walterandersen.com facebook.com/walterandersens twitter.com/walterandersens online store videos San Diego’s Independent Nursery Since 1928 TM APRIL 2017 IN THIS ISSUE Not All Pollinators Are Honey Bees By Ken Andersen Pollinators 1 European Honey Bees are what we usually think of when we think of pol- No Gibberish Spoken Here 1 linators in the garden. While they do a Agapanthus, Agapanthus 1 fair share of the pollinating, there are Poway Rose Show 2 other bees at work like Mason Bees. Words From Walter: Plumeria 3 Mason Bees (Osmia lignaria if you To Do List: April 3 want to get technical) are prodigious Heavenly Bamboo 4 pollinators but they differ from Honey Choosing Tomato Varieties 5 Bees in a few distinct ways. They are solitary bees in that they do not have Old Ben: Western Wood-Pewee 6 a social order nor do they form hives DIG Irrigation Class 7 or have queens. Once they mate they April Garden Classes 7 will lay eggs in small round holes they will find in nature. When they lay their eggs they will leave a supply of pollen for the larva to feed on until they mature and emerge. Mason Bee habitat Agapanthus, Agapanthus, Even though they do not live in hives, combs to fill. One other difference they are perfectly happy to make nests that many will appreciate is they tend Agapanthus & More next to each other. Mason Bees do not not to sting. Since they do not have Agapanthus produce honey so they don’t create a colony, honey, or queen to protect By Walter Andersen, Jr. continued p2 No Gibberish Spoken Here By Melanie Potter Brunia albiflora, Scholtzia’ Spiked Darling’, and Chamelaucium Verticordia. Say what? Sounds like gibberish but these are plants we hope you’ll become acquainted with. All are Australian natives that are very drought-tolerant, somewhat unusual and are not regularly available. In addition to looking pretty in a landscape, they are attractive cut flowers. We anticipate their arrival after April 10, and you are welcome to call and verify they are in stock. So, how Agapanthus by Monrovia about a meet and greet? Agapanthus, or ‘Lily of the Nile’, its Brunia albiflora most common name, is not a true lily. Brunia is a small genus of flowering shrubs known What is true about them is that they for their unusual flowers. These evergreen shrubs can are easy to grow and need minimal grow upright up to 6’ tall and produce dark-green care. There are many varieties; most foliage that resembles the foliage of a pine tree. are hybrids to ensure that the best Tiny silvery-white flowers appear in tight and fluffy pompom-like flower heads. Brunia is usually a slow traits of the parent plants are passed Brunia albiflora on to the next generation. by Obra Verde Growers continued p4 continued p2 04.17 2 Pollinators continued from p1 Agapanthus they are rarely defensive. It is said that replace the tubes with cocoons. As the continued from p1 about the only way to get stung by weather warms, the bees will emerge one is to squeeze it (and who would and start pollinating, mating, and do that?) and even then, you may not nesting back in the empty tubes. The blooms are clusters of blue or suffer a sting. white. The shades of blue vary from Soon you will have them foraging in Luring Mason Bees to your yard is fairly your yard. The females will go into very light to deep, deep indigo. The simple. Purchase the bee cocoons and the tubes and deposit an egg, pollen plant forms a clump of deep green place them in your yard. The bees and nectar. She will then build a wall (or variegated) strap-like leaves will also need nesting areas in your in the tube (hence term Mason Bee) that grow from the ground. The yard to keep the population growing. and repeat the process until the tubes clumps are from 10” to 14” tall, with It’s a good idea to buy a Mason Bee are full. Around June, the original bees clumps reaching more than 2.5’ in habitat at the same time you purchase will begin to die off but the eggs will diameter when mature. your cocoons. Place the habitat in start hatching. The larva completes an area where it will get morning or its entire growth cycle in the tubes. The bloom season begins in May southern exposure. The habitat will Around August, they will spin a cocoon and continues well into the summer be filled with small paper tubes when and begin developing into a mature months. The large bloom clusters you purchase it. This is where they will bee over the fall and winter. In the are formed on the top of long stems, nest. When you purchase the cocoons, spring time they will emerge to start above the foliage. Some varieties buy a couple for back up. Pull out two the cycle all over again. • of the empty tubes in the habitat and can reach 4’ to 5’ tall. There are also dwarf varieties, ‘Peter Pan’, with its blue blooms is probably the best known. The dwarf varieties have more compact clumps, about 10” tall and bloom spikes of about 16” or so tall. There is a white blooming dwarf variety, sporting names like, ‘Rancho’ or ‘Peter Pan Dwarf’. Agapanthus are excellent container plants and equally good planted in the ground. They can be grown is some of the worst soils, but amending with a good planter mix will result in healthier and more rewarding plants. Cut off the old bloom stocks as the blooms fade to keep the plant looking neat. When the clumps are older, they are easy to divide to make more plants. To encourage new foliage and more bloom stalks, fertilize once a month with Gro-Power starting in March Very few pests bother this plant but check for snail and slugs and bait as needed with Sluggo. • 04.17 3 Words From Walter TO DO LIST: April Growing Plumeria From By Walter Andersen, Jr. A Cutting FERTILIZE Feed Lawns, Palms & More Use Marathon Fertilizer for tall fescue, and Hi-Yield Weed & Feed to feed Almost everyone loves blooming grass and control broad-leaf weeds. Plumeria plants. It reminds some of a Feed ornamentals with Gro-Power or tropical vacation or a luau. The flowers are gorgeous and the fragrance is Gro-Power Plus. Feed vegetables with heavenly. Gro-Power Tomato and Vegetable Food or Dr. Earth Organic Tomato and It’s easy to grow these beauties from Vegetable Food. Feed citrus, avocado, cuttings. In late spring or early summer, and fruit trees with Gro-Power Citrus cut a branch from a healthy plant. You and Avocado Food. Feed palms and should try to make your tip cutting tropicals with Gro-Power Palm Tree about 10” to 14” long. If the cutting and Tropical Food. you are trying to make has two growth ends, that is preferred, but a single end PEST CONTROL will work. Edibles & Ornamentals With a sharp shear, make a clean cut Keep insects under control by hitting about 1” from the top. Poke your finger across the stem. Quite a bit of white into the center of the soil to about 3” them early. On edibles, use Monterey sap will ooze from the cut area and deep and place your new cutting into Garden Insect Spray, Safer Yard and you’ll want to be careful not to get this the hole. Tamp down the soil around Garden Spray. For ornamentals, use sap in your eyes! the bottom of the cutting. I would a systemic control like Bayer 3-in-1 Remove most of the leaves on the suggest inserting a small 1/2” x 1/2” Insect Disease and Mite Spray. cutting, leaving some tiny ones that redwood stake deep in the soil next to might be at the tip. It doesn’t matter the cutting. Tie the cutting to the stake PLANT if it is in bloom or not. Lay the cutting so it does not fall over. Place your new Warm-season bedding plants, Dahlias, in a shaded area for about a week or cutting in a sunny area, and water it. annuals, and perennials. Warm-season two to let the cut seal. Drying the cut You’ll need to water about every seven vegetables and vegetable seeds. area is important because attempting to 10 days. Don’t keep the soil wet Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, and to root fresh cuttings causes them and let it dry well between waterings. the specialty hot peppers are here. to rot. After it is calloused over (very Your new cutting should show signs dry at the cut part), dip the cutting in of growth in three or so weeks. Within LOOK FOR a rooting hormone so the whole end three months it should be well rooted. is covered in the powder. Plant the You can then replant it into the ground, Flowering deciduous trees and shrubs, cutting in cactus mix because Plumeria in full sun, or into a larger pot. Start blooming roses, blooming bulbs, do best in well-draining soil. feeding with Gro-Power dry fertilizer Ceanothus and tropicals. • when you see new leaves forming and A two gallon plastic pot is a good size continue feeding every two months. for your cutting. Fill the container to • WALTER ANDERSEN NURSERY’S OWN Don’t Get Caught In The Dark If you are a morning person, you are probably starting your outdoor fitness routine or walking the dog in the dark.