- (Focus Area) Yard & Garden
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Are you noticing an abundance of cobwebs outside, on plants, fences, homes, or outdoor furniture?
While many people fear spiders or dislike their cobwebs, most spiders are beneficial to have around– even in the home! Spiders are predators of many insect pests and rarely cause harm to people. The only medically significant spiders in California are brown and black widows. While these spiders have the potential to cause harm, it is rare that they will bite, even in areas where they are very common. Like most spiders, they prefer to stay hidden and avoid people.
Some common web-spinning spiders you might encounter outdoors...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So here's this female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, camouflaged on a narrow-leaf milkweed, Asclepias fasciculari, in a Vacaville garden.
If she thinks she's going to ambush a monarch, she has another think coming. No monarchs in the garden.
If she thinks she's going to ambush a bee, no way. No bees in the garden early this morning.
If she thinks she's going to munch on oleander aphids (which she probably won't), there are plenty.
Fact is, she doesn't "think" like we do. She will wait, quite patiently, to ambush prey. Even in the pending triple temperatures of the day.
When the heat becomes unbearable, she will slip beneath the leaves, but...
Are your tomatoes not looking their beautiful best this year? They may be suffering from blossom end rot.
Blossom end rot first appears as a small, water-soaked spot on the blossom end of a tomato. The spot enlarges, darkens, and becomes sunken and leathery. It affects both green and ripe fruit and is more common in (but not limited to) sandier soils.
End rot is not caused by a disease or a pest. It is a physiological problem caused by a low level of calcium in the tomato fruit. This calcium deficiency is usually caused by irregular watering. Water carries calcium and other nutrients throughout the plant, and without enough water, the calcium, which is being used first for foliar...
- Author: Barbra Braaten
Water is essential for any garden, but it's crucial to use water wisely in a place like California, where droughts are common. Effective water management can help home gardeners keep their plants healthy while conserving this precious resource. Thoughtful water management uses resources efficiently and sustainably to meet current and future needs. It involves planning, developing, distributing, and managing the optimum use of water to ensure plants survive and look good. By conserving water, home gardeners contribute to the preservation of local ecosystems and the sustainability of the environment.
Plant Water Use
Understanding how much water your...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're like me, your heart skips a couple of beats when you encounter a dragonfly, especially the fire-engine red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata.
Did you know that there are 73 species of dragonflies (Anisoptera) in California?
We've been waiting for an updated field guide book on our state's dragonflies, and now it's here.
Dragonfly experts Kathy Biggs and Sandra von Arb have just announced their newly published book, Dragonflies (Anisoptera) of California,published by Nature/Field Guides. It's a 200-page, spiral-bound book, rich with images, and...