Napa Master Gardener Column

Welcome to the Napa County UC Master Gardeners Column.  Each week a Master Gardener post an article about a current topic in home gardening.  We hope you enjoy these articles and tell your friends about them.

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Photo of red and yellow monkeyflower with green foliage

The Resilient Monkeyflower

July 10, 2026
By Corinne Yoshihara, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  Monkeyflowers are one of my favorite native plants. They have cheerful colors, are very resilient and have great ecological value. In my garden, they thrive mostly on their own. Their seeds scatter serendipitously, and their flowers add lovely…
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Closeup photo of three bees foraging among purple salvia blossoms

Growing Salvias

July 3, 2026
By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  I was recently in my garden looking at my milkweed (Asclepias) and Jupiter’s beard (Centranthus ruber) when I noticed another flower with long spikes and different foliage peeking through the dense forest of stems.  What was it?  …
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Mycorrhizae fungi, Photo of fine plant roots tangled. together indicating interconnections

The Fungus Among Us is a Friend

June 27, 2026
By Lloyd Christopher Jones, Jr., UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  As a graduate of Cornell University’s Master of Professional Studies program, I did my capstone project on the symbiotic relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) and Vitis vinifera ‘Pinot Noir’.apes.   I now believe…
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Photo of skirret blossoms, small white blooms similar to carrot or celery inflorescence

Heirloom Perennial Vegetables

June 20, 2026
By Abbi Marrs
By Rainer Hoenicke, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  By now, most Americans are aware that international events are disrupting supply chains and affecting our wallets. Many growers have had to find alternatives to traditional chemical fertilizers because thousands of pounds of potassium and nitrate…
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Garden with squirrel figurine

Garden Song

June 14, 2026
By Gail Pavlosky, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  Sometimes, while I am in the garden — my hands in the soil and the scent of hummingbird sage rising in the Napa sun — a song comes to mind that shifts my attention. My hands may still be working, but something deeper happens: an awareness of the…
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