It was a big weekend for my garden. A couple recent frosts have finally caused the deciduous trees to drop most of their leaves, so I'll be able to start pruning whenever I get some free time. (It will probably have to wait until next weekend.) This weekend I began starting seeds of cool-weather crops indoors for planting out in a few weeks. I also took a picture of the blueberries beginning to ripen in the front yard. I estimate they will be ready to start picking next month.
Saturday my parents drove me to Annie's Annuals, where a representative from Dave Wilson Nursery gave a talk on growing backyard fruit trees. He didn't really say much I didn't already know, but it was nice to watch him give a demonstration of how to prune various types of trees. Not only did I buy a bunch of flowers and a second fig tree while I was there, I also won a free thornless blackberry in the raffle. (It's a good thing I have somewhere I can plant it.)
After leaving Annie's, we drove up to Sebastopol to visit Bamboo Sourcery. I've been wanting to get some bamboo for my Japanese garden, but everything I researched seemed to grow far too big for the space that I have. I thought it would be nice to see some actually growing, so that I would have a better idea how they might fit into my landscaping design. When we arrived at the base of the driveway, they had a sign posted saying they were closed for the day (gasp!). However, I called the listed phone number and found that they were open; the sign must have been left out as a mistake.
We were there shortly before their closing time, so we did rush a bit, but we did get a chance to stroll through their bamboo beds and potting areas. In the retail section, I came across one that seemed suited for my needs: Borinda fungosa, also known as Chocolate Bamboo. I picked up a 5-gallon pot (the smallest size they had available). Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in somewhere.
