A self-described “bratty teenager,” Lori Ann Asmus saved her best attitude for houseplants.
“My mom was an avid gardener, but I really wasn’t interested in working with her,” Asmus says. “I would buy these little indoor plants and then kill them in short order by being uber-responsible, watering them every day, sometimes twice a day. I didn’t have success with houseplants until I went to college, where I didn’t have time to love them to death.”
All grown up, Asmus owns The Emerald City Interior Landscape Services. Chances are you have gazed upon her “interiorscapes” in Sacramento businesses such as The Citizen Hotel, Eskaton Village, and lobbyist, attorney and doctor offices. She designs and maintains indoor plants for mostly business clients
Fall Into Shape It’s prime time for a garden workout By Dan Vierria October 2021 Colossal piles of leaves deposited on Sacramento streets traditionally signals the city is about to unleash “The Claw” to scoop and remove the leaf-capped Alps. A city of trees begets a...
Hot, sweaty and longing for the cooler embrace of fall, Sacramento gardeners have decisions and chores looming. Ready or not, transitioning from summer to fall gardening begins now. Drag yourself off the sofa and visit nurseries, hardware stores, fall plant sales and online sites, if needed, to prepare for the coming months. Need guidance? Happy to help!
Last call to fertilize citrus: Feed citrus trees for the final time in late summer. Any later and resulting tender new growth may be susceptible to frost damage. Container-grown citrus trees may accept an additional early fall application of fertilizer because more frequent watering flushes out fertilizer.
Orchids seduce, delight and frequently meet an untimely death. Muttering, “I killed another one,” often precedes the shopping trip to buy more exotic beauties.
When inviting orchids into the home, longevity will not be an option unless you are willing to perform basic plant maintenance. Already in bloom to attract buyers, the challenge is to keep an orchid alive and nurture it into multiple bloom cycles over several years.
Scant rainfall and drought, measured in degrees like “severe” and “extreme,” have slithered back into our lives. Folsom Lake is a mud puddle, the Sierra Nevada snowpack was 59 percent of normal and rainfall is more than a foot below average.
Sacramento did not receive an April downpour. Zero precipitation was recorded for the entire month Downtown, a record, and the driest April since 1877, when data was first collected. Not even a trace of moisture settled on lawns and flowerbeds.
After scouring nursery shelves for plants and seeds, and spending a few months anticipating the perfect sweet pepper or magnificent melon, guessing when it is ripe can backfire. Harvesting homegrown edibles too soon or late means biting into something inedible.
Sacramento’s summer flavor jackpot begins with timely harvesting and is extended with proper storage. There are clues to help avoid a disappointing mouthful.
