Summer Sunflowers

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”

~ Helen Keller

Whether you spot a few lone volunteers or the dramatic vista of an entire cultivated field, it’s easy to smile when greeted by sunflowers! There’s just something about that nubby brown face surrounded by sunny-yellow fringe that captures our attention and triggers our happy reflex…and perhaps, gently signals that summer is winding down and fall pumpkins are on the horizon. I marvel all the new varieties, from the giant yellow-orange seed-filled heads to the petite deep wine-red varieties that bloom all summer long. 

Members of the large Asteraceae Family, sunflowers are often referred to as Helianthus, with the most common variety being Helianthus annus, an annual grown by gardeners and farmers throughout the U.S. Often mass-produced commercially in California, especially around the Sacramento area, flower heads are processed for cooking oil, edible seeds, livestock feed and bird seed. And what Farmer’s Market would be complete without bundles of fresh-cut sunflowers for sale? A rustic pail full of yellow sunflowers certainly brings in an essence of the summer country garden. 

One of my garden favorites is the hybrid ‘Lemon Queen’ which can grown to 6-8 feet and produces many 2-inch-wide, semi-double, pale yellow flowers with dark brown centers. Not only are they great for cut flowers, they are the “mascot” for The Great Sunflower Project started by Professor Gretchen LaBahn at San Francisco State University. Perhaps one of the simplest projects for citizen scientists to participate in, it’s fun and educational for the whole family. It involves observing sunflowers (or other flowers) in your yard or neighborhood for 15 minutes, and gathering basic data about the pollinators (bees, butterflies, flies) that you notice. Then you input your data on the website (greatsunflower.org) and it joins with the additional data collected by thousands of citizens throughout the U.S. The researchers map this valuable information to  direct conservation efforts, especially for the sensitive bees. The data gathered in the past six years is now the single largest body of information about bee pollinator services in North America!

Sunflowers and children just seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly, and one of my favorite books by local author Sharon Lovejoy ( www.sharonlovejoy.com) is aptly named Sunflower Houses. Celebrating the lore of the garden and the joy of interacting with nature, it’s a unique garden lover's collection of memories, poems, activities, and planting projects, including how to plant a summer playhouse with sunflower walls! Drying the giant seed heads can engage kids with the anticipation of a delicious snack or provides a mini-feast for the local birds!

Although I enjoy having a few sunflowers in and around the vegetable and butterfly gardens, I plant water-wise native California sunflowers in the landscape. A hardy performer, Encelia californica is commonly known as Coast Sunflower, California Brittlebush or Bush Sunflower. A small shrub about 3-4 ft. high, it makes a good large-scale ground cover with 2 inch daisy flower. Native from Santa Maria to San Diego, and found locally here in the chaparral, coastal sage scrub and coastal strand plant communities, it doesn’t tolerate a hard frost. Like most natives, a little summer watering will prolong flowering, along with deadheading the exhausted blooms. They look best planted in mass, along with some blue ceanothus or sage to contrast with the yellow flowers and leafy bright green foliage. A variety called ‘El Dorado’ has larger flower heads with overlapping petals. Look for them at native plant nurseries like Manzanita Nursery in Solvang.

Another lovely drought-tolerent native is Canyon Sunflower (Venegasis carpesioides), often found growing in shaded glens and and along stream beds near the coast and hills in lower elevations. A prolific fire-follower, the Mission Canyon area of Santa Barbara was covered with thousands of these shrubby multi-flowered plants, after the Tea Fire eliminated so much of the underbrush. Canyon Sunflower is a rather large perennial with two inch yellow flowers with yellow centers, and look like dahlias on bushes. By pruning to just a few inches after blooming, new shoots will emerge in the next season, and it will also re-seed readily.

No matter what kinds of sunflowers you plant, they are sure to bring a smile and make your summer just a little sunnier.  Now grab you hat and gloves, and happy gardening!

Life’s a Peach

“Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring, 

and because it has fresh peaches in it.” author Alice Walker

Nothing seems quite the same when the sweet local peaches of summer have come and gone. Here on the central coast, we are lucky to have an extended peach season, and our farmers’ markets are brimming with possibilities for the long, lazy days of summer. Will it be homemade peach jam on buttered toast at breakfast, honey-glazed peaches on the grill for dinner, or warm peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert? So many delicious choices…peaches can be enjoyed everyday and surely bring back memories of life in a simpler time.  Whether you plant one tree or start a home orchard, there is a fascinating seasonal dynamic that fruit trees have with the soil, climate, insects and birds, and much can be learned about habitat gardening by tending them. Picking and eating a ripe peach right off the tree is one of life’s most delicious moments.

Local peach growers like Buttonwood Winery and Farms in Solvang have learned through experience how to produce tree-ripened organic fruit all summer long sold at both their farm stand on Alamo Pintado Road and the local Farmers’ Markets. As Orchard Manager Fred Munch notes, “With fruit orchards totaling 250 trees, Buttonwood has become known as the Georgia of southern California! Late June brings the Springcrests. The Flavorcrest follows the Springcrest and usually starts the first week in July, and then the third week in July come the Babcock (a white peach) and the Elberta. The fourth week in July brings the Gene Elberta, which lasts until the first week in August. Then in the first week in August we see the Fay Elberta, after which comes the O'Henry, which lasts until the end of August or sometimes up until Labor Day.” By planting a variety of peaches such as these, you can extend the harvest from your garden. Also, trees will increase production as they mature, so you have a couple years to prepare for larger crops. 

From Farm to Home Garden

For the home garden, choosing the right trees is the key to a good start. Begin by preparing the site and thinking about how to lengthen your harvest time, with dwarf (8’ - 10’ tall/wide) and semi-dwarf (10’ - 15’ tall/wide) varieties the more compact choices. Bare-root season starts in late winter, and YouTube has a variety of instructional planting videos. Even though summer harvesting is the ultimate chore, fruit trees need to be cared for all year long, with a priority on keeping the soil enriched with organic compost (homemade is the most convenient) and mulched for water retention. Pruning should be done every winter and there are plenty of resources to show you how to develop the strongest trees. It will take about three years of pruning to train many varieties to form a sturdy and healthy framework of branches to bear the weight of fruit they will carry. Trees need different levels of cold temperature during dormancy, so you will need to think about your specific micro-climate temperatures. The first bud bursts of dainty white and pink blossoms signal spring has arrived, and bees get busy with pollinating, and then comes thinning the new fruit.

We sometimes hear folks say they are reluctant to plant fruit trees because they can’t eat all they harvest, but there are several ways to tackle that challenge. First, we have three local volunteer gleaning organizations who will harvest your trees (and gardens) for you: Veggie Rescue ( http://www.syvfvr.org) in the Santa Ynez Valley, Backyard Bounty (http://www.foodbanksbc.org) serving the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, and Glean SLO. Thousands of pounds of produce has been distributed to those in need throughout the Santa Barbara community. Second, excess peaches can be canned or easily frozen for later use. Or, you can always let the birds, beetles and ants delightfully dine on the leftover fruit…a sort of natural outdoor cafe!

Additional stone fruits trees that do well on the central coast include plums, nectarines and apricots. Check out the UCCE Master Gardener website to learn more (http://homeorchard.ucanr.edu) Children love to participate in growing fruit and watching those seasonal changes going from bare branches to peach pie. So why not begin to plan now to add a peach tree to your yard this winter? Not only will you have your own fruit to enjoy, but plenty left over for the neighbors and maybe a few birds! Now grab your hat and gloves, and happy gardening.