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Gardening in the Sacramento Region with Steve Kroes

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Gardening in the Sacramento Region with Steve Kroes
Our Garden | Plant problems

Autumn Blaze Maples

BySteve July 9, 2007July 9, 2007

I’ve had a little trouble with my ‘Autumn Blaze’ maples. The one on the left above had chlorosis pretty bad last year, and it even lost most of its leaves in August only to grow back young leaves in September that got killed by fall frosts while still tender. I worried that it might not…

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Great plants | Our Garden

So many photos to catch up on: blooms and fruit

BySteve June 27, 2007July 4, 2007

Since we got home from vacation a few weeks ago, things have been very busy! Plus, it’s peak garden time, and when I get a minute to spend on garden stuff, I’m out in the yard rather than on the computer. That’s how it should be, but OK, I finally found some time to post…

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Our Garden

When to plant my clematis cuttings

BySteve June 19, 2007

I posted on GardenWeb about whether I should plant in the ground this year my small clematis vines that I grew from cuttings. They’re still pretty small, although they started growing pretty well this year. Here’s my post and a response: I have some [clematis] I grew from cuttings taken when I pruned mine last…

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Plant problems

Seeking help for my rose hedge

BySteve June 15, 2007June 22, 2007

I’ve posted on GardenWeb’s rose forum, asking for help with my Pink Simplicity rose hedge. These roses never bloom as well as I think they should, and I’ve been working on getting them the right fertilizer and making sure they’re watered correctly, etc. Here are two photos from late last July, when they flowered at…

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Our Garden | Weather

Out of town for a week

BySteve June 6, 2007

I’m on vacation all this week, so I hope my newly planted flowers are doing well! I see that it got cold in Utah, and I hope it doesn’t give us a surprise freeze at night. We put our houseplants on our covered deck so the neighbor girl could water them when she feeds our…

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Our Garden

More summer flower planting

BySteve May 21, 2007

On Friday, I planted all my California poppies (which are late this year, so I hope the heat doesn’t kill them), some dianthus, iceplant, verbena, and some of the geraniums. I focused on the side of the main front flowerbed and the bed along the front walkway. In the big flowerbed, I also sprinkled some…

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Great plants | Our Garden

Started the summer flower planting today

BySteve May 12, 2007May 14, 2007

Today, I planted some lily bulbs and a dozen or so Rudbeckias I grew from seed. The lilies are a little late getting in the ground, but I hope we still get some good blooms from them this summer. I bought five bulbs of each kind at Wal-Mart about a month ago. They are: Stargazer…

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Our Garden

Temple Square Tulips!

BySteve May 5, 2007May 5, 2007

I work a few blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and I always enjoy taking a camera with me to work this time of year. All of these shots were taken on May 2nd around the Joseph Smith Building and the church office building. I saw a gardener there who told me that…

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Steve Kroes

steve.grows.stuff

Cultivating flowers, fruit & veg in NorCal Zone 9b. Also a realtor (DRE# 02138500), freelance consultant & part-time professor. Dual UK/US citizen 🧑‍🌾

So many hopes riding on this Blue Java banana flow So many hopes riding on this Blue Java banana flower!! Haha, i’ve grown Cavendish bananas for maybe six or seven years now and had multiple flowers that didn’t produce viable fruit. Really hoping this one produces an amazing rack of bananas! Also, this plant is an example of good things happen on social media. I met @fair_oaks_tropiculture through Instagram, and he so generously gave me this banana plant when I visited his awesome food forest and garden. What a cool thing! 
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#sacramentogardening #banana #tropicalgardening #norcalgarden #zone9b #bluejavabanana #fairoaks
Just a little walk along the front garden. Isn’t Just a little walk along the front garden. Isn’t this so much better than just a lawn? It’s all organically grown, and we don’t have much of an issue with bad bugs. The good predator bugs and birds thrive and keep things in balance. We do have some slug and snail issues, and nature keeps trying to help us with alligator lizards showing up to eat them, but alas, our cats catch some of our lizard friends and interfere with the balance of nature. Have you thought of replacing some lawn with flowerbeds? Any questions I can help you with? Feel free to post Qs in the comments 💚
#sacramentogardening #gardening #zone9b #flowergardening #mygarden #fairoaks #norcal #gardenadvice
We are so happy to be hosting this family of blueb We are so happy to be hosting this family of bluebirds in our backyard! As an added bonus, they fly around our garden picking up bugs. What great guests! 😊 I was surprised how quickly they discovered the birdhouse right after we put it up. They spent weeks just checking it out, in and out constantly, until they started bringing nesting materials. Now, we just need to make sure the cats aren’t around when the chicks fledge! 
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#bluebirds #nestbox #birdhouse #sacramentogardening
Frog Buddha approves of chop and drop. 🐸 Haha, Frog Buddha approves of chop and drop. 🐸 Haha, do you do this? Especially with vigorous plants that take a lot out of the soil like these bananas, chopping the trimmings and piling them around the plant helps to return those nutrients back to the soil. Today it was the machete, but sometimes I chop these trimmed stems and old leaves up with the lawnmower for an even finer shredding. With bananas, the pile also helps to keep the soil moist.
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#chopanddrop #bananas #growbananas #gardening #tropicalgardening #sacramentogardening #zone9b
Help me out, fellow citrus gardeners! I just harve Help me out, fellow citrus gardeners! I just harvested the rest of the mandarins off this unidentified variety that we’re growing. Do you think it’s gold nugget? Swipe to see a close-up. The bumpy skin looks like gold nugget to me, and the fact that it ripens so late in the season seems to fit.
#mandarins #citrus #gardenhelp #gardenquestion #sacramentogardening #fruittrees
Our little dogwood tree doesn’t disappoint. And Our little dogwood tree doesn’t disappoint. And in the ➡️ pic, our birdhouse in the background has a pair of western bluebirds using it! I can’t get close enough to them for a pic (and don’t want to scare them away), but they’re so gorgeous! 
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#spring #sacramentogardening #zone9b #mygarden #floweringtrees #dogwood #fairoaks #blooms
Ranunculus in spring glory. And cute Santia in the Ranunculus in spring glory. And cute Santia in the background, doing some spring weeding! 😍💜💚 These ranunculus keep coming back stronger every spring. I think this is our third spring with them. I have found that some that are competing with a big maple’s roots are not as vigorous, but the ones over here are doing great! Are you enjoying spring? Getting a lot done in the garden? 
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#ourgarden #sacramentogardening #flowers #flowergarden #zone9b #fairoaks #organicflowers #organicgardening #springvibes #ranunculus
The lilacs are blooming, so spring is here, even t The lilacs are blooming, so spring is here, even though last week it was summer for two days and  now it’s winter again! 😂💚 Oh, and ➡️some sweet ranunculus, too! 💜
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#spring #sacramentogardening #fairoaksgardening #mygarden #springflowers #zone9garden #zone9b #lilac #ranunculus
We are at peak camellia over here in Northern Cali We are at peak camellia over here in Northern California on the first day of spring! Plus some daisies (arctotis and paludosum) ➡️➡️. How’s your spring equinox going? Hope you have good weather, wherever you are! 💚 
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#spring #equinox #firstdayofspring #camellia #mygarden #flowergardening #flowers
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Recent Posts

  • I guess it wasn’t the year for home-grown bananas :(
  • This is the year we eat home-grown bananas!
  • Get seedlings in the sun quick! But with protection
  • The banana saga: bummer of an update
  • We built a sweet little DIY extra room

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