This colorful, hummingbird-friendly perennial never stops blooming

Five things to do in the garden this week:

Perennials: Hummingbird fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica) never stops blooming. As long as you live in a frost-free zone, you can grow it and although it may defoliate in freezing weather, there is a good chance it will recover. Even after dying back in a freeze – as long as it survives – it may grow up to five feet in a single season. Ultimately, it may reach a height of 10 feet and a girth of six feet. Flowers are miniatures, one-and-a-half inches long, and bi-colored in red and purple. Actually, there is an advantage in growing it where temperatures drop below 40 degrees, since gall mites – which can be a plague upon this species – die at such temperatures. As its name suggests, hummingbirds sip from its flowers with reckless abandon.

Tree crops: A hundred years ago, there was a vast acreage of walnut trees from Woodland Hills to Encino in the San Fernando Valley, all the way to the city of Walnut itself in the San Gabriel Valley. The variety planted was Placentia, and it is still available at some local nurseries today. Placentia is recommended due its mature height of 40 feet since other varieties grow much taller. Alternatively, the Pedro variety is still more compact, reaching only 25-30 feet. Both of these walnut varieties are self-fertile, meaning you only need one tree to harvest a crop, but you will get more nuts, and of a potentially larger size, by planting two trees together, even if they are of the same variety. Both varieties are English or Persian walnuts (Juglans regia) of commerce. The California black walnut (Juglans californica) is widely seen and its nuts are flavorful, albeit less than half the size of English walnuts.

Vegetables: Salsify (SAL-suh-fee) is a Mediterranean plant in the daisy family that is grown for its thick edible root although leaves may also be consumed, both raw and cooked. Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius) is also known as oyster plant due its taste, which has also been likened to that of asparagus. The flavor of both roots and leaves is diminished once the plant flowers, so cut away flower stalks as soon as they appear. Seeds may be planted now and will germinate in less than two weeks. Roots should be ready for harvest in October. To prepare salsify root for eating, boil it in its skin and, upon softening, mash it like potatoes. To keep its root from branching during growth, keep salsify’s soil somewhat moist.

Herbs: Hops (Humulus lupus) is famous for brewing beer but its flowers, once dried, can be used for adding flavor to any glass of store-bought beer as well. Depending on the variety of hops, the flavor It adds may be that of citrus, pine, licorice, or black pepper. Seeds of Centennial, a variety which “imparts outstanding citrusy, flowery flavor” may be found at burpee.com. Steep hops in hot water and add the infusion to your bath for relaxation purposes. Flowers added to tea improve digestion and stimulate appetite. The hops species is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers appear on separate plants, with female blooms larger than the males. You can train hops as a vine and it will grow up a chain link fence as high as 25 feet. Flowers are attractive even if you don’t use them for herbal purposes.

Gall mites are a real nuisance when it comes to growing fuchsias: A serious gall mite prevention program where no toxic chemicals are involved requires release of ladybug and lacewing larvae at this time of year since they prey on gall mites. It’s also a good idea to hose down your fuchsia foliage on a regular basis since mites are attracted to and nest in dust that accumulates on leaves. You should also consider growing species resistant to fall mites, of which there are many that you can locate with an Internet search. Fuchsia boliviana grows to 12 feet tall with clusters of thinn, elongated red blooms, while F. boliviana var. Alba has flowers that transition from white to pinkish-red.