I don't know much about flowers and such...I'm kind of a tree and bush gal.   What I do know is that I lost over a couple hundred trees the year before last because I did not know what grows in Sand Canyon, nor did I know about the damage gophers, rabbits and deer do, plus,we have very bad soil here,   What I have learned is that Juniper trees and bushes grow very well up here and the rabbits don't eat them.  Eldorico (check spelling), Austrian pines, Taylor/Arizona cypress, and leylands do well here.   The leylands need good soil though and plenty of water for the first 3 months.  As for flowers, you can't loose with.BULBS.  I don't plant them, but my neighbors have all kinds of bulbs growing in their yards..irises I think.  If you have a fenced in yard or deer aren't a problem apple trees and walnut trees do well up here too.   I'm sure you can plant more in Tehachapi than what I have mentioned, but these are the plants that I know do well here.   True Value and Kmart seem to stock plants that actually grow here.   I hope Home Depot learns from them.

I always thought Marigolds were the easiest flower to grow...wrong. For the life of me, I can't figure out why my marigolds start out great then start turning brown and crisping up with the buds/flower heads drooping. My geraniums are going gangbusters, so are my petunias. My lavendar is also starting to produce blooms. What am I doing wrong with the marigolds? 

I am pretty new to tehachapi and would love to know what to plant and what not to plant! I am so glad you started this blog!! I'm looking forward to getting some good advice!

I wouldn't expect a cashier to know what zone we are in.  Because they are a cashier, not a garden associate.  Same way I wouldn't expect a receptionist to know if i had a broken arm at a Doctor's office. You should also realize that the local box store draws from Mohave, Keene, Caliente, and as well as California City.   

I have received very good help and advice from the local box store associates, a couple of them garden themselves. What i really like is one of them lives up in the higher elevations of BVS and can tell me what grows up in my neck of the woods.

As far as plants that I have had really good luck with,  Flowers: roses, lavender, fever few, columbine, snapdragons, penstamon, mallow, salvias, and dusty miller. My favorite flower i have is bleeding hearts.  Herbs catnip, mint, oregano, cilantro,  thyme, fennel, basil.

In my garden, I have peas, beans Zucchini, yellow crook neck, a  couple types of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, radishes, turnips, peas, spinach and lettuce.

These natural beauties seem to grow the best and require the least amount of effort!  

Obviously, I need your help too plantman. Thanks for starting this blog. What a great idea.

Soooo...where do I buy some good coyote urine...Is it expensive? Can I harvest it locally? I hear them crying every night. I think they're sad that my garden is deader than dead.  Even the voles seem to have gone south for the summer...  

Seriously, my roses bloomed early with tons of big blooms and now they're just real bushy with no more buds. What should I do? They look  healthy.  No aphids, no mold. Do they need food?  Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

sushisoo, did you try cutting off all the buds? It helps them grow back all pretty again. And a little rose food doesn't hurt. :)

Love those natural beauties...even though some bloggers on that other post consider them weeds, LOL!

I give my roses used coffee grounds - caffeine junkies!

Thanks Mimi, I did deadhead them all, but nothing's come back. I think maybe I need to prune them a bit, but I thought I had heard somewhere it's not good to do it in the heat of summer. By the way, it's been great seeing you again! ;  )    

Joty, I'm going to try the coffee grounds. It'll even give the bees something new to buzz about!  Thanks ladies!

I'm in town, and I can't kill my roses.  We tried last year because we wanted to put in some hedges- cut them all the way down, and this year they're growing so fast that the branches are actually breaking off from being so tall.  Now that they've practically regrown, they actually look decent and we are keeping them.  Bought some ladybugs a few weeks ago to get rid of aphids, and that seems to be doing the trick, along with frequent pruning.  I'm enjoying bringing the cut flowers into my house :)

My lavendar is doing very well, same with the rosemary and waxleaf privets.  I am desperately trying to keep my pink jasmine and marigolds alive.  They wilt a lot when it's warm out unless I douse them with water.  The dianthus looks great, but also gets wilty in the heat.  I thought my periwinkles were done for from some kind of bug eating the leaves, but they're growing back wonderfully.

It definitely feels like I am fighting a losing battle with foxtails.  They're encroaching onto the grass, but I don't want to use any chemicals on them, so I end up pulling up my lawn along with the foxtails.

What a great idea for a discussion. Thank you, PlantGuy!

The Old Town Nursery website is a great resource. Click on the link below and enter via the watering can... go to the "Tips" tab (link) and click on the page images for PDFs of a veritable wealth of information for planting in the Tehachapi area.  

http://www.oldtownenursery....

There are a few broken links right now, but I just emailed Tim and Donna to let them know.

Here are my favorites for gardening at home (as opposed to the swamp where I currently live :):

• Lavender
• Yarrow (my favorite is yellow, but red is nice too)
• Sage
• Columbine
• Poppy
• Lupine
• Rosemary
• Hydrangea
• Lilac
• Echinacea
• Clematis
• Angel's Trumpet (poisonous)
• Gerbia Daisy
• Zinnia
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Garlic
• Baby Blue Eye
• Onion
• Liatris
• Salvia
• Yucca
• Daffodil
• Amaryllis
• Artichoke

Be sure to check out the "Classes" tab (or link) and check out what is coming up. Many of their offerings are free... I see a free Xeriscaping class being offered in July, which would be awesome for everyone in Tehachapi, but particularly for the folks who live up Sand Canyon.

Also, I would highly recommend a visit to the Mourning Cloak Ranch off of Old Town Road (near Dennison) for anyone who has never been. It looks like they've stopped maintaining their website, but here are a few links to pages of people who have visited, and an article:

http://www.bobsgardenpath.c...

http://www.letsgoseeit.com/...

http://www.americanprofile....

While you're out that way, don't miss the Tangleweed Farm, also on Old Town Road, South/Southwest of Jeffrey Road. The farm is beautiful (my husband and I got married there... we did not purchase one single "decoration". The natural beauty of the farm and surroundings was all the decoration we needed.). They sell produce (and flowers, I believe, and Laurie used to bake and sell pies from the fruits of her labor. Heh heh...). Here's the link to their website:

http://tangleweedfarm.com/

Hey Plant Guy - did we ask too many questions? 

Sorry I haven't responded sooner, I work in LA part of the week and have had several deadlines to meet.

I knew this would be a stimulating subject and have been amazed at all of the interesting possibilities for ornamental planting as well as veggie and fruit plantings. 

Sparks, sounds like you have had some trial and error, watch the leyland cypress for twig borers as they mature, (6-7 years) In the 90's, many established plantings of leyland cypress fell victim to a blight, (borers and fungus).  Your best defense is to keep them as healthy as possible through mulching and ample watering.  Sounds like you already are!

Susishoo, Plants that bloom use a tremendous amount of nutrients to produce blossoms, these nutrients need to be replaced continually during the season.  Mulching works and will help with water retention, also, use Miracle Gro or a good granular fertilizer to keep the nutrient level high.

It's time to get the pumpkin seeds going for October harvest.

We can grow pumpkins here?  Can you eat pumpkins?  I mean, is pumpkin pie made from the pumpkins you make into jack-o-lanterns?  I'd love to bake a real home-made pumpkin pie!

Yep you can, madkow, but you need a really good way to puree the pumpkin. I tried using a mediocre food processor, but it didn't puree the baked pumpkin very well.

[spam code: MAWEE]

lol,your'e awesom Madkow.