Several years ago, Karen Metz, brought two Bunny Tails plants (Lagurus ovatus) to the Children’s Garden. She thought they would not only be interesting and fun to have at the garden, but something the children would enjoy touching.  If you are not familiar with these small, compact grasses, just picture white, fluffy rabbit tails on a stem. Adorable!

In researching the information on this plant, it states it’s an excellent border plant and suggests planting it along walkways so it will tickle your legs as you walk pass. It’s drought tolerant once established. You can also grow Bunny Tails in containers as an accent plant. Blooms are 1 to 2 inches wide and the plant grows one to two feet tall. In the fall, the fluffy white tails turn tan and can be cut to add to dry flower arrangements.

Two years ago, it was suspected that a groundsman sprayed one of our Bunny tails with an herbicide. They do look similar to a weed when they are “tail-less”. Our remedy for the next one we planted was to place a small cage around it with a stake that denoted it was a PLANT and not a WEED. Well, the Bunny Tail grasses are not surviving in the little garden, despite our best efforts.  I have decided they are not an easy grass to propagate or grow in an area you cannot keep under constant observation. 

I stroll pretty frequently through our neighborhood with dogs in tow. Many of my neighbors are gifted gardeners and I get a chance to check out and share in their summer bounty.  While some of the "suburban farm plots" are shutting down for the season, others are still pumping out the tomatoes and squash.  'Bearss' Lime and 'Improved Meyer' lemon trees are bearing next to a driveway, volunteer squash are flowering by a hose spigot, baby lettuce is keeping company with Kranz aloe and bags of tasty tomatoes and squash appear at my front door along with peppers.  Even okra grown from seeds brought in from Northern India is growing very well in the August sun. 

Besides all this, one of my neighbors just brought over a dozen fresh eggs naturally colored in shades worthy of an Easter Egg Hunt. This hard working gardener has lots of that great by-product of chicken life she uses throughout her own salad bowl garden and orchard of fruit trees. And she lets a local beekeeper use a back corner for hives which produce lovely honey they both share. 

Lots to see here when I put on my walking shoes and start looking around.  It's a great way to stay in touch with my neighbors and share in their success as gardeners both literally and visually.

Just came back from Raleys, where for the first time, I saw Buddha's Hand, Citron Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis, offered for sale in the produce department. These were huge, lush and fragrant. These beauties are prized in the Far East where they are used in perfumes, as natural air fresheners, and in religious offerings. In the west, they are used more for their zest or in candied peel (think fruitcake).

Anyway, I had never seen them in a mainstream grocery store.  I did a double take when I saw the price though... 12.99...not a pound...each.  I have had a small, container grown Buddha's Hand for several years. I've only had fruit grow to maturity a few times.  This year we fixed some watering difficulties we had with the drip system and all my citrus has done better. In the book Growing Citrus by Martin Page, he says that Buddha's Hand is not very vigorous and takes a long time to become established. He also mentions that it likes heat. 

So after my trip to Raleys I had to come home and take a picture of my Buddha's Hand.  I was thrilled with it before and now I am even more excited.

It’s been just a few days since a grassfire and embers swept over a freeway sound wall and destroyed two homes in Fairfield. In a matter of minutes, a whole neighborhood had to be evacuated, lanes of eastbound Interstate 80 were closed, and firefighters from all over the area put it in high gear and won the upper hand on this fire. A cause may never be known. Amazingly, thankfully, no one was hurt.

But this fire illustrates how quickly things can go wrong. Our very dry winter and spring have left everything super parched — the wild grasses, landscape trees and shrubs, roofs and wood siding on houses. And it’s not even fire season in California yet.

So what are you doing about it? A recent editorial in The Reporter in Vacaville (“Give credit and take measures: Fire danger is high,” Aug. 29) put it well: “The fact that this happened in a residential neighborhood well inside the city limits should be a wake-up call to everyone who lives around here. No one can do anything about the winds that drove the flames — they show up just about every afternoon this time of year — but there are precautions property owners can take to reduce the chance of damage.”

Images of the massive Rim fire in Tuolumne County came to mind. Those firs and redwoods are going up like Roman candles. We in Solano County are justifiably proud of our big, beautiful landscape trees. But when it’s this dry, are they safe to have near your house?

The Reporter editorial goes on: “Start by looking at the trees in the yard. If the foliage is touching the ground, close to a bush or hanging over the house or patio, trim it.

“And consider what is planted in the yard. At different points Tuesday (the day of the fire), the fire got a boost from oily eucalyptus and flammable Italian cypress trees.”

The editorial suggested a visit to Cal Fire’s home-safety website, Readyforwildfire.org. I recommend we all take a look, and then stroll around our homes to see what we can do to reduce our risks of losing some or all of it.