Here are five things to work on in the garden this week:
Citrus. Many citrus varieties ripen in the winter and cocktail grapefruit is one of them. This fruit is the hybrid offspring of a mandarin and a pomelo, sometimes called mandelo. Although it looks like a grapefruit, it has a much sweeter taste. However, while the fruit is exceedingly juicy, it is filled with seeds so that squeezing its pulp for juice makes more sense than eating it out of hand. Other citrus ripening now include Satsuma and Kisha mandarins as well as navel oranges, including the red-fleshed Cara Cara navel variety. Keep in mind that the longer your citrus crop stays on the tree, the sweeter it gets. To keep citrus fruit fresh after picking, place it in the refrigerator at once and keep it there.
Vegetables. Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes are ready to harvest and they may be planted now or, for that matter, at any other time. The plant in question is neither an artichoke nor of Jerusalem origin, but rather a sunflower (Helianthus tuberous) native to the U.S. from the Great Lakes down to the South. Its common name refers to its taste, similar to that of an artichoke, while Jerusalem comes from the Anglicization of girasole, the Italian word for sunflower. The plant grows with enormous vigor, producing up to 200 tubers or more in a single year. Tubers may be fried, mashed, boiled, roasted, or eaten raw. The plant is perennial, grows up to seven feet tall, and may be used as a hedge.
Herbs. Parsley is probably the toughest of all leafy herbs since it is hardy down to 10 degrees. The intricately lobed foliage of celery, like the lacy foliage of parsley, may suggest fragility and vulnerability to cold weather. Yet the opposite is true, as celery planted last spring will still be producing stalks this time of year. Onions, garlic, and chives are also cold hardy and will have no problem thriving through Southern California winters. Certain leafy greens such as kale and Swiss chard get sweeter when temperatures turn cold.
Ornamentals. Grevillea is a classic Australian native genus and many of its species are blooming now. Woolly grevillea (Grevillea lanigera) has foliage that eventually turns gray due to foliar hairs that give it a distinctive look, as if dressed for cold weather. However, these hairs actually insulate it from the heat so it can go long periods without water, although it will accept regular garden irrigation too. This plant grows into a six foot shrub but the Prostrata variety stays two feet tall even as it spreads to four feet wide.
Houseplants: To keep your houseplants healthy, give them a quarter turn each week. This will allow sun to reach each of their four sides in equal measure and maintain a more symmetrical form. To make plants more compact, pinching of new growth is required. If your plants become leggy due to lack of light, improve illumination with a LED light. Gooseneck LED lamps are ideal for desk plants. Any sign of etiolated (light-deprived) or stunted growth is a warning sign since disease and insect problems may occur when plants are stressed from lack of light.
Hence then, the article about this australian ornamental now in bloom looks like it s dressed for the cold was published today ( ) and is available on Los Angeles Daily News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( This Australian ornamental, now in bloom, looks like it’s dressed for the cold )
Also on site :