14 Thursday, January 2, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
Flower beds bulging with brilliant flowers bursting into
bloom. Continuous color from spring through fall. Trees heavy
with plump apricots and fat peaches, green and red apples and
yellow pears. Vegetables so delicious and nutritious you'll never
want store bought again.
The pictures and promise are there in an avalanche of garden
catalogs beginning to fill our mailboxes. I spend hours pouring
over the catalogs, lavoking, reading, dreaming of a luxuriant
English garden. Pinks, blues, lavenders, highlighted with yel-
low. Flowers so exuberant they spill over the edges of every bed
and box,
The possibilities are only limited by our imagination. If we
need help in plannirag, design ideas are abundant in many of the
new catalogs. Some show layouts to plant an entire bed for sun
oi shade• The plants required iu'e often offered as a package deal.
A gardener's heaven is contained in the catalog photos and
drawings of flowers so beautiful, appealing and perfect you can
almost smell them. Vegetables almost to lovely to eat, but just
I(u,king makes your mouth water. Trees and fruits so lush they
would draw the G*,ls from Mount Olympus.
Ah yes, this will be the year of the garden. Graveled paths
winding from a multi-hucd bed to a scent tilled rose garden.
Meandering on to a circular garden room and into the blossom
filled orchard. My mind's eye sees it all. Never mind, that 1 don't
StateFarm
Sells
Lifelnsurance.
JEFF BANSER
Off 751-1515
Fax 751-1616
1311 S. Hwy 160
Res 751-247
have those winding paths and garden room.
After considerable catalog browsing and dreaming, it's time
to get down to business. Red pen in hand, I check the plants to
create my garden paradise. Checked items are selected and
deleted as 1 fill in the order blanks. Accounting time is a shock.
One seed order totals $58.65, and that's before the $7•95 ship-
ping and handling lee.
Stark Bros. Nurseries and Orchards is slashed to $116.95.
One order tbr starter plants is $62.39.
Another tbr spring bulbs is $40.92. I
haven't even started on the garden
royalty, roses, or the perennials or the
ground co\\; cr.
Deja vu. Yes, l've been here be-
fore. Time for a reality check. First,
have I checked all the selected plants in
my SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN
BOOK to make sure they're suitable ;
for our tough desert climate? A plant
that thrives in the moist, humid nlid-
.west will probably wither and die in
our intense summer heat. Another that
is happy in the gentle southern winters
will freeze to death here.
Caution with fruit trees. My fa-
vorite reference is the six page guide
assembled by Star Nursery, SOFT
AND TREE FRUITS FOR SOUTH-
ERN NEVADA (Starnote 100), avail-
able flee at any of their nurseries. My
neighbor, who has a six year old or-
chard, harvests pears and crab apples
every year, peaches, nectarines and
green apples sporadically and has had
mixed success with grapes.
My own orchard is young and
small. Last year one of three apricot trees yielded three apricots.
The Babcock Peach, one of three peach trees, produced small,
unmmarkable fruit. One almond was produced by three trees.
Only one pomegranate tree produced fruit and the apple trees are
too young to expect any yields for several more years as are last
year's new trees, a combination apricot/plum tree.
your head when you browse here.
Most of my fruit trees were
purchased locally. The selec-
tion increases each year. Our
nurseries offer trees suited to
our environment so you save
the cost of wasted planting
time, dead trees and shattered
dreams by shopping at home.
Seeds, I still have a hefty
supply from last year. Local
nurseries carry a good selec-
tion suited to our area and Wal-
Mart discounts Burpee seeds
at least 10% even at the begin-
ning of the planting season.
Buying seeds locally makes
sense, the price is the same and
you save shipping and han-
dling costs. I do order a few
new, rare and heritage seeds
each year that are not available
from area suppliers.
Mail order plants need to
go in the ground as soon after
arrival as possible. Many are
bare root, and when you look
at the roots, it reminds you
more of something that should
go into the compost pile than
of the gorgeous photo in the
catalog. The ones in pots need
to be watered immediately,
and, again, planted as soon as possible.
I' ve had mixed success with mail order plants. My Russian
Sage arrived bareroot, looked dried up and even though planted
within hours of arrival didn't do anything for a long time. By fall
they where two to three feet tall and covered with blue flowers,
breathtaking. Others have developed faster but lacked staying
power. Asparagus roots and strawberries have been happy
successes as have Iris and nearly all bulbs.
Before you order,
,.: :: be realistic about your
'" ..... garden. Does the flower
bed you plan to fill exist
only in your mind: If so,
can you realistically
have it ready to plant ""
when your stock ar-
rives? My catalog en-
thusiasm has too often
out paced nay ability to
prepare the proper liv-
ing quarters before my
new dependents arrived.
In panic, I' ve shoveled
to exhaustion, planted
in unsettled beds or in
unplanned places just to
get them in the ground.
Plants are dependents.
I'm sure I owe them at
least the basic care re-
quired to survive. Some-
times, I've failed. Try to
" : • plan before you order.
Also, check the lo-
cal supply of plants. An
impressive variety of
plants, shrubs and trees can be found in Pahrump nurseries which
gives you the advantage of selection and saves mail costs.
Roses are a passion for me, and the majority of mine are
ordered from catalogs and arrive bareroot. I order from several
catalog suppliers in order to obtain each specialrose I set my heart
on. Our bareroot season is early and briefi It starts now and
continues from mid to late February.
This presents a problem when ordering from suppliers who
are not ltx:ated in the west. Check delivery dates prior to placing
an order,
Jackson and Perkins, and Edmund's Roses both located in
Oregon with growing fields in Northern California deliver by our
planting dates. They specialize in roses and deliver healthy stock.
Wayside Gardens in South Carolina will meet the date you
request, but give them a reasonable amount of time. Their stock
is excellent. My experience with Springhill Select Roses in Ohio
has been frustrating. Ever3,' order has necessitated telephone calls
begging them to send the bamroot stock during our season. The
roses have always arrived late. Last yeara coveted new introduc-
tion arrived in June. It died.
Once again, be prepared. Bareroot roses should be placed in
water immediately and left for 24 hours or at least overnight.
Plant them after the required hydration. Some bareroot stock is
offered by local nurseries. Check to be sure the roots have not
dried out. Beware, buy only nunber one roses with at least three
strong canes.
There is no definitive financial saving buying bareroot.
Potted roses have a broader planting time frame, anytime except
summer, and have much increased survival rates. I.,ocal selection
is good with an even wider choice of varieties in Las Vegas. Star
Nurseries carries an excellent selection that includes Jackson and
Perkins and Weeks roses, two of the top growers.
Delight in your avalanche of catalogs. Feast your eyes on the
visual delights. Dream. Wait to write the check until you have a
realistic plan, and do visit local nurseries before you order. Then,
be prepared for mail and UPS deliveries of all those little clumps
A
of roots and brown sticks and nondescript seeds. Try to visualize II
the dream while you're mucking a planting hole in the dirt.
1/2 off installation
$10 per month Equipment Rental
1-800-449-1269
Jeffrey Ross Gunter M.D.
Diplomate American Board
of Dermatology
I{oard Certified in Dermatology
Is there a way to prevent melanoma?
A. sv keeping your surt exposure at a minimum, you can reduce your
risk of melanoma. This is especially true for people with a light
complexion, with many moles and with atypical moles. Use a "15"
SPF-rated sun-screen, especially duing the peak sun hours of 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. If you have a suspicious mole or notice a change in a mole,
you should consult a dermatologist. Be sure to ask your dermatologist
if they are board-certified.
Jeffrey Ross Gunter, M.D.
1330 S. Highway 160, Suite 12
727-0146
