Napa Master Gardener Column

Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants was first published in 2007 and set off an enthusiasm for native plant gardening. This practice is now known as rewilding in horticulture circles. Author Doug Tallamy is an entomology professor at the University of Delaware.

Hey, everybody, it is deadhead time at the Rose Corral. No, I am not talking about a gathering of slow-thinking people. Nor am I talking about followers of a famous rock group, or about delivery trucks that travel without any cargo.

by Tom Hixson, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Most Napa Valley residents recognize the plant known as tree of heaven when they see it sprouting wild in fields, taking over their gardens or defiantly establishing itself in sidewalk cracks.

Did you know that 17 different types of bats live in Northern California? Some are pollinators; others are insect eaters. Both are important to our environment. Much has been written over the last few years about the loss of pollinators. Bats are an important pollinator.

Okay, maybe I am cheap, but I hate to waste stuff. Even when I can buy something for a specific purpose, I try to make it first, just to see if it works--sort of like a Rube Goldberg machine. I come from a family of immigrants, which is true of almost everyone in the U.S.