Keep your soil covered. This is only one of the decrees from a recent presentation by the UC Master Gardeners of Napa County. But what does covering the soil mean? Why do we want to cover it and with what? The answers are pretty simple.
Every year I have a different favorite plant. Last year it was brugmansia, the year before that monarda, but this year--which has already had a couple of scorching days--it is the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia).
When I first moved to Napa Valley many years ago, olive trees were everywhere, both on the hillsides and in the valley. There was a large grove high on a hill on Silverado Trail, but over the years those trees have disappeared.
I love salads. A salad with my dinner is almost as essential as a glass of wine. When most of us think of a green salad we think of lettuce. Lettuce has been cultivated for thousands of years. The word lettuce comes from the Latin for milk, due to the milky liquid it produces when a leaf is broken.
