As the sun begins to get lower and our shadows become longer, it's a reminder that even in the midst of summer, fall is not far behind. With that in mind, our August gardening takes a turn toward care-taking and preparation for the seasons to come.
Warning: You may not want to read this while you are trying to enjoy your cuppa and a meal. Stinky plants. What comes to mind? For many, maybe the Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium) the plant that produces a giant bloom every 20-40 years.
My family and I recently went for a walk through the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. There are beautiful gardens and tree groves where you can reconnect with nature and see others also enjoying the space.
This year our Road trip took us north. We decided to see the national parks in Washington state, so here we are. 1st stop was Mt. St.Helens. I remember watching the 1980 eruption on TV and then again in 2004. The lava/magma flow continued until 2008.
When you mention sugar plums, the first thing that pops into most people's minds is Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, or the poem Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore and the line While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.
