Many enthusiastically consider the camellia "Queen of the Garden," especially while roses are quietly resting. Ok, so our roses in the west don't begin to rest until we forcefully, but of course sadly, decide that we must cut them back in January. Luckily for us, beginning in September and continuing into the Spring, the camellia brings elegant floral form and color into our gardens.

They are wonderful in the garden as a standard and single focal point, en masse, or as a container plant. This shrub has beautifully rich, dark green shiny foliage and when pruned properly, gorgeous plant form, thereby contributing to the beauty of a garden year round. Other positive attributes include the fact that camellias are relatively pest- and disease-free. What more could you ask for?

The two major groups of camellias are Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua. Camellia japonicas bloom January through May. They have larger, glossy green leaves and flowers that are not fragrant. These camellias are evergreen and prefer to be planted in dappled shade and even deep shade. Camellia sasanquas bloom from September through December. They have smaller leaves and depending on the variety, will grow in full sun or deep shade. They are wonderful as a specimen plant, unclipped.

There are many bloom types to consider when choosing your camellia: anemone, rose, single, formal double, peony, and many more. Both the C. japonica and C. sasanqua have many varieties to choose from. When making your selection, consider not only bloom form and color but also bloom time. You can have your camellias blooming from September into May with a wise and thought out selection. Bloom form is important to most of us. If you live by the coast, talk with your nurseryperson to be sure that a more complex form with a higher petal count will open fully in spite of the morning and afternoon damp fog. Don't despair, there are varieties equally beautiful but with a simpler form. There are so many attributes to each flower type that you just have to see them to appreciate them fully.

Plant your new camellia using Gardner & Bloome Acid Planting Mix to give this wonderful plant the best start in your garden. Take care to plant the root ball slightly higher than the soil line, not lower. Once your camellias are loaded with buds, do not feed them. Have you ever fertilized your heavily laden-with-flower-buds camellia shrub, thinking of course that you are helping the buds to burst into fabulous color, only to be horrified when they all fell off? The camellia does not want fertilizer once the buds are set. Don't worry, the plant will reward you fully without any additional food.

Once the bloom time is complete in the spring, you'll want to use Dr. Earth #4 for acid loving plants, an excellent all-around fertilizer, to give a healthy boost and reward your plants for their colorful winter flower "show."

To some of us, the pansy/viola is a happy, smiling face reminding us of a gardener friend from long ago. The first sign of that special flower brings a smile to our face and warmth to our heart. After all, this flower is known as the 'pixie' of the plant world. How perfect is that to have in your winter/spring gardens!

Sunset Western Garden Book tells us that botanically speaking, members of the genus Viola, which includes the pansy, viola and violets, are perennials. We just happen to treat them as annuals. The varieties that we grow are happiest in cool weather and have become known as one of our best winter bedding plants. Planting them now ensures wonderful color in your spring gardens.

There are many different cultivars of pansies and violas offering a wide range of colors and flower sizes: colors from white, yellow, apricot, violet, blue-purples, dusty rose and combinations of all of these colors! The flower sizes range from 1-4 inches.

Pansies like sun to light shade. If you plant them in deep shade, they will grow, but not reward you with as many flowers. Plant them toward the front of your flower beds along with your shrubs and other flowering bedding plants such as Iceland poppies, alyssum, lobelia, nemesia and all. You may not want to put them too close to the edge if your planter is next to your grass (scary weed whackers may chop off their heads!). But these plants love to trail and would be beautiful in raised beds, planters and window boxes!

Sometimes our pansies don't get a chance to grow up. Don't be too hard on yourself. This is not happening because you have a brown thumb. At times that six-pack coming from the grower has baby plants containing a fungal disease called Rhizoctonia which causes "damping off." In other words, the lower stem near the soil line with become constricted and dark brown. Usually, your little seedling pansy will die. That fungus thrives in wet soil. Knowing that this can be a problem, here are a few planting and care tips:

Plant the little root ball slightly high, or above soil level. This will keep the roots drier, especially after watering.

Water, but be careful to not to overwater.

Amend the soil with Gardner & Bloome Planting Mix planting mix when planting to increase good drainage around the roots.

If you had a problem in one area of your garden with the fungus, switch and grow the pansies in another area for a year or so.

Once your pansies are getting established and blooming with smiling faces, don't forget to deadhead. Removing the finished blooms will increase the number of blooms and bloom time.

And here is the number one rule: start your morning with a stroll into your garden to gaze on all of these smiling faces. Oh sure, you can take your cup of coffee or tea along with you, too.

Many people garden successfully without ever testing their soil, but they are probably fortunate in gardening on ground that is not deficient in nutrients, is neither too acidic nor too alkaline, and receives plenty of nutrients anyway as part of normal cultivation. If things don’t seem to be growing well, a soil test is the best starting point for putting things right, and dedicated gardeners test their soil routinely once a year.

Professional soil testing is the most accurate for nutrients, but you can get a reasonable idea of the major nutrients in your soil with simple indicator kits. Testing for pH is quick and effective. (Bear in mind that kits vary from one manufacturer to another, so always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.)

The term pH is a scientific way of stating how acidic or alkaline something is. Soils vary in their degree of acidity or alkalinity. The scale goes from 0 (more acidic) to 14 (more alkaline), with 7 as neutral. Soils never reach the extremes, and horticulturally, 6.5 can be considered neutral in that it is the pH at which most plants will grow happily. Acid-loving plants, such as rhododendrons, camellias, peonies and heathers, need a lower pH and may develop chlorosis (a yellowing of the leaves) if grown in chalky soil. Chalk-loving plants like dianthus and lilacs prefer a pH of 7 or above.

These differences may sound small, but on the pH scale 1 point represents a ten-fold increase in acidity or alkalinity.

Testing the pH: Collect your samples and mix with water as described for nutrient testing, but for the pH test you don’t have to wait for the mixture to settle, and only the test chamber is filled with the solution. Clean tap water is used for the reference chamber. Add the indicator chemical provided with the kit, then put the top on and shake vigorously. Compare the color with the shade panel on the container for the nearest pH value.

Adding Lime to the Soil: Never add lime unless you have tested your soil first and know that it is necessary. Too much lime applied regularly can be harmful for your plants. Always check that you are applying the right sort of lime at the appropriate application rate. Your testing kit should contain advice about how much lime (which will vary with type) to apply to your soil to adjust the pH.

The hellebore is an unusual and beautiful winter flower. Winter-flowering hellebores such as Helleborus niger (Christmas rose) are frost-hardy, but their pale blooms are often only just above soil level. If you want to cut the flowers to take indoors, covering the plants will reduce mud splashes and keep the blooms clean and in good condition.

Protect low-growing winter-flowering plants such as H. niger with a cloche if you want perfect blooms to cut for indoors. Though frost-hardy, the flowers tend to become splashed with mud and damaged by the weather.

If you do not have a cloche, improvise with a piece of polythene over wire hoops or a pane of glass supported on bricks.

Old-fashioned cold frames made with brick or timber sides were not as light as modern aluminum and glass or plastic cold frames, but they were warmer. Glass sides let in more light, but also lost heat rapidly. Have the best of both worlds by insulating your glass-sided cold frame during the coldest weather, while taking full advantage of the glass sides in the spring and summer.

Sometimes there are small gaps between the glass and an aluminum frame. This does not matter in hot weather, but for winter warmth it’s worth sealing the gaps with draft-proofing strips sold for windows and doors.

Insulate the glass sides with sheets of expanded polystyrene. Cut it with a knife or saw. Measure accurately, allowing for the thickness of the material where sheets join at the ends. Push sheets into place so that they fit tightly.

In covering cold frames remember that cold frames of any kind benefit from a warm blanket thrown over them on very cold nights. A piece of old carpet is an ideal alternative. Put it in place before the temperature drops, and remember to remove it the next morning unless it remains exceptionally cold. Your plants need light and warmth.

Steve was born in Bakersfield, raised in Los Gatos. In 2nd grade he broke his Catholic school's strict dress code by not wearing a belt, and was promptly banished to playing hopscotch with the girls. When he moved in 3rd grade, the same nun moved to his new school also to keep an eye on him. Ever the one with women, he eventually transformed the ruthless nun into liking him and he became her teacher's pet.

His closest brush with fame was having his picture taken with Willie Mays in Pony League. Not one to shy away from an adventure, Steve and his high school buddies snuck into the high school Ag-science department at night to ride the giant pig and were promptly thrown into the fence.

Steve has been in the nursery and landscape industry for the past 18 years, having previously managed another garden center in San Jose. He has been a part of our family for the past 9 years.

Steve loves to play golf and go fishing and camping. He once got a hole in one while playing golf, which he followed up by landing the "big one" on the banks of the Klamath River. (Neither episode has ever been documented). Steve lives in Redwood City with his best friend Jeanne.