Under the Solano Sun

I've never used a cloche, so I thought it was time to experiment with a modern cloche. If you're unfamiliar with a cloche (in French cloche means bell), it's a bell-shaped plant cover. Invented in 1623 in France,* cloches were initially made from glass.

I would love to have some of that beautiful chard a small voice called out as I was locking the shed at Avant Garden, where I volunteer as the garden coordinator. The sun was setting over the Carquinez Strait, the infamous Benicia wind was picking up as the temperature was quickly dropping.

One of the first flower I could recognize was the California golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica). On family trips to the Russian River in the spring I spied many a poppy bloom alongside of the roads. I found out they were the State Flower and it was illegal to cut them.

Trailing African violets are some of the most interesting violets in my collection. A trailing African violet is one that has more than one crown. Most violets are symmetrical as they grown from one center crown, whereas the trailing varieties have several crowns.

Everyone says you can't plant seeds from hybrid tomatoes, squash or any of the other tasty foods we grow at home. It's also well-known that no one is the boss of us in our own gardens. Actually, planting the seeds of hybrids is one of the easiest ways to start plant breeding at home.