Napa Master Gardener Column

By Gail Pavlosky, UC Master Gardener of Napa County. I didn't dream of becoming an expert gardener. I simply wanted to grow fresh food for my family and know what to do when something in my garden wasn't thriving.My vision wasn't hundreds of acres or living completely off the grid. It was much simpler:…

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  Every morning when I venture into my garden for my daily walk-through, I hope I will see the golden wings of a monarch butterfly. Occasionally I am lucky, but at this time of year, they are not laying eggs on my milkweed. They are just passing…

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County.  May and June are wonderful months for Napa Valley gardens. The flowers haven’t gone to seed; the weeds haven’t emerged; the tomato plants look promising.  I had an unusually full social calendar in June, so I decided I would be the…

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa CountyAll the signs were there for some time, but I was too distracted to pay attention. First, the cherry tree (never a robust bearer) began to put forth two cherries per season. Next, I started to notice a healthy crop of mushrooms after every rain at the base of…

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…