- (Focus Area) Yard & Garden
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you venture into your pollinator garden, look for the beauty, color, diversity and the intensity that surrounds you. You will be astounded.
- A honey bee nectaring on lavender in a soft-pastel scenario.
- A katydid nymph crawling (backlit) on a blanketflower, Gaillardia.
- A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, nectaring on Lantana
- A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a Cosmo
- A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, exiting a lavender patch.
You're the gardener, and you'll be using your...
- Author: Jim Farr
(Editor Note: This blog first appeared in August, 2021 - it has been slightly modified for our current heat wave in July 2024)
This current July heat wave may have stressed your irrigation effectiveness and made you question your landscape plant selection. Even in this type of heat, being water-smart is a good strategy and we have tips that you can begin using today.
According to a University of California Report, residential landscape irrigation is estimated to account for about...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
You never know what will pop up in a pollinator garden.
Meet Mr. Potato Capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, often found on nettle, potato, clover and cannabis.
We spotted him (or her) in a Vacaville pollinator garden, where there is no nettle, potato, clover or cannabis. But it also feeds on chrysanthemum, carrots and members of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
It popped up on a chrysanthemum blossom. The insect is green and probably a nymph as the color changes, when it's an adult, to reddish brown.
It belongs to the family Miridae. Entomologists point out that this family is the largest of true bugs belonging...
Gardeners looking for a drought-tolerant and highly disease-resistant native shrub might consider adding the blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulean also known as Sambucus Mexicana) to their landscape. This species of elderberry is native to the West coast of North America at elevations ranging from sea level to 10,000 feet from Baja to British Columbia. Although it is drought tolerant, it can be considered riparian because it prefers moist locations near rivers or springs. It will also show itself to be particularly thankful for fertile, nitrogen-rich soils.
This elderberry's habitat ranges from desert to temperate rainforest, thriving in both full shade and full sun. In good growing conditions in the wild it can...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's the Fourth of July and what better time to post images of the aptly name "soldier beetles" than today.
These insects (family Cantharidae) resemble the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution, which is apparently how their name originated. They're also called "leatherwings" in reference to their soft, leatherylike wing covers.
Like lady beetles, aka ladybugs, these soldier beetles make short work of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. We've seen them devour so many aphids on our plants that they should be awarded the Aphid Belt, similar to Joey Chestnut's famed Mustard Belt.
Indeed, soldier beetles are eating machines, just like...