Test PB Collection: FTE

A surprising number of serious gardeners confess to at least one occasion of being stumped by a gardening problem with no obvious answer. There are a number of ways to find an answer, one of which is the SJC Master Gardener Help Line.

Spring has arrived with a vengeance! The Amador County Master Gardeners' Heritage Rose Garden is exploding in blooms and welcomed visitors to their first official Open Garden Days on May 15, 2021, and will continue to do so the third Saturday of each month, from May through September.

Helloooo summer! It's all about the fresh fruits and produce. Maybe you grow your own or maybe it was that trip to the farmer's market where you loaded up. Now it's time to figure out what to do with it all! Mexican street corn salad is a definite go-to summer side.

CULTIVAR: a plant variety that is produced through selective breeding. There is a long history of plant breeding to maximize certain characteristics.Orchids and roses are good examples of plants bred for disease resistance, color, and form.

If your friends and neighbors are starting to avoid you when they see you have yet another bag of garden vegetables to share, maybe it's time to freeze some of them to enjoy next winter.

BULB: Chinese ground orchid (Bletilla striata). This is a plant that I have enjoyed for several years. It is native to China, Korea, and Japan and is a member of the orchid family.

My wife and I have been together since late 1979. Over these many years, we have come to enjoy every venue of gardening and take advantage of all the space we have had in each of the sites we called home. It hasn't always been easy, but we have always been up to the challenges.

Four chores a month doesn't seem like much, but as the days grow hotter, and longer, be glad that with only four big things to think a out, the chores can be spread over several days if need be.

I once thought that roses were too demanding and prone to problems, but my husband loved them and convinced me they were not. We now have more than 30 healthy roses. Many rose difficulties can be controlled with careful selection of plant varieties and management of growing conditions.

Oh, the irony that the food we need to nourish our bodies relies on creatures we can't communicate with, that measure half an inch long and have a life span of only six to eight weeks, at most.