I have to admit, I’m a big fan of lists. Lists organize information in an easy to follow format. My “to-do” list helps me stay on track. My garden “wish list” helps me stay on budget (somewhat). Hands down the biggest reason you should pick up a copy of Central Coast Gardening Essentials by local author Joe Seals is the plethora of informative, helpful lists.

What problem are you trying to solve in your garden? Need a smallish tree for the front yard? One that will produce fast shade? Or how about some nice autumn color? There’s a list for that. Several in fact. Lists of trees by size, growth habit and characteristics. All created in keeping with the particulars of our unique Central Coast climate.

Looking for a shrub? How about one you can grow under oaks with their fussy water requirements? You’ll find that too. Along with recommendations for the best (read least problematic) roses, groundcovers and vines.

Now that you’ve got all your problem areas sorted out, how about

Leucojum vernum by Oliver

some gardening fun? How about a list of bulbs that thrive with our mild winters? Tired of tulips and daffodils? How about these suggestions: Babiana stricta the Baboon Flower, Leucojum vernum or Spring Snowflake or even Rhodophiala bagnoldii the lovely Spring Starflower. With the exception of the Babiana you’ve probably not seen most of these in stores. Don’t worry, Joe has lists for that too. Lists of bulb societies and sources.

Joe Seals’ book is the end result of 10 years of teaching a class called Central Coast Gardening. His experience and practical no nonsense view of how gardening should be leaves room and time for what it can be, interesting and fun. He’s a firm believer in the saying “right plant, right place” style of gardening and his lists reflect that. The examples I’ve given are just the tip of the iceberg of the great information you will find. Central Coast Gardening Essentials is definitely worth a spot on your reading list.

Author Joe Seals will be signing his book on Saturday, April 21st from 1-3 pm at our Arroyo Grande store, Sunday, April 22nd from 10-12 pm at our San Luis Obispo store and from 1:30-3:30 pm at the Morro Bay store.

You can find more information about Joe Seals at his website Central Coast Kitchen Garden

mint by Zach Beauvais

Have you been a bit mystified by the variety found in mint these days? Not sure which mint is the one you want? Here are some descriptions for some of the varieties you will be seeing at our stores this season.

Apple Mint. Like the name suggests apple mint has a strong green-apple fragrance. it also has pink to white flowers and slightly downy leaves. This mint is excellent used in salads and great for tea.

Chocolate Mint. Yum! This mint has a chocolate peppermint patty smell to it. Great for use in desserts where mint is required.

Cordifolia. A large leafed mint which is the basis for the Southern Mint Julep. In addition to the beverage, it can be used in any recipe calling for spearmint.
Curly. This mint has broad, crinkly leaves and a sweet spearmint flavor which is a bit less pronounced than other mints.
Egyptian. Similar in taste to apple mint, but on a much more robust plant with upright, rather than trailing, stems.
Ginger. Ginger mint has a mild spearmint flavor with a bit of heat. Best used fresh in fruit salads, with melon and even tomatoes.
Grapefruit. A nice hint of citrus makes this mint especially nice in fruit salads and teas.
Lemon. Leaves are light green in color and produces pink flowers. The flavor is a wonderful mix of spearmint and lemon.
Lime. Lime mint has a lime like fragrance which makes it great in teas. It’s dark green, rounded leaves make it pretty in the garden.

Mojito. The perfect mint for the classic Cuban beverage.
Orange mint. Lovely dark green leaves with a tinge of purple on the edges. Definite citrus fragrance makes this a perfect mint to use in tea blends.
Peppermint. The traditional tea mint. It’s a very vigorous grower so keep this one confined to pots.
Pineapple. A variegated mint with slightly wooly leaves. Nice mint flavor and a noticeable

pineapple fragrance. A bit less aggressive than other mints in the garden.
Silver. Silvery leaves and frost pink flowers make this mint as pretty as it is fragrant. A traditional mint for Asian, Middle Eastern and Greek cuisines. The leaves can also be candied.
Spearmint. What most people think of when they think mint as it’s the taste of mint gum. A bit stronger taste than other mints. Traditionally used in lamb dishes.
The Best. A great flavoring for iced teas, this mint also has glossy leaves and pink flowers.

• Chocolate Mint Cake photo by Lana
• Mojito  photo by The Culinary Geek.
• Pineapple mint by Rebecca-Lee

The active ingredient in Snail & Slug Away is cinnamon oil. When snails and slugs come into contact with cinnamon oil they have that same bubbly reaction that they do to salt or ammonia which for them is anything but pleasant. Lucky for us, snails are not completely dumb creatures and they learn what to stay away from pretty quickly and they will avoid cinnamon oil at all costs.

My test plants were a couple of red flowering brugmansias which I have been growing from 4″ pots. These plants were my babies and one day I noticed the snails had discovered them and they really liked them. Within an evening they had already stripped some of the lower leaves leaving nothing but green threads where the leaves had been. I decided that this would be a great test subject for the spray. So as the directions recommended, I sprayed the leaves and the surrounding soil. To say the spray smells pleasant is an understatement. It smells like a tasty cinnamon roll! The results were immediate. I had no more snail damage to the plants for about 4 weeks. When I started noticing some nibbling again, I gave it another spray. My plants are now snail safe and they are growing.

When you spray, you don’t seem to use much. I still have a pretty full bottle of this all natural snail repellant. I’m also pleased with the length of time it lasts as the plants do get some overhead watering which I assume would wash away some of the oil. Although this is only a repellant and will not kill snails (unless you hunt them down and spray directly on them) I still see a great use for this product in organic gardens. (Although not OMRI certified it does use OMRI & NOP approved ingredients.) You can use this product to save special plants that snails just love (some succulents come to mind) much in the same way I did for my brugmansias. Or use it to save those just planted seedlings that snails seem to love to devour the night you put them out. Plant your row and give it a good spray to keep snails and slugs away for weeks.

The new Sunset Western Garden Book has many cool new features, but probably the feature that gets the most use is the A-Z encyclopedia of plants. This book will save you costly plant buying mistakes by telling you what you can grow and where. Their detailed climate zones give a more accurate picture of our area than the USDA hardiness map. In addition to climate information each listing will give you a plant’s mature size, light and water requirements, and any other pertinent growing information you need to successfully grow a plant in our climate. This valuable information is useful to new gardeners and those that have been gardening for years. Stop by any of our stores to pick up a copy just in time for spring planting season.

A. This tells you if the plant is an annual or perennial. An annual will normally live one growing season (although here on the coast some go a bit longer). Some reseed easily, while others don’t. A perennial will last more than one season.

B. Light requirements. In this case, the poppy should be planted in a full sun location. This means direct sunlight needs to reach the plant for 6 or more hours per day. Part sun would be 4-6 hours or in the dappled light under a fairly open patio or tree. Shade would mean a bit of morning sun only or all day bright, but not direct, light.

C. Bloom time. This tells you when the plant will most likely bloom. Planting seeds that will bloom at varying times will keep your flower beds going all season long.

D. Height. This tells you how tall the plant will be when it blooms. Varying heights in your border with shorter plants in the front and taller plants in the back keeps it interesting and allows you to see all the blossoms.

E. Description (Or why the plant is cool!). This area will give you a bit of history or other information letting you know why this particular variety is interesting.

F. Image. Normally the image focuses on the blossoms or fruit of a plant which can sometimes be a bit deceiving as it gives no indication of it’s actual size. Make sure to read all the information about size when making a decision.

The back side tells you everything you need to know to be successful in starting this particular plant.

G. Contains several items.

• Days to emerge. This tells you how long it takes for the seeds to come up, or emerge, from the soil after planting.
• Seed Depth. This tells you how far down into the soil the seed should be planted. This is very important in assuring successful germination. Don’t guess, measure. In this case of these poppies, you will scatter the seed on top of the soil and rake it in lightly (we will learn why later).
• Seed Spacing. Here you will simply scatter the seeds, but some will give a more precise measurement like “space seeds 1″ apart.” This means you would plant one seed every inch.
• Thinning. This tells you how many plants need to be thinned, or removed, from the planting space once the seedlings have reached a certain height. In this case once the poppies are 1″-2″ tall, you will leave one plant every 9″ and remove the rest. The easiest, and safest, way to thin if you are new to seed starting is to snip out the plants you want to remove with scissors. Although this may seem wasteful and even a bit mean, by snipping out the plants you want to thin, you won’t disturb the roots of the plants you want to keep and avoid injuring them.
• The illustrator. Botanical Interests has some of the most beautiful illustrations I’ve seen. Don’t you agree?

And a great design feature on the Botanical Interests seed packages is that once you have removed your seeds from the package, you can cut out this label and use it to mark your seeds. Simply attach it to a large popsicle stick with some Modge Podge and it should last until the seeds have grown. If you are growing more than one seed at a time, it’s important to mark your seeds. No matter how many times I swear I’ll remember what I planted, there will always be some confusion if I don’t mark them as I plant them.

H. More plant information. Again this can be cultural, anecdotal or historical. In this case, it lets you know that these poppies are deer resistant in addition to giving you a bit of history behind the flowers.

I. When to sow. This is the really important part. It tells you when to start your seeds, both indoors and out. In this case the seeds should be started outside four to six weeks before our average frost last date. Here on the Central Coast that would be right around the beginning of February. (Read more about average frosts dates here). Some plants will say something like up until first frost. That would be some time around late October. It’s very important to follow these directions because most plants have certain temperature needs to grow properly. Cucumbers will be killed by even the lightest frost. Peas dislike hot weather. A few days either way will probably be fine, but don’t try and fudge the planting dates too much.
When to start inside? In the case of these poppies, it’s not recommended. This is true for many wildflowers and plants that dislike being transplanted. If it’s OK to start plants inside it will give you a time frame based on your average first or last frost date.

J. Special Germination Instructions. In the case of these poppies, the seeds actually need light to germinate. Other seeds may need to be soaked or have their seed casing nicked with a knife or roughed up with some sandpaper. This section will tell you if there is anything strange you need to do.

K. Botanical Interests had received so many questions about GMO seeds that they state it right on the package. No GMO’s or treated seeds.

L. Seed sell by dates. This tells you when a seed has been packaged and when it should be sold. Making sure that your seeds are fresh will give you the best results.