many other tubular —Limit your use of chemicals (both habitat by leaving some soil bare for flowers attract hummingbirds. Bees synthetic and organic) and use plenty ground nesting bees. are particularly drawn to white, yellow and blue; their eyes register of compost and mulch to build healthy There are Countless Flowers a color called “bee ultraviolet” that soil. Healthy soils create healthy plants. You can Plant and Here are a guides them to nectar. Bluish lilac —Plan your garden so that there is Few Suggestions: blossoms attract them and they love something blooming for as many Bountiful Blue Blueberries are the Lavender, Basil, wildflowers, Pen- months as you can. Many pollinators, gift that keeps on giving! Early spring stemon, Daisies, and Flannelbush. especially bees, forage during the flowers are a big draw for pollinators Best of all, is many of these plants entire growing season. including returning butterflies. Butter- will attract multiple varieties of —Provide shelter by letting your yard flies like flat flowers that they can land pollinators. • get a little wild. Allow a hedge to on such as Milkweed, Zinnias, Salvia, grow untrimmed, leave a section of Buddleia, Lantana and Verbena. Sal- 04.19 4 Old Ben: Coopers Hawk Old Ben's Specials Hawks Valid April 1-30, 2019 In Your Garden? Old Ben’s Nyger Seed By Old Ben The staple food for goldfinches and many other small birds. I have received several inquires in the Coopers Hawk, Great Horned Owl, 25lb. bag last month asking how to keep hawks Merlin, Red Shouldered Hawk, Red from eating the wild birds that visit Tailed Hawk, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Sale $49.99 Reg. $59.99 gardens. The answer may surprise you. Western Screech Owl, and Barn Owls. Birders are often alarmed when a hawk How To Attract Hawks visits their yard. However, encouraging Old Ben’s No Mess hawks is actually the gold standard of The key to attracting any type of Wild Bird Seed backyard birding. Because a neigh- backyard bird, including raptors, is to The No Mess Advantage. Seed is borhood will have fewer resident hawks meet the bird’s needs for food, water, hulled and chopped, will not sprout.