Invasive Exotics

California alone is home to 4,200 native plant species, and is recognized internationally as a "biodiversity hotspot." Approximately 1,800 non-native plants also grow in the wild in California. Here’s a short list of just some of the invasive plants in California alone.

Data is from the USDA. NAL. National Invasive Species Information Center.

It’s strange that this list does not include three major invasive plants: ice plant [pictured here, Mesembryanthemum ssp.], pampas grass, [Cortaderia selloana], and Periwinkle [Vinca ssp.].

The photo on the left shows how ice plant is invading the native Buckwheat [Eriogonum spp.] The photograph on the right shows a native lupine [Lupinus spp. and subtle red hills covered almost completely by ice plant. Sadly, ice plant was introduced to help stabilize sand dunes. It has escaped from captivity and has spread with a vengeance.

NOTE: "3:1 rule: For every year you delay controlling an invasive plant infestation, it will take three years to regain control."

Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) Brazilian Peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolius) Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifera) Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica) Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum) Fig Buttercup (Ranunculus ficaria) Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) Hairy Whitetop (Lepidium appelianum) Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) Japanese Stilt Grass (Microstegium vimineum) Japanese World Climbing Fern (Lygodium japonicum) Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) Japanese Spiraea (Spiraea japonica) Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula) Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) Mile-A-Minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum) Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) Purple Star Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) Quackgrass (Elymus repens) Russian Knapweed (Rhaponticum repens) Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium) Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum) Whitetop (Lepidium draba) Witchweed (Striga asiatica) Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

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Deceptive Flies

The syrphid fly, also called a hover fly, (Syrphidae spp.) is often mistaken for a bee or wasp. With the various horizontal yellow and black striping they look like a pest. The subsequent larvae eat lots of aphids. Often a single larvae can eat many more its body weight in aphids. The adults should be treasured as the fly from flower to flower to gather the nectar and pollen to survive. Here we see one on a poppy. Because the larvae look like tiny slugs they are also mistaken for a pest and squished or sprayed. Poor little guys get it on all fronts. And don’t forget that all sprays organic or chemical will kill its favorite – aphids; but, as well, all insects whether they are beneficial or not. So, hand strip the aphids or spray them off with water and watch to see if the plant has such a low level of aphids that it is not a problem and leave the plant alone as nature maintains its natural balance. The good guys can’t survive without some of the bad guys.

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Palms in Bondage

Only in LA. A group of palm trees tied together.

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Asian Bounty

There are dozens of types of Asian pear tree cultivars (varieties). I’ve grown six cultivars and tasted many others. Today I’m picking the one known as ‘Hosui’. In my small orchard, this fruit usually ripens late August or early September. So it’s right on time.

All Asian pears have the distinction of being crispy while ripe on tree. However, the fruit bruises very easily. This means it rarely shows up at a grocery store or even framers’ market in an appealing form. Ah, but not a problem for the home gardener (orchardist). The fruit can picked at its prime. Just gently lift the fruit, if the stems detaches with no pressure it’s time to harvest.

The ‘Housi’ is my favorite cultivar because as it ripens it produces a strong odor and subtle taste of brandy. This is unlike any other Asian Pear. A delight only home gardeners can appreciate. And the fall color offers another round of color to this special tree. [As seen to the right.]

Graft a scion[a stick of the variety you want to taste] onto an existing pear tree, or, more preferably another Asian pear tree. Enjoy the bounty , flavor, and fragrance in the second year.

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Pink Beauty

I’m harvesting my ‘Pink Pearl’ apples this week and next. I grafted scions onto a ‘Sierra Beauty’ apple three years ago and there is a bumper crop this year.

Back in 1980, nobody [except for a few rare fruit enthusiasts] had seen or tasted the special apple called ‘Pink Pearl’. It was introduced in 1944. It was developed by a California plant breeder, Albert Etter who lived in Ettersberg, Northern California. It has been said the ‘Pink Pearl’ was crossed with an apple named ‘Surprise’, a red-fleshed rather sour variety. Perhaps this latter apple was derived from a century old variety of red-fleshed Turkish crab apples.

The apple is easy to spot in the spring when tree is blooming. The photograph here shows how much pink the flowers display.

The skin of the fruit is a pale and dull yellowish-brown skin with a slight blush of pink barely showing through the skin. Typically the apple is a bit misshapen. However, the ‘Pink Pearl’ marbled with a pretty pink crisp interior, the flavor is sweetly-tart. Some say its taste is has overtones of lemon custard with a raspberry finish. The flesh is crisp, fine-grained and aromatic. Ripens at my coastal-influenced house in late August and early September.

I grafted onto a tree in the neighborhood in 1982. I harvested plenty of apples in 1985. Doug Gosling made the apple tart pictured here. Little did we know the heat would flush out the entire flesh from marbled pink to a hot, deep pink. This was probably the first time anybody cooked the fruit this way. A picture of the full tart is on the back of my book Designing & Maintaining Your Edible Landscape - Naturally. Sold on my web site.

Here’s a simple recipe:

Pink Pearl Apple Sauce

Pink Pearl apples, cored, peeled and sliced (Use about 2 pounds)

Apple juice

Sugar

Salt

1-2 tablespoons butter

Fresh thyme (or lemon thyme)

Place apple slices in a heavy pot and pour in apple juice to reach halfway up the apples. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until apples are tender. Add the butter, any sugar, salt, or thyme to taste. I like chunky apple sauce. If you want a smoother apple sauce, use a hand blender.

Now some growers sell ‘Pink Pearl’ apples at local Farmer’s Markets in northern California.

You can purchase bare root tree of this cultivar from: Trees of Antiquity, 20 Wellsona Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446 phone: (805) 467-9909

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Bounty from Comfrey

Comfrey has so many uses. Perhaps the most important, is using it as a liquid fertilizer during the growing season. This is not a new method “from across the pond”. For many decades British gardeners have used a liquid form of comfrey for a soil drench during the summer. [The photograph is a closeup of a comfrey flower.]

Many British gardeners have a “vat” in their garden,. The process of turning the leaves into a comfrey fertilizer is simple. Take any container without holes in the bottom-add a faucet for easy collection of the liquid-fill it with comfrey leaves.

[Make sure to gather only the leaf, NOT the crown of the plant as it might make it through the process and root. England is full of roadside patches of comfrey as bits of the root have spread it everywhere – one of their most noxious weeds. The founder in the US of the style called the French-biodynamic gardening was Alan Chadwick. He cultivated gardens in many parts of California. I visited one such abandoned garden and found it to be littered with comfrey and lemon balm. The comfrey spread as bits of the roots lasted through composting, and were unknowingly released to every raised planting bed and pathway in the garden.]

Place a heavy object on top of the mass. Wait for ten days or more for the leaves to ferment and turn into a thick slurry. Don’t add water. I made that mistake in the1970s and the foul stench was overwhelming.

I saw a creative comfrey “tea” maker in England. It was a six inch diameter PVC tube with a small faucet screwed into bottom with a heavy metal cap to settle and compress the rotting comfrey. The comfrey solution can last for several months if kept in dark, cool place. But why not just use it fresh in the garden?

There is wide range of ideas as to the NPK content of the leaf. One account rates the leaves a proportion of 1.8-0.5-5.3. This is compared to kelp meal with a NPK ratio of 1.0-0.5-2.5. Some say after forming the slurry the NPK can increase to 8-2.6-20. Quite a range. Dilute the slurry ten to 20 times with water. Now the NPK can be as high as a NPK of 0.5-0.4-3.8. - a high amount of soluble potash for enhanced flower and fruit.

This is the original “compost tea”. And it’s virtually free.

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NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert