Ongoing research

To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost ready to deposit her ootheca, was hungry. She crawled behind a cactus in our yard, waiting for prey. It did not take long.

When the annual Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, hosted by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro as part of his scientific research, gets underway on Sunday, Jan. 1, it will be of special interest.

by David George I was honored with the opportunity to interview Dawn Kooyumjian, the Coordinator of both the Alameda and Contra Costa Countys UC Master Gardener programs for this special Class of 2023 issue.

Our new Master Gardener trainees!...

Be sure to say hello to our wonderful new group of trainees, the Class of 2023. They have taken the time to introduce themselves to us with, what must be for them, painfully brief bios, but nonetheless packed with information about their lives and their passions.

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Welcome to the Class of 2023, As an Executive Leadership Team Member I work with two projects and two projects in waiting.

Thank you to Class of 2023 Classroom Training Team...

UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro's annual Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, in which he trades a pitcher of beer (or its equivalent) for the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly collected in a three-county area, is of special interest this year.

Lupinus By Andrea Peck UCCE Master Gardener Common name of plant: Staircase Lupine Scientific name: Lupinus Planting area: Perennial in USDA zones 4-8 Size: 18-24 Tall and Wide Bloom Season: Spring through summer Exposure: Full sun to partial shade.