De-puckering persimmons?

Puckery persimmons?

From the Davis Enterprise, December 27, 2007

We get questions....

I've heard there is a way to pick persimmons and ripen them so they aren't astringent.

Of the dozens of Oriental persimmon varieties, two are commonly grown in California. Fuyu persimmons are flattened on the bottom and are non-astringent. They can be eaten as soon as they turn orange (November), having a mild, sweet flavor and a texture firm enough to munch like an apple or add to fruit salad. They also dry nicely, sliced thin and layered in a fruit dehydrator for a few hours. Dip the slices in melted chocolate for an elegant touch.

Hachiya persimmons are elongated and have a point on the bottom of the fruit. They turn color in November but aren't edible until December. Hachiya and other astringent persimmon varieties, including the native American species, are famous for their astringency when under-ripe, and for their gelatinous texture when ripe. Many people are put off by the gooshy ripe fruit, but Hachiya has a richer flavor and is more prized for cooking.

Astringency in persimmons is caused by tannins, the same chemicals that make tea, red wine, and unripe bananas and peaches cause your mouth to pucker. Tannins cause the surface of your tongue and mouth to constrict and stop salivating: 'it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment,' said Captain John Smith upon tasting the American 'putchamin' in Virginia. Mmmm. Yet fully ripe, with the flesh nearly liquid, they are described as luscious and honey-like.

The USDA tried over a number of years to introduce persimmons to growers and consumers, and sought to overcome the astringency and mushiness of the fruit in order to broaden its appeal. Observing the process of ripening employed in Japan and China, they saw the hard, unripe fruit:

--immersed in a mix of water and lime for several days.

--sealed in a covered earthenware jar with a burning stick of incense for a day or two.

--buried in mud for several days.

--packed in sake casks just after the sake was drawn off, immediately sealed air tight.

Each of these techniques left the fruit firm, ripe, and non-astringent.

Continue reading.....

Plants with colorful winter fruit!

Pyracantha berries are turning color, citrus have their first ripening blush.
Here's a list of plants to provide color in the landscape in the winter.

Guavas and quinces and other edible ornamentals

from the Davis Enterprise, October 22, 2009

Strawberry jam and a marketing ploy prompted this column.
One grower started labeling some of their attractive winter vegetables "ornamedibles" to suggest to customers that they leaves were pretty as well as edible. Ok, it makes a good point, but it's a little too cute for me. Garden writer Rosalind Creasy came up with a more staid term in her book The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, originally published by Sierra Club Books in 1982 and due for an updated edition in January 2010: edible landscaping. The idea is simple: mix edible plants into your landscape. Choose landscape shrubs and trees that happen to provide food as well as beauty. Grow your vegetables, flowers, and herbs together for mutual benefit (the herbs and flowers draw beneficial insects for the vegetables, among other things).
Some common landscape shrubs meet these criteria: rose hips (fruit) can be used in tea, for example. Others aren't as well known, but include some adaptable shrubs and vines. Many of these plants help fill the harvest basket in fall and winter.

Myrtle family

An unassuming little shrub in the myrtle family came our way the other day. It has tight, shiny dark green leaves, and a compact growth habit. Scattered along the branches were dark reddish-purple fruit, about the size of blueberries. Arising from the plant was a wonderful aroma of strawberries and guavas. It smelled just like fresh strawberry jam! The little berries had a sweet/tart flavor and a mealy semi-juicy texture.
Ugni molinae is the odd name of this delightful little shrub. Native to Chile and parts of Argentina, it is sold by the common name Chilean guava. Ugni is a rare case where an indigenous name has been used for the botanical name; usually taxonomists use Latin (rarely Greek) names. In southern Chile the fruit is combined with hard liquor and syrup to make a liqueur called Murtado, which translates to "little myrtle."

Ugni: Chilean guava

Chilean guava will take full sun or shade, average water or drought, growing to 6' or so if you let it, but can be readily pruned to keep it small. Plant this near a window where you can enjoy the aromatic fruit, or near a path for quick nibbling. Adaptable, ornamental, and edible.

Feijoa: pineapple guava

Another shrub with edible fall fruit, also in the myrtle family and originating in South America, is Feijoa sellowiana, commonly called Pineapple guava.....
Read more

Ask the nursery guy!

Why do leaves turn color in the fall?

This is right up there with 'how do they grow seedless watermelons?' among the most-asked questions directed at plant professionals.

The answer is simple! The days get shorter, the nights get colder, and Jack Frost magically paints the....
Well, actually, the answer is more complicated, involving daylength (actually nightlength), temperature, nutrients, and genetics.

Trees that have adapted to cold winter climates go through several steps as winter approaches. The first part of the process is a reaction to longer nights. The plant forms a layer at the base of the leaves that blocks the movement of carbohydrates (sugars, starches) out of the leaves, and blocks the movement of minerals into the leaves. That 'abscission' layer eventually gets brittle and breaks, so the leaf falls.

But before that happens, the plant produces less and less chlorophyll because it has less stuff to make it from. That is the pigment which makes leaves green. It is also the most fragile pigment, breaking down in sunlight very quickly. Usually the plant is replenishing it very quickly. But as it breaks down and becomes less abundant, the less common pigments of yellow and orange become visible. So these are the first fall colors that we see. Those colors were already there; we're just seeing them now because the green is gone. This first reaction mostly follows the calendar, although severely drought-stressed plants will begin to go dormant earlier than normal.

Some minerals are mobile within the plant, moving from one place to another as needed. The plant moves phosphorus out of the leaf and into the stem where it is stored during cold weather. The absence of phosphorus changes the chemical reaction in the leaves, and the remaining trapped carbohydrates are now made into certain other pigments, notably the ones that are red and purple. So these are the more spectacular colors that we see next. They weren't there before; the tree is making them now out of what's left in the leaf.

Some trees make more of these pigments than others do, so it varies between species. There are also genetic differences of seedlings within a species. Variation in temperature from year to year, and the nutrient status of the specimen, also affects fall color. Within those species that have the pigments to begin with, sunny clear days and cool nights encourage the production of more red and purple pigments. A tree with adequate nutrition will have more basic material to work with to create pigment. Trees that are overwatered have damaged root hairs, so they've been unable to take up nutrients readily during the summer.

Davis residents: if you want to see these magical chemical reactions underway, head down West 8th Street and look for the Chinese pistache, or Stanford Place and Kent Drive to look for Ginkgo trees. Admire the golden yellow color on the Modesto ashes (Fraxinus) on L Streets and other parts of old East Davis. But we no longer recommend ash trees due to various disease and pest problems.

For vivid fall color in small spaces, plant Winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus 'Compacta'), an adaptable deciduous shrub with flame red fall foliage.

Trees for fall color in the Sacramento Valley:

Chinese pistache
Pistacia chinensis

Most are grown from seed. Female trees have attractive red berries that attract song birds. Fall color varies from bright yellow to dark red. A male variety, Keith Davey, has reliable red fall color and no fruit, but availability is limited as it must be grafted.

Ginkgo, Maidenhair tree
Ginkgo biloba

Varieties: just be sure to buy grafted male trees, as the fruit of the female tree smells like dog manure. And watch the young trees to make sure rootstock doesn't grow or you may end up with a female. Slow growers. Ginkgos are tough, reliable, and pest-free.

Maples
Acer rubrum hybrids; Acer x freemanii

Varieties: Autumn Blaze is biggest, fastest. October Glory has a nice round form. Red Sunset is slower growing. All have red fall color, ranging from orange to dark red.

Pears, ornamental
Pyrus calleryana

Varieties: Bradford is most common but has poor branch structure. Chanticleer, RedSpire, Trinity, Cleveland Select, Capital are all better, but all require careful pruning. Narrow, upright habit makes them suitable for side yards or small spaces. White flowers in spring. All have wine red fall color.

Tulip trees
Liriodendron tulipifera

Oval-upright habit, nice yellow fall color, and interesting tulip-like flowers in the spring. Not spectacular, but attractive. Good examples on the streets near Emerson Junior High School in west Davis.

For pictures of fall color in and around Davis, click here

More plant chemistry in the landscape

We see a similar reaction in broad-leaved evergreens such as Star jasmine (Trachelospermum) and Japanese boxwood (Buxus japonica), whereby they discolor in the winter during cold weather. Cold soil reduces the availability of phosphorus (the roots can't take it up), and overwatering or saturated soil conditions reduce the uptake of it because roots are damaged. So the phosphorus moves into the stem, and the leaves manufacture some of the purple or red pigments. But no abscission layer is formed, so they don't drop.

This is not a problem, and normal color returns with warmer weather. This winter coloration is attractive in some of our landscape plants: the white variegated portions of Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' turn a pretty pink color in the winter, and Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) varieties turn varying shades of red or purple.

Some trees go through the pigment process, but don't form an abscission layer. Turkey and Red oaks are good examples (Quercus shumardii and Q. rubra). First a red pigment forms, which is rather pretty. Then that red pigment breaks down, and the brown, dead leaves hang on until they are finally beaten off during winter storms or pushed off as new growth emerges in the spring. Needless to say, this greatly reduces their ornamental value.

How peppers spread around the world

The history of the spread and use of the plants of the genus Capsicum is a curious one. These plants, native to the Americas, are now grown throughout the world, and appear in recipes that come back to America in ethnic restaurants. The genus is represented in American cuisine by all of the varieties of green peppers, chili peppers, Oriental hot peppers, pimentos, and paprika. The amazing part of this is the speed with which the plants spread and were adopted into local cultures along the routes of the Spanish and Portuguese explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Here's the history of how they spread in an article written by my father.

September means planning for winter fragrance!

September isn't really fall, is it?

Not here in the valley! It can be hot and dusty, which makes it hard for gardeners to look forward to the next season. But just as we plan in spring for our summer gardens, NOW is the time to plan and plant for your winter garden!

Good gardeners are always looking ahead to the next two seasons.
You're picking peppers and thinking about peas! The powerful scent of a summer gardenia reminds you that it's time to think about winter fragrance. For generations of gardeners, winter fragrance has meant sweet peas (Lathyrus) and stock (Matthiola). If you're frugal and like to plant from seed, September is when you plant both of these. (You can also do a planting of sweet peas in February and hope that we don't get hot earlier than usual).

When I was a young teen, working around the neighborhood, I worked for one afternoon for a plant breeder who also happened to be an excellent and rather particular gardener. He hired me to dig a trench a foot deep, setting aside the soil; then I dug compost and manure into the next foot of soil, and planted sweet pea seeds in the bottom of the trench. I blended compost and manure with the first soil and set it aside, as he planned to layer it in over the plants as the vines grew. Sure seemed like a lot of work (which, of course, is why he was paying me to do it!).

Years later this technique became popular with organic gardeners in areas of poor soils and was called double digging. I call it aerobic gardening. I thought I must have done it right, because years later he complimented me on the quality of the sweet peas that year. But I now know that a lot of it was luck-- mild weather when the vines are flowering--and some of it was knowing which varieties to plant. Not to mention knowing how to tell a 14-year-old boy how to do a task correctly! I'm still working on this last concept....

Sweet peas like a mild climate, and especially dislike hot weather.
We plant them here so they're established enough to get through the winter and bloom before hot weather hits. Our winters are rarely cold enough to damage the plants, although they were killed or severely damaged in the severe freezes of 1990 and 1998. Sweet peas need full sun in the winter--watch the sun pattern as it shifts to the south to make sure they won't be in the shade in February and March. They prefer soil that has been amended (see above!) so it drains well in the winter. There are even dwarf varieties that can be grown in pots.

The names of the different types of sweet peas can be a little confusing.
Older varieties are usually called "heirlooms." Modern varieties are called Spring-flowering and Summer-flowering, but none of them really flower in the summer here. These types start blooming when daylength is increasing in mid-spring, and flower from mid-April through May until temperatures reach the mid-90's. Early-flowering varieties will bloom earlier in the winter if you plant them early enough (i.e., NOW!), but are less heat-tolerant.

The older varieties are remarkable for their fragrance and have become available again from specialty seed suppliers. Several seed companies now offer the older varieties.

I said that none of the regular sweet peas bloom in the summer here, but folks driving through Gold Country and other parts of Northern California have probably noticed the two-toned perennial sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius) that has naturalized in those areas. This one is different: it blooms in the summer and tolerates aridity, but isn't especially fragrant.

Stock is like deer: the name is singular and plural at the same time. This is one of our best winter annuals.
I have no idea what the common name comes from, and a quick search of reference books and on the internet didn't elucidate. The Sunset Western Garden Book describes some as being "branching" (multiple shoots from the base) and others as being "unbranched." Our experience is that early planting (i.e., NOW!) will give you plants that branch from the base, and late planting will give a single spike of flowers. The flowers have a great sweet/spicy fragrance. Like sweet peas, you don't just stick these in the ground in heavy soil areas: turn compost into the whole area before you plant.

I have an old memory of stock...another good gardener in that same neighborhood where I grew up: a wonderful woman who let me plant whatever I wanted in her yard, as long as she could cut or smell the flowers. She planted intensely fragrant stock just under the window where the breeze came in. Years later I smelled the stock we sell as bedding plants and got a hint of that sweet and spicy fragrance, but I realized that she had planted a different species (M. longipetala bicornis) known as the Evening-scented stock. Unfortunately, this stock is not common in the trade.

Nevertheless, the stock that you plant from seed or six-packs will have some of that same special scent. Plant it in full winter sun. The more dwarf varieties aren't as fragrant, but can be crowded into small pots for winter color. Although we sell it as a winter annual, many gardeners report stock living through the summer and reblooming, and it occasionally naturalizes by reseeding, gradually reverting to taller, single-flowered types.

There are other seeds to plant in September.
Snapdragons, calendulas, pansies and violas are popular winter and spring-blooming annuals that can be grown from seed or transplanted from seedling packs.

Wildflower seeds are planted now for late winter and spring bloom--California poppies are the best known, but Lupines, Tidytips, and many others grow and naturalize well here. You can't just fling these seeds onto hard, dry soil: loosen it first by tilling or scratching the surface. Cover the seed with a fine layer of compost, and water daily for a few weeks until winter rains begin.

Many perennials can be grown from seed or transplants now for blooms next year. And vegetable growers are already planning their winter gardens, planting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots, beets, and more.

Save money and spice up your winter garden by planting now from seed!


(originally written for the Davis Enterprise, August 23, 2001)

September in your garden!

September in your garden!

Lawn: Fertilize lawn with a regular lawn fertilizer. Apply pre-emergent to prevent winter weeds, or renovate if heat breaks— de-thatch, aerate, overseed.

Roses: Fertilize mid September to early October to get a great fall bloom.

Trees: Fertilize deciduous trees.

Shrubs: Prune evergreen shrubs when heat breaks. Plant landscape shrubs, trees, and ground covers. Move existing landscape plants.

Annuals: Start seeds or buy plants of pansies, violas, snapdragons, Calendula, stock, sweet alyssum, and more. Broadcast wildflower seeds.

Perennials: Lots of perennials can be started from seed this month: foxgloves, candytuft, columbine, coral bells, Dianthus, and many more. Preemergents or mulches will help prevent annual winter weeds. Cut back herbaceous (soft) perennials hard; lightly trim woody ones. Best time for a major cleanup in the perennial border. Plant bulbs when soil has cooled.

Vegetables: Plant broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, greens, peas, beets, onions, and more.

Weather notes: Hot, dusty, windy. Wash plant foliage early in the day to remove dust and insects. Move indoor/outdoor plants back in by Hallowe'en. First cold rain usually mid-late October, but don't count on it....

Watering systems: Set timer for fall schedule late this month.

Pests and diseases: Whiteflies, leafhoppers, spider mites.

Shop now for: Perennials in small packs and pots; spring-blooming flower bulbs; landscape plants.