Under the Solano Sun

Two springs ago while shopping at a big box store in Vallejo in the pre-Covid era, I purchased a Gala apple tree sapling with its roots wrapped up in a bag. In my mind, I was already crunching into a crisp juicy apple. I was eager to take it home and transfer it to a 7-gallon bucket.

Are you a tuber grouper? Or maybe a tuber cougar? Or maybe a tuber goober? Whatever the case. It's fall and it's time to start planting. Tubers and rhizomes both grow from swollen portions of underground plant stems. Tubers can grow in any direction.

While walking and driving around Borrego Springs, I kept noticing these really beautiful flowering shrubs. The bees and hummingbirds were noticing them too. I couldn't stand it and got out my phone and found them pretty quickly online.

Several years ago my friend Bonnie offered me a slip from one of her favorite potted plants, a large leafy begonia. I placed the cutting in a glass of water next to the window by the sink until roots filled the glass. Then I placed it in a clay pot filled with planting mix.

I have viewed posts on Facebook about dandelions and bees which say not to get rid of the dandelion growing in your garden as they are food for the bees.