The Savvy Sage

two purple sage flowers with a green background of foliage

A Master Gardeners blog to: Educate, Inspire, and Ignite Knowledge.

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Foxtail fern is not a fern; note the berries.

Ferns

November 24, 2025
By Deborah Cunningham
 Article and photos by Peg Smith - As a young child, my experiences with ferns included long walks across Derbyshire moorland where the bracken was twice as tall as I was. Other moorland ferns indicated boggy areas to avoid. Then there was the almost compulsory maidenhair fern house plant that…
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Planting Native Annual Flowers for Earliest Spring Blooms

November 15, 2025
By Deborah Cunningham
 Article and photos by Megan Smith -  I have to say, fall could be my very favorite time of year. Not necessarily because the garden is bursting with abundance and color, in fact quite the opposite. Plants are shutting themselves down, ending their life cycle or going dormant. Most everything…
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Ask a Master Gardener

November 12, 2025
By Deborah Cunningham
 “Ask a Master Gardener” fields questions directly from Yolo County gardeners and other garden enthusiasts. Questions for this column can be sent to the authors at jmbaumbach@ucanr.edu, with “Ask MGs” in the subject line. People submitting questions will remain anonymous, if desired. When emailing a…
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Powdery mildew covering leaves and stems on a plant.

Ask a Master Gardener

November 10, 2025
By Deborah Cunningham
 “Ask a Master Gardener” fields questions directly from Yolo County gardeners and other garden enthusiasts. Questions for this column can be sent to the authors at jmbaumbach@ucanr.edu, with “Ask MGs” in the subject line. People submitting questions will remain anonymous, if desired. When emailing a…
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new uc master gardener logo with an orange poppy, green leaf and blue circle background

Check Out Our New Logo!

October 27, 2025
By Deborah Cunningham
 As a member of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) community, the UC Master Gardener Program is excited to share our new logo!Continuing the use of the California poppy as our symbol, it honors our history using a fresh, modern design. Over the last forty-five years…
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