General Subjects > Blogs and Diaries
Plants, Ecosystems, Climate – Northern California
Robert:
Record breaking heat is forecasted for our region in the coming days. In addition, this is our 22nd year of drought. Water shortages are pervasive throughout southwestern North America.
The coming days will test the resiliency of our garden as high temperatures approach all time record levels.
High temperatures are forecasted to reach 112 F (44.4 C) Sunday and Monday. These temperatures will break the record high temperature at out Placerville property that was set last year. In the past, 110 F (43.3 C) temperatures occurred once every 30 to 35 years. Lately they have been yearly events.
The all time record high temperature for Sacramento is 115 F (46.1 C) set on 15 June 1961. It is possible this record could be tied or exceeded this weekend.
Designing resiliency into our garden is a top priority. In 2022, major crop losses have occurred throughout Europe, Pakistan, India, China, and the U.S.A. In addition, La Niña conditions are forecasted to continue for a third year, thus extreme drought conditions are likely to continue in various locations throughout the Earth including our part of the western U.S.A.
Implementing robust sustainable subsistence farming practices at our Sacramento home and Placerville property is our current priority. Ornamental plants are part of our vision of a sustainable gardening future. We will continue our work with ornamental species and report on our progress, both in the aftermath of this heat wave as well as into the future.
Robert:
The recent record breaking heat wave (30 August through 9 September 2022) finally ended. Numerous high temperature records were broken throughout our region. Dramatic weather and climatic shifts have taken place in our region over the last 35 plus years. There have been the usual seasonal variations in the weather as well as dramatic longer-term climatic shifts that have taken place in our area. These long-term climatic shifts are having a forceful impact on our ecosystems, both managed (for example agricultural, gardens) and unmanaged (wild, natural habitats). Recently I have been rethinking my gardening goals and long-term vision for our garden. I have been implementing many sustainable, subsistence gardening practices and giving strong consideration to the question, what plants will, or might, grow well in our garden. One goal is to have beautiful ornamental flowering plants in our garden, especially annuals and perennial species that I particularly enjoy growing.
Above is a scene of some of our vegetables beds. With a few exceptions, most of the plants in our garden have faired well despite the extreme heat and xenobiotics in both the air and water. I have learned a great deal from this heat wave and feel confident I am on the right course both with my gardening techniques as well as my selection of plants.
Some plants suffered greatly in the intense heat. The leaves on this well-established Magnolia fraseri burned badly in the extreme heat.
In particular, our few remaining Ericaceae species suffered greatly in the recent heat. In conjunction with the heat, xenobiotics in both the air and water also played a role in the decline of the Ericaceae species.
Our Western Blueberry, Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. occidentale is an attractive species and a plant that I would enjoy growing in our garden. However, the climate has changed:
This specimen of Vaccinium uliginosum ssp occidentale was about 10 years old. If the heat would have been of short duration and of a lesser magnitude I feel that it would have survived the heat wave. As the climate has warmed over the last 30 years a large variety of Ericaceae species have become increasingly difficult to maintain in both our Sacramento garden as well as at the Placerville property. As the Ericaceae species die off or look distressed in our garden they will be replaced with plants from different plant families that are more likely to succeed and thrive in our garden.
To be continued…
Maggi Young:
The Ericaceae is one of my favourite plant families- here in Aberdeen, North East Scotland they are also suffering with the heat/climate change. :'(
Robert:
Hi Maggi,
I have been fascinated and enjoyed growing many Ericaceae species over many years. Cassiope and Phyllodoce were never easy for me to cultivate and they were among the first to fade away. Slowly over time other species began to decline and now it has turned into a cascade. During this summer even some of the tough deciduous azaleas have started into decline. A few have even died. I have to admit my disappointment and a sense of loss. I guess I am doing the best I can to move on to other ornamental species that are more likely to survive and hopefully thrive in our garden given the rapid and dramatic climatic shifts that are taking place in our region.
I do hope that your beloved Ericaceae can adjust to the climatic changes taking place in your region. They are certainly an interesting and beautiful set of plants that are well worth cultivation.
Robert:
Every year I conduct trials of vegetables and ornamental plants. This helps me evaluate my effectiveness at plant breeding and opens my mind to new possibilities. These tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, were badly damaged by spider mites during our recent heat wave. In our region, spider mites thrive during the summer and early autumn months when the temperatures are hot and the atmosphere is dry. Dust and xenobiotics in the air are also a contributing factor in the build-up of large spider mites populations.
These tomatoes I bred came through the heat wave relatively free of spider mites. Of course, ornamental species can be bred to be resistant to spider mites; however generally very large populations of plants need to be grown to achieve good results when breeding for insect resistance.
I bred tall single-flowered Dahlias. I like tall single-flowered Dahlias, so this is the direction of my breeding efforts. Tall single-flowered plants with green foliage are normally considered too mundane to consider breeding or growing. My tall single- flowered Dahlias are heat tolerant, resistant to spider mites, and bloom profusely even when the weather gets extremely hot, as during the recent heat wave. This is a success in our garden.
Meso-American and South American Salvias are also very successful in our garden. Pictured with the Dahlia is Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’.
We already have many seedlings and new hybrids containing Salvia guaranitica coming along. Pictured is a Salvia ‘Purple Majesty’ type hybrid that we obtained from cuttings. So far, it is turning out to be an excellent parent in our breeding program.
Salvia chiapensis is coming back into its blooming cycle. We have interesting hybrids coming along between this and other Salvia species.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version