Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruit Trees. There is a large selection of guava trees you might want to consider planting in the days ahead. While temperatures are still hot, days are shorter which means stress on newly planted trees is reduced as compared to July and August planting. Many tropicals, in fact, are not bothered by summer planting – as long as their watering needs are met – since this is the time of year when, in their habitat, they put out vigorous growth. Although native to Mexico down to Peru, many guava varieties have been developed in tropical Asia, such as Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian Seedless, and Indian red. You can find these and a cornucopia of other exotic tropical fruit trees at Papaya Tree Nursery (papayatreenursery.com) in Granada Hills. Visits to the nursery are by appointment only.
Vegetables. Radishes are year-round garden favorites since they can be harvested as soon as 30 days after their seeds are planted, no matter which season you choose to plant them. Yet you may not be aware of the enormous selection of radish varieties that are readily available. They come in many colors and the roots of many varieties are six inches long or longer. The Sakurajima giant produces humongous white radishes that weigh 15 pounds. There is even a kind of radish that is not grown for its roots, but for its edible pods. Known as rat-tail radish, (Raphanus sativus var. caudatus), it rapidly puts on several feet of shrubby growth with pods that may reach 12 inches in length, although they should be harvested much smaller, while still tender, and before forming seeds. Both of these radish varieties are available through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com). Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org) offers 89 heirloom radish varieties from which to choose.
Herbs. Chives can be planted now and if you care for them properly, you will have them or their progeny forever since they propagate from bulbs and self-sown seeds. Chives are also perennial and single clumps can expand and persist for years. You harvest them by cutting leaves nearly to ground level upon which they promptly begin to push up new foliage. There are garlic and onion chives — the latter being more common — and each has a taste that matches its name. Garlic chives have white flowers while onion chives’ flowers are pink. Grow them in full to partial sun and they will perform best with soil kept somewhat moist although they will continue to grow despite a measure of neglect.
Ornamentals. To combat pests in flower beds and vegetable plots, plant representatives of three beneficial insect-attracting botanical families: daisies (e.g marigold, cosmos, zinnia), umbellifers (e.g. parsley, cilantro, fennel), and mints (e.g. oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, and all the mints). Add shallow bowls of water to make sure the beneficials have something to drink. The species from the daisy family mentioned here are not found in nurseries as blooming plants at the present time, but their seeds germinate readily and should give you a nice crop of flowers for the fall and beyond.
A reader sent a photo of armored scales covering the woody shoots of a ficus tree. Armored scales look like mini army helmets and offer protection to the insects below which feed on their host plants by sucking sap. Scales are represented by S In the SWATM acronym, which is a convenient way of remembering the five most common insect pests, where W stands for whiteflies, A for aphids, T for thrips, and M for mealybugs. Neem oil is recommended as a form of control for all of them. You will probably need to spray every couple of weeks until the pests are gone. There is always the option of removing the offending insects simply by rubbing them off or by cutting out the shoots where you find them. Through pruning to maximize air circulation and sunlight exposure of interior plant parts, you will help to keep stem and leaf surfaces dry, making them less hospitable to insect pests.
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