Instead of being concerned about the flowers of weeks past and the belladonna lily, which is the flower of this week, those who start annual seedlings from seed should now be preparing for cool-season flowers and vegetables of autumn and winter. Seed of viola, pansy, nemesia, calendula, stock and a few others that bloom through winter should be sown about now so that their seedlings will be ready for the garden by September or October. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and some of the lettuces should have already been sown, but it certainly is not too late.

Flowering shrubs of next spring will be performing even later, as cool-season annuals are finishing, but even they appreciate your attention. Rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias should receive their last application of acidifying fertilizer about now. Although it is advisable to rake foliar litter from below rhododendrons and camellias, neither likes bare soil. Even if shaded from warming sunlight, the surface of exposed soil is more susceptible to moisture and temperature fluctuations than it would be if mulched. Rhododendrons and camellias have such shallow and fibrous root systems that such fluctuations can be somewhat uncomfortable.

Mulch should not be any deeper than about 3 inches and should be even shallower around the main trunks of shrubbery. Mulch in direct proximity to main trunks can be too much of a good thing, in which fungal organisms that cause crown rot proliferate. Check soil moisture by looking below the mulch.

Although my home garden lacks rhododendrons or camellias, I like to mulch with lawn clippings to inhibit proliferation of weeds in an otherwise bare walkway between the neighbor's mailbox and mine. I spread it thinly so that it dries instead of becoming a gooey mess on which the mail carrier may slip and fall. I am also careful to use only foliage shorn from the top, but not stolons that are cut by the edger. Stolons (horizontal terrestrial stems) of some of the older types of creeping lawn grass may root and become more invasive than the weeds that the mulch is applied to control.

Flower of the Week: Belladonna lily

The cut-flower industry of the San Mateo County Coast that was portrayed in so many of Diego Rivera's paintings has introduced to the area a few of the currently naturalized species. Heather, lily-of-the-Nile, calla, daffodil, narcissus and crocosmia were some of my favorite flowers that bloomed within walking distance of my father's home in Montara. Belladonna lily, or naked lady, Amaryllis belladonna, had also naturalized and would bloom late every summer, but it was so hideously bright pink that I left it in the fields where I found it. Unfortunately, they are all the same color.

Belladonna lily is quite happy in the decomposed granite hillsides of Montara where it is only irrigated by seasonal rain and fog; so it is even happier in almost any sunny and well-drained garden environment. Clumps of bulbs eventually become crowded and may need to be divided after bloom and prior to emergence of new foliage, but should otherwise not be disturbed. They fortunately do not require division for many years if bulbs were planted individually after previous division. When planted, the tops of the bulbs should protrude slightly above the soil surface.

Less than a dozen of the small and slightly fragrant flowers bloom in clusters on top of bare stems that may be as tall as 3 feet. These stems appear almost mysteriously and grow rapidly from seemingly dead bulbs that lack any foliage. The foliage only appears after bloom and may be delayed for a few weeks. It resembles that of lily-of-the-Nile but is not as full and sprawls on the ground. Also unlike lily-of-the-Nile, belladonna lily may be damaged by snails and is completely dormant and defoliated before summer.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.358.2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.