Norwegian government now on board to safeguard friendly ‘spy whale’ known as Hvaldimir

• June 24, 2023

OneWhale, a nonprofit led by two Orange County residents, recently got much needed support from officials in Norway in an effort to save an overly friendly beluga whale by creating a reserve in a Norwegian fjord.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries agreed to officially call the marine mammal a “tame whale.”

The pure white beluga whale has been hanging out along the northern coast of Norway for more than four years. He’s been named Hvaldimir by the residents of Hammerfest, where he first appeared in 2019 wearing a tight-fitting camera harness labeled “Equipment St. Petersburg,” fueling theories he was once used in spycraft. Hval means whale in Norwegian and the rest is a play on the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The description of “tame” is huge, said Rich German, a Laguna Beach environmentalist, who with San Clemente filmmaker Regina Crosby, has been working with Hammerfest city officials to turn a local fjord into a whale sanctuary for Hvaldimir and, ultimately, other whales taken out of captivity. Norway is a whaling nation and, in the past years, some government officials have resisted public calls for the whale to be protected.

German and Crosby began their quest to create a safe haven for Hvaldimir in 2022, but became even more concerned for his safety after a 1,320-pound walrus people had named Freya was euthanized by the Norwegian fisheries department in August out of concern for people’s safety. The government had been warning people stay away and not try to take pictures with the friendly animal, but many were not heeding officials.

Hvaldimir is know to swim up to local boaters, raid fish near salmon farms and even tangle boat propellers with ropes.

In the years since he first appeared in the Hammerfest area, the 14-foot whale has suffered life-threatening injuries. His side was sliced, he’s twice been caught in boat propellers, he had fishing hooks in his tail, and the upper part of his mouth was punctured by people throwing large objects at him to play tug-of-war and fetch.

Recently, after Hvaldimir decided to go on a 900-mile swim south, leaving the area of Hammerfest and heading toward busier waters near Oslo and then into Swedish waters where he swam through tight canals, the Norwegian fisheries department has stepped in, even helping OneWhale’s team look from him after he disappeared for more than a week.

“After four years of not expressing great concern for him, they finally decided he was a tame whale and needs protection,” German said this week after Hvaldimir was located near Oslo. “We’re super happy about that.”

For more than a year, OneWhale had a team in Norway monitoring Hvaldimir’s moves and ensuring his antics and interest in people didn’t get him in trouble. That team is now working with two people from the Norwegian fisheries department who are keeping an eye on him and this week helped steer him out of a busy harbor near Norway’s capital city. The whale’s most significant threats are boat traffic and tourism.

“The goal is to swim him away from the busy area and put together a plan to get him back toward (Hammerfest) in Finnmark,” German said.

The town of 10,000 people is the world’s northernmost town. In March, its 32-member town council voted to move forward and designate a whale fjord nearby as a new whale reserve. Twenty-eight of the council voted in favor, German said.

The plan now is to find a way to transport the whale further north so he can swim in an area that is not so populated and doesn’t have heavy boat traffic. Now that the Norwegian fisheries department is playing a role in protecting him, German and his team are more optimistic.

Related links

Locals seeing progress in effort to save an overly friendly whale in Norway
OC residents unveil plan to save a ‘Russian spy whale’ in Norway
Beluga whale sighted off San Diego even has the U.S. Coast Guard looking for it
Beluga whale, unusual for West Coast, was first spotted in San Diego but now found dead off Baja

While OneWhale’s hope is to establish him in his own fjord, there is also a consideration of moving him toward Swabard, where there is a wild population of belugas.

“It is unknown,” German said, “whether he could assimilate with the wild belugas because of his history of captivity.”

​ Orange County Register 

7 drought-tolerant trees for Southern California gardens and landscaping

• June 24, 2023

John Winkler emailed me in search of seven desert trees.

These trees are suitable for landscaping throughout Southern California and are noteworthy, in addition to their low water requirement, for their small to medium size; they typically reach only 30 feet in height although most are fast growing. Most (2-6 on the list below) are also leguminous, meaning they do not require fertilization since they make their own nitrogenous fertilizer with the assistance of symbiotic bacteria that dwell in nodules on their roots. Another characteristic of leguminous trees is their multi-leaflet leaves, typically small and feathery, as well as seed pods. These pods are sometimes edible, sometimes toxic, and contain hard seeds which, in order to germinate, must be placed in moist peat moss in the refrigerator for eight weeks, or scored with a knife and then given a thirty-minute bath in sulfuric acid.

More: Get more Home & Garden stories

Leguminous trees play a vital role in desert ecology. The soil beneath them is more fertile than surrounding soil due to the nitrogen that is manufactured in their roots and the enrichment provided by decomposing fallen leaves. Such soil is an invitation for seeds of other plants to germinate there. Many leguminous trees are also considered nurse plants since they protect tender young seedlings – of saguaro and organ pipe cactuses for example – from scorching summer sun and winter cold. Such seedlings are also protected from herbivores by the thorns on the low-lying branches of these trees. 

Winkler’s list and the nurseries that grow them follow below:

1. Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis): The deciduous desert willow is so named because of its leaves, which are as slender as those found on true willows (Salix spp.). Like true willows, desert willow – a California native – grows naturally along water courses even if, in its case, they are arroyos that go dry in summer months. Desert willow is extremely drought tolerant and handles blistering direct sun as well as cold down to zero degrees. In its habitat, it grows in proximity to native palo verde (Parkinsonia species) and mesquite species. Desert willow’s trumpet flowers, which are mildly fragrant, attract hummingbirds and the tree serves as a nesting site for a variety of songbirds. Flower color is white, pink, lavender, purple, or burgundy, depending on variety. Desert willow reaches a height of 30 feet with a spread of 25 feet. There is an excellent parkway planting of desert willows on the east side of Hayvenhurst Avenue south of Magnolia Boulevard in Encino. 

2. Chilean mesquite (Prosopis chilensis): This is a glorious tree with attractive black bark as it ages and a weeping demeanor. It grows quickly to 30 feet tall with an equal spread and may live for more than 100 years. Soft, pendulous, ferny foliage belies its durability as a desert tree. Its trunk is famously gnarled and can grow to a diameter of three feet. Chilean mesquite is variably thornless so if its two-inch thorns are a concern, you will want to ascertain that you are acquiring a thornless specimen. There is a four-month winter dormancy period when branches will lose their leaves and, in the manner of many desert plants, foliage may drop off in periods of prolonged heat or drought as a water-conserving measure. Chilean mesquite produces suckers that should be removed unless a multi-trunk tree is desired. Pollen from its yellow catkins is allergenic, so if you are sensitive to pollen that wafts through the air, you will need to carefully consider whether you want it nearby. Its curvaceous yellow pods indicate that it’s a legume affiliation. After its first year in the ground, it should never be watered since water will encourage its shallow roots to be more aggressive than usual. In any case, it should not be planted closer than 20 feet to any structure. Still, it is a widely recommended selection due to its fast growth into a manageable, medium-sized tree that provides shade, in addition to its ornamental virtues and unmatched drought tolerance. 

3. Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secudiflora). It is noteworthy for fragrant flowers, mauve in color, that smell like grape juice. Foliage on some varieties is silver, adding to its decorative appeal. It grows naturally into a large shrub and may be used as an informal hedge. However, it is commonly trained into a small tree that reaches 20 feet in height. Be aware that all parts of this species are toxic. Texas mountain laurel is sometimes referred to as mescal bean. However, although mescal, a drink derived from around 30 agave species (tequila comes from only one species, the blue agave) has the customary intoxicating effect associated with imbibing alcohol, consumption of mescal beans will lead to hallucinations. 

4. Palo Brea or Sonoran Palo Verde (Parkinsonia praecox). This species is scarce in the nursery trade and grows larger than more common palo verde species, but otherwise shares its features of a golden yellow cloud of blooms along with sculptural trunks covered with lime green bark. These days, Parkinsonia x Desert Museum is the most widely planted palo verde due to its long bloom period, extending on and off from spring to fall, and its thornlessness. It grows to a height of 25 feet. Palo verde means “green stick” in Spanish and references its green bark. Most plants perform photosynthesis – by which they make their sustaining carbohydrate – with the assistance of the green chlorophyll pigment in their leaves. The palo verde has chlorophyll in its bark as well and most of its photosynthesis happens there. The palo verde is not only deciduous in the winter but may lose its leaves in the summer as a way to minimize water loss. The same leaf pores that open to admit carbon dioxide – an essential ingredient of the photosynthesized carbohydrate – are a liability during hot weather since, while open, water escapes through them. Thus, a desert plant that can photosynthesize through its bark is at an advantage when its leaves disappear. Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) has this capability as well. 

5. Texas Ebony (Ebenopsis ebano): Another drought-tolerant arboreal legume, Texas ebony produces clusters of fragrant and fuzzy cream-colored flowers from May to October. In addition to its legendary drought tolerance, Texas ebony withstands windy conditions and can also grow in compacted soil. It grows to 30 feet with an equal spread. 

6. Desert ironwood (Olneya tesota): The Sonoran Desert’s most senior of citizens, desert ironwood specimens have been found that are 800 years old. This tree is especially famous as a nurse plant with more than 200 species discovered growing in its shade. In addition, dozens of reptile and mammal species consume its seeds or leaves and lay their young under its sheltering branches. Although its striking blue-green leaves do not remain on the tree for more than a year, it is still considered evergreen since new leaves immediately grow where old ones have fallen. Its twisting branches make it a memorable accent in any garden setting, with a mature height and spread of 30 feet.

7. Thevetia thevetiana (Giant Thevetia): An oleander relative and equally poisonous, this is a small tree that grows to around 15 feet. Silky yellow blooms proliferate from summer to fall among shiny, narrow, emerald-green leaves.   

Plants 1-4 (including Desert Museum palo verde, but not palo brea) are grown at Monrovia Nursery (monrovia.com), 5 & 6 at Mountain States Wholesale Nursery (mswn.com), and 7 at San Marcos Growers (smgrowers.com). These are production nurseries that supply retail outlets throughout Southern California. When you reach their websites, click around until you find a list of retail nurseries that carry their plants; you can then special order the trees that you desire from these nurseries.

California native of the week: Vine maple (Acer circinatum) is a stunning deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to 20 feet that “rivals Japanese maple in beauty” according to Carol Bornstein in “California Native Plants for the Garden.” It is eminently suitable for container growing or shady exposures. Leaves emerge tinted red and then turn a pale green. In fall, foliage will turn yellow, orange, and scarlet before dropping off. It has a tendency to sprawl in the shade so may have to be staked to grow upright. When planted in the open along the Northern California coast, it will grow into a symmetrical shrub, although in Southern California full sun may scorch it. It is widely available in Northern California nurseries but I have not found it locally. If anyone knows of a local source for this plant, please advise.  

If you have experience with any desert tree that you wish to pass along, please email me at [email protected]. Questions, comments, or photos regarding any plant species or gardening subject are always welcome.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Globalism goes south, with a vengeance

• June 24, 2023

The business school where I went for my master’s in the early 1980s practically invented the concept of globalism in our commerce with other nations.

When Lt. Gen. Barton Kyle Yount came home from World War II, he was fixated on the fact that his countrymen, isolated here in our big country on a big continent, were more or less yahoos when it came to understanding the rest of the world. We were monolingual; didn’t know much of the histories or cultures of other places; didn’t know how to do business with anyone else.

So he bought the old Thunderbird Field air base in Glendale, Ariz., outside of Phoenix, and founded the American Institute for Foreign Trade, offering degrees in the field.

Along with learning how money flowed internationally, he insisted that every student take a foreign language in order to receive a degree, and linguists there created a simple new way of studying — tiny classes every single weekday morning, eight students and a professor, all conversational. We had to memorize a taped dialogue every night, and then play either Person A or Person B in class.

In my day, the name had changed to the American Graduate School of International Management — but everyone just called it Thunderbird. Now, swallowed up by Arizona State University, it’s the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a division of ASU, with a separate downtown Phoenix campus.

We were present at the creation of the idea that countries ought to do what countries do best, business-wise. Raw materials? Mine them and sell them to everyone else. A huge labor pool eager for work? Build stuff, more cheaply than anyone else can. Good at logistics? Create massive new shipping lanes and move the stuff around. If the United States, for instance, would stand to lose a lot of manufacturing jobs, other kinds of jobs would be created; we would invent stuff, and have it built elsewhere, and that stuff consumers were clamoring for would be cheap, and even increasingly well-made. All boats would be lifted.

So it worked, right? Until it didn’t.

Globalism, it turned out, didn’t account for the havoc that could be wrought by a worldwide pandemic during which factories closed down for fear of mass infections of a deadly disease. It didn’t account for the supply chains that would be so deeply affected. The hopes — the seeming sureness — that the huge economic boom the West essentially created in our leading trading partner, China, would also create democracy and a shared commitment to intellectual freedoms and human rights went south. It didn’t account for the climate emergency which, while already gaining steam, would be greatly stoked by all the fossil fuels burned up in moving the stuff and the people around the globe. Nor that former superpowers like Russia, left behind by all the new freedom, would lash out in fury at its loss of empire.

“Failures of Globalization Shatter Long-Held Beliefs” was the headline above Patricia Cohen’s lead story in last Sunday’s New York Times. “War and Pandemic Highlight Shortcomings of the Free-Market.”

Five years ago at Davos, Christine Lagarde, then managing director of the International Monetary Fund, could smile as she said the global economy “is in a very sweet spot.”

In 2023, Cohen writes, “it has suddenly seemed as if almost everything we thought we knew about the world economy was wrong.”

Next week I’ll interview Sanjeev Khagram, Thunderbird’s director general, about globalism 2.0. He’s an optimistic guy. Maybe he can point to a good way forward from this mess.

Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. [email protected] 

​ Orange County Register 

Should laptops expire? Campaign aims to make electronics last longer to save money and the planet

• June 24, 2023

With summer vacation in full swing, many Southern California school districts are already sprucing up campuses in preparation for the next school year.

For some districts, that revamp includes tossing piles of Chromebooks with fully functioning hardware into the trash or recycling bin.

The Google laptops are popular with schools and families due their simplicity and low price. But Chromebooks also come with a built-in “death date,” when software support ends. And once that date hits, the devices no longer receive updates needed to, say, run security programs or access state testing websites, which essentially renders them useless for students and teachers.

More than a dozen Chromebook models will hit their death dates in three months unless Google voluntarily steps in to extend them. The end also is nigh for tons of Chromebooks that school districts shelled out millions for in 2020, when they were scrambling to help students go fully remote during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It creates an incredible amount of electronic waste, which is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the entire world. And it’s incredibly costly to schools,” said Sander Kushen of Laguna Beach, who’s working with the California chapter of the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG, on a campaign to extend the life of all Chromebooks.

The campaign is part of a much larger, multipronged effort by PIRG and other environmental groups that hope to reduce electronic waste.

Humans generate more than 50 million tons of e-waste each year, according to the latest report on the topic from the United Nations, and just 17% of it gets recycled. The report notes that in recent years the volume of e-waste has been skyrocketing while the percentage that gets recycled has actually dropped.

We’re not great at recycling even when it involves materials our local trash collector will pick up curbside each week. But recycling e-waste is more complicated, since cell phones and microwaves and TVs often contain hazardous materials, such as mercury and lead, that require special disposal.

The most significant electronics-related climate harm happens long before products end up in landfills or incinerators anyway, Kushen noted. Many contain precious metals that come from environmentally damaging mining efforts. And they often are assembled and shipped around the world before ending up in, say, a classroom in Riverside.

That’s why, even though a Google spokesperson noted via email that the company is working to use more recycled materials and reduce emissions in manufacturing over time, environmental advocates insist the focus has to be on extending the life of existing electronics, and on getting consumers to stop treating those products as disposable.

“Keeping our stuff around for longer is the most sustainable electronics choice we can make,” said Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of sustainability for iFixit, which offers free guides and forums to help people repair devices.

And Chromebooks, in many ways, have become the poster child for this effort.

Extending the death date

To keep Google’s proprietary operating system running smoothly, the company automatically sends out software updates for Chromebooks every four to six weeks to add new features and improve device security.

When Google first introduced the affordable devices, in 2011, those updates would stop after just three years. The company has “worked diligently” to extend the window for that Automatic Update Expiration several times as newer models hit the market, a spokesperson pointed out in an emailed statement, with the latest Chromebooks now guaranteed support for eight years.

However, the clock for Chromebook’s death date starts when the laptops are made rather than when they’re purchased. That means customers might unwittingly buy devices that have been sitting on virtual shelves for some time and are set to “expire” much sooner — particularly if they’re buying used or refurbished laptops. Some Chromebooks now listed for sale are set to expire in just a few months, Kushen pointed out. And among the models in use, he noted, “the average (death) date is only four years away according to Google’s own website.”

That’s in line with data from San Bernardino City Unified School District, which has distributed more than 40,000 Chromebooks to students. A batch of those devices will no longer receive updates in June 2024, according to district spokesperson Maria Garcia.

“We are indeed concerned about the expiration date of these devices,” Garcia said, with a significant financial impact expected as the district rolls out a plan to replace those devices over the coming school year.

A number of Chromebooks also are reaching the end of their life in Capistrano Unified School District, according to spokesperson Ryan Burris. He said the district, the largest in Orange County, is careful to never buy devices that are close to their death dates. Still, he said the district has budgeted $4.2 million in the next school year to buy new Chromebooks, pay employees to repair them and otherwise support that program.

By 2030, Torrance Unified School District will see more than 20,000 Chromebooks expire, according to district spokesperson Sara Myers. They’re replacing those devices in a rolling pattern over time, so the district won’t feel the financial hit all at once.

With such a big wave of expiring Chromebooks looming, at a time when schools are struggling with issues such as teacher shortages and declining enrollment, Kushen said PIRG wants to see Google step up and voluntarily extend the death date window on existing models for several more years.

It’s been done before. In fall 2019, for example, the company added a year or more to device expiration dates for many models already on the market.

Google said in its emailed statement that they send updates for older devices to “continue to function in a secure and reliable manner until their hardware limitations make it extremely difficult to provide updates.”

But Kushen said his team has talked with technicians who are skeptical about fixed expiration dates for all Chromebook models. He cited an interview with Justin Millman, a repair technician who estimates he services 5,000 devices for schools a month. Millman told them “the hardware hasn’t changed all that much in seven years” and called the fixed death dates “arbitrary.”

If Google doubled the software support window for its laptops sold in California in 2020, ensuring they’d receive updates through 2030, the PIRG report estimates the reduction in e-waste would be equivalent to taking 113,000 gas-powered cars off the road for a year and could save districts $225 million.

It also would be a significant hit to Google’s bottom line. Advocates still are hoping to use public pressure to convince Google to extend the dates voluntarily, noting the company’s environmental pledges and that Chromebook sales shot up 287% in the fourth quarter of 2020 vs. the same time the year before. Kushen said they also are discussing legislation that would require manufacturers of all sorts of electronic devices to stop rendering their products useless from a software standpoint while their hardware is still viable.

But some local school districts are skeptical about the idea that Google doubling the support window for Chromebooks would be as dramatic as PIRG’s report says. A reason for that, they say, is that it’s not practical to expect student computers to last that long.

In San Bernardino, for example, Garcia said that while the district plans for their Chromebooks to receive software updates for six years, they already replace the devices about every five years to make sure students have access to up-to-date technology.

Other districts operate under similar plans.

“While the concept of potentially saving money and the environment could be a nice idea, as a district we find that after heavy use by students, a Chromebook that is four to five years of age has already seen a lot of wear and tear by the time they reach their Auto Update Expiration date, and we end up needing to replace them anyway,” said Myers with Torrance Unified.

“It is often more economical to upgrade them than try to repair them,” she said.

That’s true, Kushen said. And that fact illustrates another problem his group is working to address to save consumers money and help save the planet along the way.

Right to repair

Along with pushing Google and other manufacturers to extend software support for their products, PIRG also is backing Senate Bill 244, known as the Right to Repair Act. The law would make it easier and more affordable for consumers to repair hardware on electronic devices and appliances by giving consumers and repair shops access to the tools, parts and manuals needed to fix broken tech products.

“We shouldn’t have laptops that are cheaper to replace than repair, especially when the environmental costs are so high,” Kushen said.

Earlier this year, PIRG put out a report card grading cell phones and laptops on how “fixable” they were on a scale of one to 20. Chromebook models had an average parts availability rating of 3.3 out of 20, the report states, while non-Chromebook laptops averaged nine out of 20.

Their study found manufacturers sometimes make non-functional changes to Chromebook parts that make it impossible to swap them between models. All six manufacturers on the popular parts reseller edu-parts.com, for example, simultaneously made minor design tweaks to available options for the plastic edging that goes around the laptop screen.

Not every district reports issues with repairing Chromebooks. Capistrano Unified find its easier to repair the devices than traditional laptops and doesn’t have trouble finding parts at decent prices, Burris said.

But the Right to Repair Act drew support from Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the largest consumer of electronic devices for education in the state.

“When these devices break, it can be challenging to get the parts or information needed to fix them,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wrote in a May letter backing the bill. “Limited repair options often mean that districts must choose between shipping devices to a manufacturer for repair or committing public resources for expensive and unnecessary device replacements.”

While Chromebooks take a lot of the heat, this legislation would open the door for repairs on all sorts of devices. Kushen’s group estimates that the average family could save $400 a year if they could repair rather than replace common electronics and appliances.

Of course, that’s only true if residents also do their part by committing to stop treating electronics as disposable products.

From a financial and environmental standpoint, Lucas Gutterman with PIRG said, “None of us can afford to stay on the disposability treadmill.”

​ Orange County Register 

GOP claims of ‘election fraud’ hurt the party

• June 24, 2023

How does Donald Trump plan to win over female, independent suburban voters?

“First of all, I won in 2020 by a lot,” the former president told Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this week when asked that exact question. “Ok? Let’s get that straight. I won in 2020.”

Trump never got around to answering Baier’s question. Instead, what happened next should be familiar to anyone who’s ever talked politics with a diehard Trump supporter: A barrage of nonsense.

While Baier did his best to point out that Trump did not in fact win – noting recounts in swing states and more than 50 lawsuits all confirming that Trump did not in fact win in 2020 – Trump badgered him with red herrings and non sequiturs about stuffed ballot boxes, “FBI Twitter” and “the 51 agents.”

“Wisconsin has practically admitted it was rigged,” Trump added.

I don’t know what that last comment is referring to, but a top Google result returned the Associated Press headline: “Judge: Wisconsin probe found ‘absolutely no’ election fraud.”

And so it goes.

“Election fraud” is the forever-Trumper scapegoat that explains all losses, though the intensity they cling to is matched only by their inability to prove it.

You don’t need to be an expert in election fraud to believe that Trump lost, just look at what Baier pointed out. There were more than 50 lawsuits from Trump’s team and his supporters, as well as recounts in counties in Texas, Wisconsin and Arizona and the entire state of Georgia, and none of them produced evidence of outcome-altering fraud or a basis for overturning the results. And just this week two Georgia election workers who had been widely accused by forever-Trumpers of committing election fraud were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Now, some will tell you it’s a conspiracy, but let’s briefly consider that.

In order for there to be a conspiracy of the magnitude alleged, countless people would have to be in on it. You would need some county election officials, secretaries of state, judges, at least some staffers and lots of law enforcement.

Or you would need to hack voting machines, but that conspiracy theory cost Fox News nearly $800 million for defamation.

The fraud conspiracies are both unproven and illogical. Trump doubling and tripling down on them at the expense of crafting a persuasive message to key demographics is a terrible campaign strategy. But since he should never be president again, his ineptitude pleases me.

But it does have a trickle down effect that is disappointing to me as a Republican. Many Republican voters have bought into Trump’s narrative, which is disastrous in California in particular.

California needs the political competition, but as long as the GOP remains linked to Trump’s narrative, it’s hard to persuade otherwise persuadable Californians to break the supermajority.

Not only is it a losing message, but it distracts voters from the issues that matter and GOP activists from the hard work of winning.

Until Republican voters and activists accept that Republican candidates are losing not because Democrats are rigging elections but because Californians aren’t buying what they are selling, nothing will change.

In other words, walk off a cliff with Trump at your own peril.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register 

Something’s eating your garden seedlings? Here are the usual suspects

• June 24, 2023

Q. Something has been eating my seedlings out of my vegetable garden. Most of them have just disappeared overnight. How can I figure out which creatures are responsible and how to stop them?

Seedlings are attractive to more than a few critters. During the day, birds will pull out tender young plants. They can be easily be deterred by row covers or bird netting. Nighttime thieves are a little trickier to figure out.

Rabbits are very destructive to vegetable gardens. (I am sympathetic to Mr. MacGregor, Peter Rabbit’s nemesis.) Once the sun goes down, the cotton-tailed marauders emerge in surprisingly large numbers to devour everything within reach. I once foolishly planted over 100 pansy plants in my yard, only to lose all of them to bunnies in one night. 

If rabbits are the problem, fencing can help. Motion-activated sprinklers and rabbit repellents may work as well. Trapping and/or poisoning may be tempting, but barriers and repellents are more effective. 

Snails and slugs, also nocturnal, are notorious seedling eaters. Look for their telltale silvery slime trails. They like to hide during the day, usually under pots, debris, and other dark moist spaces. If you can figure out their hiding spots, you can readily exterminate them. We found hundreds of slugs on the underside of a terracotta planting bowl. After a couple of rounds of scraping, we took care of our slug problem. Bait is also effective, but I recommend using iron phosphate (Sluggo) rather than metaldehyde. Iron phosphate is more expensive but is environmentally friendly and not poisonous to pets. If you’ve purchased decollate snails (small, pointy-shelled predatory snails used to control brown snails), you’ll want to skip the bait since it will kill both kinds of snail. Hand-picking and dropping into soapy water is the safest way to dispose of snails and slugs.

Pill bugs and earwigs will also eat seedlings but are usually only active at night. Wait until shortly after sunset and look for them lurking under mulch, fallen leaves, or other moist hiding spaces. If they’re scurrying around the scene of the crime, they could be your culprits. Trapping is the most effective way to deal with them. Bury a straight-sided flat can (such as a tuna or cat food can) so the top edge is at ground level. Bait the trap with beer or a sugar water/yeast mixture (the smell of fermentation attracts both earwigs and pillbugs). Check the traps every morning and replace the bait in the evening. Another alternative is to use vegetable oil with a few drops of bacon grease as bait. If using the oil/bacon grease bait, I recommend using a covered container that is not accessible to cats or other animals. Just punch a few holes in the top of the container to allow only the earwigs and pill bugs through. Believe me, you do not want your cat or dog to get into the oil/bacon grease bait!

Los Angeles County

[email protected]; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/

Orange County

[email protected]; 949-809-9760; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/

Riverside County

[email protected]; 951-683-6491 ext. 231; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/

San Bernardino County

[email protected]; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu

​ Orange County Register 

Watering your container gardens and more to do this week

• June 24, 2023

5 things to do in the garden this week:

1. When cymbidium orchid pseudobulbs, growing on the soil surface, fill a flower pot, they can be divided, although it is best to do this after the flowers have faded. You will probably have a mixture of leafless and leafy pseudobulbs. Separate them, dusting all cut surfaces with sulfur to prevent rot. Take clumps of the leafy pseudobulbs and plant them together in fresh orchid mix. After allowing the leafless, dormant pseudobulbs to rest for two weeks, plant them together in their own pots. Keep the orchid mix in new containers moist.  Fertilize now and every two weeks with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as 30-10-10 followed by a high phosphorus fertilizer such as 10-30-20 at summer’s end to encourage flower formation at that time.

2. The soil in containers may shrink from time to time. When this happens, water runs over the sides of the soil ball and out through the drainage holes below. To resolve this problem, fill the gap between soil ball and container with fresh potting mix. Watering with ice cubes left on the soil surface to melt is another strategy for soaking the soil when it shrinks away from the sides of the container, although this is not recommended when it comes to indoor plants.

3. Herbs such as basil, cilantro, parsley and others tend to bolt or flower when temperatures warm. To keep leaves coming, remove the flower buds before they open. This will keep new leaves coming along for continual harvest.

4. Remove suckers that grow from the base of fruit trees and rose bushes, and cut off water sprouts or vertical shoots that grow up from fruit tree branches. Suckers and water sprouts rob resources needed for flower and fruit development. Suckers and water sprouts are a response to stress since they provide an insurance policy against improper growing conditions or environmental calamities that threaten plant health. For example, roses and fruit trees deprived of adequate light or subjected to disease or insect pest infestation are more likely to sucker and grow water sprouts.

5. Fertilize daylilies now to keep them blooming. As the flowers wilt, you may see miniature plants developing on the flower stalks. These can be detached when fall arrives and planted. In this way, you can expand your collection of daylilies. If you have seen a decline in the number of flowers in a patch of daylilies, you will want to divide them by slicing through their fleshy roots; once again, you will want to wait until fall to do this.

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​ Orange County Register 

Mailbag: Safest state rankings are ‘puzzling’ and ‘propaganda’

• June 24, 2023

“Mailbag” gives insight into the comments I get from my readers — good, bad, or in-between — and my thoughts about their feedback.

Trying to rank the U.S. states based on any criteria is loaded with risks.

Somebody’s state ends up on the bottom and they’re usually not happy about it. And lofty grades draw critics, too, with objections about ill-informed platitudes. So I knew my “safest states” column for Californians thinking about departing the state would draw spirited feedback.

For those who missed the rankings, my trusty spreadsheet found Massachusetts was the safest state and Louisiana the most dangerous one. And California, if it had been ranked, would have been 32nd. (To see the full rankings online, go to bit.ly/safeststates.)

After publication, my rankings were called everything from “propaganda” to “puzzling” to “illuminating” to “you of all people should know how statistics can lie.”

To be honest, my “Leaving California” series explored the wonders and warts of other states and reminded me that ranking state qualities is as much art as science. Not only are the stats behind the grades imperfect, but the math that meshes the data is also highly subjective. And remember that any statewide score ignores vast variances inside those borders.

To me, the biggest value of these scorecards is as a discussion starter. And what’s “safe” is an important chat for society.

Just defining “safety” is hard. Readers second-guessed my trusty spreadsheet math. Why was only half the grade crime-related? Why was the rest tied to risks of climate, driving, work and finances – plus the cost of insurance?

Reader: “No need for word pudding. Crimes related to the security of persons, personal property and real property seem to top the list. Gang violence, robbery, grand theft. Can I take a walk at night without being assaulted, robbed, etc? Your article was poorly written. Try again the next time.”

Me: As I wrote, “Feeling safe is somewhat vague but also very personal.”

Thanks to the broad reach of online news, readers from outside of California weighed in, too. Ponder this note from a South Carolina reader whose state ranked 47th safest …

Reader: “Pure propaganda coming from California. Who contracted you to write it, Gavin Newsom? I assume you still live in Orange County? My wife and I and family, and four other families we have (met) in the last two years, moved from O.C. to South Carolina. We did real research, and it proved to be fruitful. Pretty shameful to write an article like this with absolutely no knowledge of what you are actually talking about.”

Me: Here are three other “safest state” rankings: US News had South Carolina at a lowly 46th safest vs. No. 23 for California. Consumer Affairs placed South Carolina at No. 43 vs. No. 34 California. And WalletHub scored South Carolina 42nd vs. 27th for California.

There were out-of-town comment agreeing with high rankings from Utah (15th safest) and New Hampshire (third-safest).

Utah reader: “I’m a native Californian and I left. It’s not just crime. There’s more. In Southern Utah, there’s no traffic, trash, graffiti, gangbangers or homeless tent cities. Oh, and the roads are nicer, too. I never realized how much stress all these things caused until I left. Plus my house is twice the size of my ‘shack’ in SoCal and it was about the same price. So add it all up and it’s simple: Quality of life.”

New Hampshire reader: “There’s considerable peace of mind living here given the crime statistics, but it’s quite a peaceful place to live overall. Part of that is due to the very low population density. Some is due to the bitter cold. People don’t like to commit crimes when it is 5 degrees outside.”

Some folks in my audience questioned the wisdom of the math that help build the overall rankings.

Reader from New England: “Your statement, ‘climate risks are smallest in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine.’ Have you ever even visited these states? Nor’easters, blizzards, hurricanes and lots of flooding are not to be taken lightly. New England winters can be long and brutal. I’ve lived through all of these more than once.”

Me: I’ve visited New England and lived in New York and Pennsylvania. So I’m aware of winter weather’s dangers. Yet it’s scored as manageable by many climate-risk measures.

Reader from Massachusetts: “This tally says the best drivers are in Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York. Massachusetts – and, I suspect New York – have low fatality rates but not because people don’t try. A higher percentage of Massachusetts accidents don’t kill people because there is so much traffic that you can’t get to lethal speeds.”

Me: Congestion does save lives. Auto fatalities jumped during pandemic lockdowns because the lack of traffic encouraged reckless driving.

Other folks saw geographic bias …

Reader: “To place many Southern states as more ‘unsafe’ than California is pure folly. They can still park their car at the airport, they can still leave their doors unlocked and not find a squatter inside when they return, they don’t have homeless addicts overrunning their public spaces, and they can walk safely through their neighborhoods at night. We can’t.”

Me: Southern states even scored poorly on the non-crime half of my gradings. The bottom three were Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

And folks noted I skipped the risks of racism in my safety math …

Reader: “Much of one’s feeling of security is the ability to walk around without fear of perceived danger, harassment, discrimination or disrespect based upon race or sexual preference – much more subtle than overt criminal acts. Unless you were writing for an exclusively white audience, you might not realize that one of the first factors minorities check when considering a new city are racial conditions.”

Reader: “One aspect of safety not mentioned but weighs heavily on my mind after reading your article is racism. Chronic exposure to racism adds to significant stress and results in significantly decreased longevity and decreased quality of life.”

Me: Including some measure of cultural acceptance is an idea worth considering in any future safety rankings.

And, finally, a note from someone who twice left California – then came back …

Reader: “No one seems to explore how many return.  I was born in Ohio and moved to California in 1972. Moved to Las Vegas for a few years, then returned. Moved to Nashville, stayed two years, before returning. Our state is far from perfect, but overall, this is the best weather. There are a lot of places to go, and things to do at little or no cost. Yes, the road goes both ways.”

49 STATES: See the full rankings BY CLICKING HERE!

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

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A 2021 guide to what state is best to move to

​ Orange County Register