Under the Solano Sun

Petrichor is that Earthly smell released by the first rain after a dry spell, a term coined in 1960s by two Australian scientists, Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas. They coined the term from the ancient Greek words for blood of stones.

In early September 2022 our area was subjected to an extreme heat event. The official readings at Travis AFB were as follows: 9/4 107 degrees, 9/5 116 degrees, 9/6 115 degrees, 9/7 106 degrees, 9/8 113 degrees, and 9/9 109 degrees.

Walking around my neighborhood, I noticed that quite a few of my neighbors have gone all-out decorating for Halloween giant skeletons and spiders, fake cobwebs, plastic pumpkins, witches and ghouls. And as always, I started looking at the plants. One that I am seeing more of is Datura.

No, this blog is not about Scarborough Fair, it is about herbs! Our summer veggies did not do that well this season and it is that time of the year to let them go. However, we still wanted to keep some life and beauty in the garden.

I had moved into a new house in the country and in the early spring a fascinating plant emerged, it was an Arum palaestinum, common name is the Black Calla and is native to Israel, according to the Sunset Western Garden Book.