Napa Master Gardener Column

I grew up on a tree-lined street, with large carob tree canopies arching over to provide shading and cooling during the heat of summer. In the fall they filled the evening air with their pungent, earthy smell, and in spring they dropped their edible pods.

After the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma a few years ago, the problem remained of how to handle the toxic waste left behind.

A Master Gardener recently visited the Oak Knoll District vineyard of a fellow Master Gardener and saw a rose bush at the head of each row of Cabernet Sauvignon. You may have noticed the same practice in other vineyards in the valley.

The wonderful monarch butterfly has suffered a huge decline all over the United States. Here in California the situation is even worse. Although I have a big stand of milkweed, the monarch's favorite plant, I have not even seen a monarch this summer or fall.

One of my daughter's friends from college co-authored a book, Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast, by Noah Siegel and Christian Schwartz (Ten Speed Press).