Newsletter for May 2025

Fort Mcnair Horse Chestnut is a recent arrival from Monrovia Nursery. The dense, dark green foliage turns golden yellow in fall. The lovely pink flowers with yellow throats grace the tree in late spring. This variety is smaller than many, slowly growing 35 x 25 feet.

Vegetables are still rolling out the door at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. ‘Early Girl’ and ‘Sungold’ tomatoes are among the most popular but folks are willing to try lots of the new varieties and heirlooms. You can get a bit of a head start and buy some tomatoes and peppers in the gallon size.

In stock at Bay Laurel Garden Center is a manzanita we do not often see, ‘Paradise’. This variety is noted for its copper edged new leaves and pink flowers. ‘Paradise’ can grow to 10 feet with an 8 foot spread. The availability of other varieties changes weekly. ‘Howard McMinn’ is always desired, it’s considered one of the most adaptable.

A useful herb with charming blue flowers is Borage. The plant can grow 2 to 3 feet high and readily self sows. The 4 to 6″ leaves are edible with a cucumberlike flavor. Borage has become quite popular but nothing beats basil!

Euphorbia milli – one species out of 2000! This variety sports several colorful flowers – red, pink and yellow. The plants also have thorns and are commonly called ‘Crown of thorns’. The plants are not very cold hard and will show damage in temperatures below 28, but with a bit of protection they can bloom all winter in the North County. Can be grown indoors with bright light.

Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero has been inundated with turtles (concrete)! They all need homes. Open your hearts and homes. Low maintenance.

There is an imposter among us! We depend on the reliable Salvias to inhabit our gardens – blue, red, pink, white. But there are few with yellow flowers. Enter Phlomis, also called Jerusalem sage. It is undeniably a great plant so we can forgive its duplicity. Many Salvias will be available throughout the season.

The codling moth is making plans to procreate. It will lay its eggs in the blossoms of apples, ensuring nourishment as the larvae eat their way out. How to thwart their plans ? You can set traps with pheromones to indicate the moth’s presence. At that point it is advisable to spray with an insecticide such as Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew.