Gardening Q&A

Spring 2025 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

What are capers and how do I grow them?

If you live in a climate where olive trees can grow, you can grow capers. The edible part is the unopened flower buds of Capparis spinosa. The shrub grows to about 3 feet high and as wide. It can take full sun and plenty of heat but will not tolerate temperatures below about 15 degrees. The buds are salted and pickled and used as a condiment.

My irises are beautiful at the moment, but every year they get really messy looking for the summer. When can I cut them back?

Come July, irises need to be cut to the ground. This is also a good time to thin or divide them. I keep my irises deadheaded all during the flowering season and cut away the flowering stems once they are finished. When the leaves start to look messy, I cut them back. I often have to cut them back a second time, especially if they are grown with very little water.

Where can I find tomato cages that actually keep the tomato caged?

For years garden centers and stores have sold short wedge-shaped cages for tomatoes and the tomatoes outgrow those things in about two months. I use those small cages for eggplant, peppers, basil and other smaller garden plants. Garden supply manufacturers have gotten much savvier about what tomato plants need and now there are plenty of strong, tall cages on the market. You can also make your own. Some people use stakes and string, while others make wire cages.

Winter 2025 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

How do I use coffee grounds in the garden?

Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, and are best used for acid-loving plants like blueberries, hydrangeas, azaleas, carrots, tomatoes and radishes. I sprinkle coffee grounds around my vegetables and flowers during the growing season, and when the garden is fallow, I mix the grounds into the soil.

I have plants the deer aren’t supposed to eat, but they do. What gives?

Deer will nibble on almost anything at least once and especially during months when food is scarce. Spray deer repellent on the plants every two weeks or so. My go-to plants the deer never bother are rosemary, Spanish lavender, kniphofia, Pieris, Shasta daisies, yucca, hesperaloe (though they will eat the flowers), Jerusalem sage, artemisia, daphne and gardenia.

I was told to add chicken manure to my vegetable garden beds, and the plants love it, but it’s a bit smelly. What can I do about the odor?

Instead of using the manure as a top dressing, incorporate it into the soil. No more fragrant chicken manure odors!

My hummingbird feeder has been hanging on my back deck for years with no problems. Suddenly, each morning I’m finding the sugar water spilled all over the deck rail and floor. What kind of animal is getting into the feeder?

It’s most likely a raccoon. They’re smart and wily. The solution is an easy one: take the feeder in each night and put it back out the following morning. After about a week, the raccoons will stop checking and you can leave it out.

What’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?

Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Yams are part of the lily family, while sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family.

Yams are drier and starchier than sweet potatoes. They are a root tuber and have brown bark-like skin and white or purple flesh. The flesh, when cooked, is similar to a russet potato.

A sweet potato is also a root tuber. It is native to Central and South America, is more cylindrical or tapered in shape and has reddish, thin skin. The flesh inside can be orange, purple or white. The most common one has orange flesh and a sweet flavor.

I’ve made the mistake at the grocery store of buying a yam when I wanted a sweet potato. Too often, grocery stores use the terms interchangeably.

Can I still plant sweet pea seeds?

Yes. You can scatter them around the garden and let Mother Nature do the rest. If you really want to be sure the seeds get off to the best start, rough up the soil a bit, scatter the seeds and then cover them lightly.

Usually, autumn and winter rains are enough to allow the seeds to germinate and grow for next spring’s flowers, but if you hit a prolonged dry spell, give the garden some water.