Newspaper Articles

Here is spring, and it feels great. The wildflowers are here. Winter deciduous trees and shrubs are blooming and leafing out. Winter-dormant herbaceous plants are pushing up green foliage. Daffodils and Iris are in their glory days. The vernal equinox is March 20. The day and night are equal in length, and…

As I researched information on planting bare-root fruit trees, the words of the County Fruit and Nut Crop Advisor came to mind. He said to a new class of  Master Gardeners, "Consider carefully your motive for planting fruit trees in a home garden. They require lots of work year-round: irrigating,…

 Penstemon (also called Beard Tongue) is the genus name for a beautiful and resilient North American native wildflower. It is said that there is a penstemon for every garden. These long-blooming perennials have low water requirements. They bloom in your garden in early summer, after your spring…

 The variety of native plants in California makes them an excellent choice for a drought-tolerant garden.  Most of them are less prone to pest and disease problems and are pollinator-friendly.  There are plants for each micro-climate here in our area.  Just like us, they have an…

February can feel like spring. Early wildflowers appear. Some trees leaf out. But we might have frost, fog, rain, snow, and even hail. I fell behind in my garden tasks last fall and missed pruning some spring-blooming shrubs, and now they are getting ready to bloom again. Oh, well. It's nice to notice how…

All plants in a landscape perform a function. Landscape designers think that designing a landscape is like decorating a room. Rooms have ceilings, walls, and floors. Using that analogy for plant materials, the ceilings would be trees or tall shrubs. The walls would be shrubs and vines, and the floors would…

California is the native home of many wild buckwheat species. They can be seen growing on offshore islands, through coastal areas, and all the way to the high Sierra. Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.) has several plant shapes and sizes: from low, sprawling ground covers to medium and large shrubs. Some are…

Whether you bought a new home or are taking on chores for a relative, suddenly you are expected to tend intimidating rose bushes. In reality, roses are more resilient than you would expect, and resources to help are readily available. Spending an early morning in the rose garden just puttering around is very…

 With this cold winter weather, one has a hard time wanting to go outside and dig in the garden, but that is exactly what we should be doing. Bare-root planting season is in full swing: roses, fruit trees, asparagus, rhubarb, but let's not forget the berries. Most likely, you'll need to shop for berries…

January is the month of rain, snow, ice, freezing temperatures, fog, and wind. Sounds good? Growth slows down in winter, but it does continue. Even plants that are dormant are still growing, often only underground, and they are preparing for spring. Some plants, like many bulbs and wildflowers (and annuals…