Under the Solano Sun

17 Weeks of Training 32 New Master Gardeners Smart, Vibrant and Skilled...

Originally I was going to title this little essay The Changing Garden, but decided to switch the title.

I am not a native plant specialist, although when choosing plants for my garden I will lean towards plants listed as natives. In the last couple of years, I have run across the terms endemic and native in the same conversation.

At the Master Gardener Garden Tour last Sunday, several Master Gardeners gathered around a gorgeous mound of magenta flowers, snapping pictures and asking each other what kind of plant it might be. A quick Google search identified it as a Pelargonium, often mistakenly called a Geranium.

It had been a good day in the garden. I had gotten to spend six hours working in the back yard. Digging up some of the garlic chives in the raised bed had allowed me to plant a tomatillo and African blue basil.