Late July, while foraging through peach tree branches to pick the ripe fruit, I paused to stretch my back and was inundated with sawdust tumbling off the leaves. The more I looked, the more I realized the woody grains were localized in one area. Figuring the wind carried the debris onto my backyard tree, I hosed it off and went on with the day.  But after several occasions of being greeted with a layer of sawdust on the same leaves, I grew curious. During an inspection of the old tree, I discovered two bore holes that penetrated into the wood over three inches deep with the openings as round as my index finger. 

What on earth is drilling such large holes in this tree? I wondered.

After research revealed the attacker was a peach tree borer, Synanthedon exitiosa, I kept watch for the adult insect and larvae whose photos are displayed online at http://ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r602301211.html (click the first word of the third sentence: Adults.)   Although I never saw the “Adult peach tree borer” featured in one of the photos (which I later learned is the smaller more slender male whose both wings are transparent), I did see the female in my tree.

And let me tell you, this gal was gorgeous. She measured about one and a half inches long and sported a dark almost black steel-blue body with dark black-like forewings and clear hind wings with black margins. A brilliant orange band encircled her abdomen.  (See photo below and visit http://bugguide.net/node/view/216752/bgpage for a great closeup shot).

Needless to say, I stood beside my peach tree transfixed — debating whether to bolt for the kitchen bug killer or race to the far end of the house to get my camera. The spray can won, so I let that flying flirt flitting through the branches have it. Despite searching both tree and ground for her body to preserve for pictures, I never saw the pretty and persistent Synanthedon exitiosa again.

Unfortunately, I learned that I’ll have to wait until next spring to know for sure if she’s really gone and how many borers she left behind. Since females lay an average of 500-600 eggs, who knows how many larvae are tunneling their way deeper through the bark and into the sapwood of my tree?  Next spring I could come face to face with more culprits after pupation takes place and the next generation of moths emerge. To prevent the possibility of another attack, I filled the bore holes with the bug killer and my husband sawed off the large tree limb that was penetrated. In the meantime, I’ll encourage the ants, spiders and lacewings and the birds that prey on the eggs and larvae.

In August we visited  Greater Vallejo Recreation District's (GVRD) Children's Wonderland for their  Annual Summer Concert Series:  Art & Concerts in the Park June - Sept (one each month).  Raymond Victor was a guest artist (he plays around Vallejo in many a charitable event).  We were amazed at how few people attended to hear some FREE blues on a beautiful day in a lovely park.   Usually there's a $2 entry fee per person.  Not everyone can or wants to pay for that privilege, but the grounds are very pleasant.  http://www.gvrd.org 

Just outside the park entrance, the front of the Vallejo Parent Nursery School building has a Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus orientalis).  A small playground with slides and swings is surrounded by a fence covered in Morning Glory (Ipomoea tricolor 'Heavenly Blue').

Enter the park through a castle guarded by crocodiles, with stained glass windows (Jack & the Beanstalk, Alice, Pinocchio, dinosaur) and with small dragon heads on the backside.  Several playground areas, with many slides:   giant teapot house/slide with teacup chairs, sandlot with in-ground dinosaur and stone picnic table/benches, train with station house and hotel, swings (for varied ages), Vallejo fire truck, and a large playground with slides and stationary, bouncing rides.  Picnic areas:   tipi/teepee open area, Humpty Dumpty open area,  large pergola, covered band shell, Alice in Wonderland gazebo (with painted murals inside & out with quotes from Maurice Sendak and other children's books).   A giant, working chessboard where you move the pieces as you walk the board.   The bathroom has giant King and Queen playing cards at the entrance to identify gender.      

Many, many trees (both young and old) provide pleasant surroundings and shaded areas.  Tulip, Yucca, Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis), Fir (Abies spp.), Cedar (Cedrus spp.),  young Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), young Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) , and many large and impressive specimens that I could not identify.   The main ground cover is Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) with Clover (Trifolium repens) mixed in.  Bermuda is strong and sturdy for foot traffic and activities.   Wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca) appear on various ground areas.  A brick flower bed filled with aster (Aster amellus cordifolius) .  Red Geranium in various spaces.  A somewhat narrow, long strip where water could flow, surrounded by various grasses, Mexican sage (Salvia mexicana), flax (Phormium), Lily-of-the-Nile 'Blue Yonder.'   Similar plants are gathered against the fence.  Small shrubs appear in various spots throughout the park.  Near the train station English ivy (Hedera helix) covers the wall, with several Yucca trees on the outside of the fence setting a nice background to the ivy.

I live in an area of Benicia where it is too windy and cool to grow larger tomatoes.  And in the past three years, I haven’t even had much success with smaller, early ripening, tomatoes other than cherry tomatoes.  I’ve tried planting in containers, planting in the ground, planting early, planting late, and planting every time in between, without much luck. The tomatoes would set fruit just fine, but then wouldn’t ripen. 

So this year, I resigned myself to growing cherry tomatoes.  I love ''Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, and they do well in my yard, but I haven’t found a red cherry that I like.  Nonetheless, I made the boring, but practical, decision to plant a red cherry tomato so that at least I would have a variety of tomato colors in my salads. 

But then I wandered by the vegetable vendor at the San Francisco Flower and Garden show and I couldn’t resist trying a few early varieties.  Much to my surprise, one variety really took off – 'Tigerella'.  'Tigerella' is a small (1-2”), bi-colored, early (55 days) tomato.  The fruit is red with orange stripes and has a wonderful sweet flavor.  My new favorite! I heartily recommend it to others with the similar difficult growing conditions.

I also planted my usual Sun Golds and a new variety of red cherry tomato (yawn) and didn’t pay much more attention until I wandered by the red cherry tomato plant one day in mid-July.  Much to my surprise, my “cherry” tomato plant was bearing an enormous beefsteak tomato!  The plant had obviously been mislabeled.  The first tomato I picked weighed in at 1 lb, 6-5/8 oz.  Not bad for a “ cherry tomato!”

Who knows why this summer, which seems like a cool one to me, of all summers, my tomato plants are so happy.  And that’s the fun of gardening – there is always a surprise awaiting!

When gardeners speak of “perennial vegetables,” the edible plants that often come to mind include asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke. The purpose of this article is to introduce you to other rare and/or unusual perennial vegetables which may be worth cultivating in your own backyard garden.

My quest for rare and unusual perennial vegetables led me to a plant sale recently held at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center in Occidental, California (see www.oaec.org for more information). Although I purchased a number of perennial vegetables at the sale, most of which I have no experience growing, this article will feature two of those plants, which seem to be thriving thus far in my Solano County backyard garden. I will report back on other weird and wonderful perennial vegetables in the coming months, depending on how well they fare.

I had been searching for yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia), also known as Bolivian Sunroot, for quite some time, and was thrilled to have found it at the OAEC plant sale. Yacon is considered one of the “Lost Crops of the Incas.” Yacon is a relative of the sunflower and and native to the high Andes. Although my yacon plant is currently 5 inches tall, the literature I have read indicates that my yacon plant should reach 5-feet tall at maturity. To harvest yacon, the tubers are dug up in the autumn (so I have another a year to wait). Yacon is a versatile plant, as it can be eaten raw like fruit, or can be stir-fried, roasted, baked or made into pies and chips. Some cultures use the leaves of the yacon plant with which to wrap their food. Although I have never tasted yacon as it is not readily available in the markets that I shop at, I have read that yacon tastes like jicama, only better. Another description that I found, said that yacon tastes like a cross between celery and a Granny Smith apple. Yacon is best grown in full sun and in well-drained, fertile soil.

In recent years, yacon has grown in popularity, both in gardening literature and in nurseries specializing in rare plants. This may be due to the fact that yacon is an up and coming “super food,” as food companies are developing yacon into various products such as yacon syrup, which is a low-calorie sugar substitute appealing to both diabetics and people on diets.

Although I debated whether to buy malabar spinach (Basella rubra) at the OAEC plant sale, I gave in, as I knew malabar spinach to be a staple for those interested in permaculture/creating an edible food forest in their backyards. It is not actually spinach, but has the flavor of spinach, and can be substituted in recipes which call for spinach (note that malabar spinach is fleshy and mucilaginous, and is best consumed cooked and not raw). Under the right conditions (e.g., full sun, and fertile, well-drained soil), malabar spinach which is a vine requiring trellising, can reach 8-10 feet in length. Because malabar spinach is so prolific, I have read that one vine is sufficient to feed a family of 4. Malabar spinach is frost tender and may need to be dug up and brought indoors during the winter.

I will report on other unusual perennials growing in my backyard in the coming months, so stay tuned for updates.