Laguna Hills Nursery
Will Spring Weather Stick?
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Greetings!

The weather is continuing its weekly cycle of cool then warm.  We'll continue offering a few tomato and pepper plants each week for those of you betting on mild weather.  Tomato planting season officially begins this month, but April is a much surer bet.  We will offer our largest selection from mid-March to mid-April and will carry quite a few well into summer. 

Interestingly, in my garden a Lapins cherry is coming into full bloom!  In most references this self-fertile sweet cherry has a minimum chill requirement (MCR) of 900 hours, meaning that we should rarely or never get a good crop locally in our mild climate that averages only about 300 hours (accumulative winter hours spent below 45 degrees).  It has been a fairly reliable producer in the San Fernando Valley so I do believe the MCR is actually about 400 hours.  Even though this moderate chill cherry is blooming well, I am still waiting for most of my plums and pluots to perform.  Years ago I read an article that lamented on the difficulty of predicting how well a plum orchard would produce each year.  It's apparently easy to predict a bad year due to warm winter temperatures, but not every properly cool winter will produce a good crop.  The article concluded that most plum orchards have one good year out of every three.  I'll give my plum and pluot trees one more month before I pass judgement on this year's production.      

And if you do want to grow cherries, Minnie Royal and Royal Lee (need both for production) are the pair to plant.  Although you need both (for pollination)(both produce fruit) their MCR's are only about 300 hours, or less. 

You'll notice that this weekend's bare root availability list is somewhat shorter.  This week's cool temperatures have helped, but don't delay making your purchases.  Of course, most of these same plants will be available in containers around May or June.  I know many gardeners would rather buy plants growing in pots.

We've had several homeowners who did not read our bare root installation instructions and automatically placed the plants in a hole filled with pure planting mix or pure potting soil.  Unless the planting mix or potting soil is from Laguna Hills Nursery, I can't think of a more certain way to kill a bare root plant.

I'll discuss this topic more in the weeks ahead (generally I cover this subject at least twice per year for new readers) but a hole full of compost is a poor if not fatal environment for the roots of a woody plant.  Buried compost creates anaerobic conditions, the primary trigger for root rotting diseases.  The University of California considers the ideal organic content of farmland soil to be 1% by volume.  Although a farmer will amend his land with compost (up to 5% at a time) to provide nutrition to an annual crop, a smart orchard manager knows that amending backfill with compost when installing trees can be fatal. 

The failure of the horticultural industry to enlighten the general public about the proper use of compost has caused widespread confusion and frustration among amateurs and professionals alike.   
SPOTLIGHT ON PERSIMMONS
The great thing about persimmons is that all cultivars are locally reliably highly productive.  The bad thing is that they are sensitive to poor drainage and their roots rot very easily if the soil contains much compost.  They best way to acquire persimmon trees is either as bare root specimens from us, or in containers grown by us.  All other nurseries use a compost-based potting soil and their trees become very easy to kill if not watered completely accurately.  When the soil is correct the trees are very low maintenance and easy to grow.  There are otherwise few problems. 

Persimmons are not heavy water users.  Provide sun and excellent drainage.  I mixed one sandbox worth of sand with my dense soil and created a small hill for my trees.  It worked flawlessly. 

persimmon hachiya
Hachiya Persimmon
About 3 generations ago optimistic farmers planted over 400 acres of Hachiya persimmon in California.  Unfortunately there were not enough consumers for this fruit.  Nearly all of these orchards were soon replaced by more profitable crops. 

The fruit is quite large and totally ripe flesh is jelly-like, with a very sweet, cinnamon flavor.  Flesh that is not totally ripe is incredibly astringent and quite an experience.  Even though it is juicy and sweet, your tongue and mouth feel totally dry, as if you had a mouthful of powdered sugar.  Not a pleasant experience.  Many people just try it once and never again.

Most enthusiasts just patiently wait for each fruit to totally soften (especially at the stem), but ripening can be hastened.  Freezing the fruit and letting it thaw takes away all astringency.  The traditional Japanese method was to place the fruit in an empty sake keg and the alcoholic vapors would cancel the astringency overnight. 

Hachiya trees grow slowly but can eventually get quite large and usually produce huge crops.  The fruit ripens in November.  My all time favorite snack is dried Hachiya persimmon. 

persimmon fuyu 
Fuyu Persimmon
The popularity of this cultivar is definitely on the rise.  It can be eaten when the flesh is crispy, firm or allowed to soften.  There is no astringency.  There are at least a dozen cultivars of "Fuyu" type persimmons.  The original Fuyu had seeds.  Most cultivars sold today are seedless.  It is very difficult to tell them apart. 
Jiro Fuyu  The most popular cultivar is considered the strongest tree.  Ripens October.  Jiro is available in containers only. 
Imoto Fuyu  A very precocious tree with slightly larger, flatter fruit whose shape is more "square".  Ripens October.  We once had a potted tree that made 60 fruit in only its second year!
Izu Fuyu  This is a naturally dwarf tree with slightly smaller fruit that starts ripening in August!  Many consider it the best tasting, but I haven't been able to make comparisons since the crop is so early.  This is a wonderful second cultivar that extends your Fuyu harvest season by more than a month. 
AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Laguna Hills Nursery ACID MIX Potting Soil  1-cubic foot  $10

Bare Root

Apple Fuji  $24
Apple Gala  $24
Apple Granny Smith  $24
Apple Jonagold  $24
Apple Pink Lady  $24
Apricot Goldkist  $26
Apricot Katy  $25
Apricot Tropic Gold  $24
Cherry Minnie Royal & Royal Lee  $70 pair
Jujube Ga-866  $34
Jujube Li  $34
Mulberry Black Beauty  $24
Mulberry Pakistan  $34
Nectaplum Spice Zee  $24
Nectarine Double Delight  $26
Nectarine Panamint  $24
Persimmon Fuyu Imoto  $40
Persimmon Fuyu Izu  $42
Persimmon Hachiya  $40
Plum Burgundy  $24
Plum Catalina  $24
Plum Santa Rosa  $22
Plum Satsuma  $24
Pluot Splash  $26
Pomegranate Ambrosia  $22
Pomegranate Angel Red  $22
Pomegranate Wonderful tree form  $34

Pecan Western Schley  $45

Grape Blueberry seedless  $7
Grape Himrod seedless  $7
Grape Lakemont seedless  $7
Grape Thomcord seedless  $7

Strawberry Chandler  60 cents each


Potted Bare Root

Boysenberry Thornless  $7
Raspberry Rosanna  $7


In Containers (1-gallon)

Feijoa Pineapple Guava  $10
Geranium Tiny Monster  $8
Laurus nobilis Bay Leaf  $10
Rosmarinus Tuscan Blue Rosemary  $8
Salvia mixed ornamental cultivars  $7


In Quarts  $3

Herbs  Basil African Blue, Basil Italian(keep indoors at night), Cilantro, Catnip, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Sweet Marjoram, Mint (Chocolate, Cordifolia, Egyptian, Peppermint, The best), Oregano & Mexican Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Garden Sage, Pineapple Sage, Summer Savory, Thyme, and more.
Pepper Sweet  Better Belle, California Wonder, Red Knight, Shishito
Pepper Hot  Anaheim, Holy Mole, Jalapeno, Serrano, Thai
Strawberry Albion, Seascape
Tomato  Better Boy, Big Beef, Big Zebra, Black Cherry, Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple (Chocolate), Chocolate Cherry, Early Girl, Eva Purple, Grape, Kellogg's Breakfast, Lemon Boy, Momotaro, Sugary, Sun Sugar, Super Sweet 100.


In 6-packs  $3.50

Cauliflower Graffiti
Lettus Freckles, Rouge De Hiver (red romaine)
Onions Red Creole, Sweet Spanish
Pea Sugar Snap
Spinach Bloomsdale


Plastic Pots & Saucers

15g Black Grower Pot  $8
15g Squat Black Pot  $12
20g Squat Black Pot  $20
25g Squat Black Pot  $25

Akro-Mils Classic Pot 8" (clay color)  $5
Akro-Mils Classic Pot 12" (clay color)  $10
Akro-Mils Classic Pot 16" (clay color)  $20

Akro-Mils Saucer 14" (clay color)  $5
Akro-Mils Saucer 16" (clay color)  $7


Other Items we also normally bring to the farmer's market but don't always display.

Gloves Bamboo Roc    Men's sizes M,L,XL  Women's sizes S,M,L
Organic Insecticide Spinosad pint concentrate 
Organic Insecticide Spinosad quart ready-to-use 
Organic Fungicide/Insecticide Bio Neem quart ready-to-use
Grants Total Ant Killer Bait  12 oz.
Organic Fertilizer/Weed Prevention Concern Weed Prevention Plus  25 pound
Organic Fertilizer Dr. Earth Fruit Tree  25 pound
Organic Fertilizer Dr. Earth Vegetable  4 pound
Water Soluble Fertilizer Grow More Palm Food  16 oz.
Osmocote Fertilizer  1.25 pound
Bird Scare Tape
Super Ties Green Tape
Tree Trunk White
Delta Pump Sprayer 48oz. capacity

 
Please visit us at our farmers market locations.

EVERY FRIDAY  9am-1pm
Mission Viejo Farmers Market
Mission Viejo Library
200 Civic Center Drive, Mission Viejo
Exit 5 at La Paz going east, turn right on Marguerite, turn right on Civic Center

EVERY SATURDAY  9am-1pm
Old Towne Orange Farmers & Artisans Market
Historic Villa Park Orchards Packinghouse at Chapman College
304 Cypress Street, Orange
3 blocks north and 4 blocks west of the traffic circle (Chapman X Glassell) in Orange

EVERY SUNDAY  10am-2pm
The Great Park Farmers Market
The Great Park, Irvine
Exit 5 at Sand Canyon, turn south onto Marine Way (parallels east side of 5) follow the signs
26285 Verona Place
Mission Viejo, California 92692