PHOTO: A Western Fence Lizard (Scleroporus occidentalis occidentalis)on my garden’s basking on a warm wall. Each evening when I get home from work, I water my front south-facing garden beds and pots. It is a dry and sort of rocky… Continue Reading
Late summer bloomers never fail to amaze and impress me – and perhaps this year more than most. What reserves are these plants drawing on after these many years of drought and heat? The shimmering late summer grasses, the deep… Continue Reading
On Friday June 5, nature enthusiasts will gather at 8:30 am at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve just outside of Forest Ranch to conduct the 9th Annual Butterfly Count for the Big Chico Creek Region, Dr. Don Miller tells… Continue Reading
PHOTO: An expansive native oak in a natural oak woodland setting, just up from the banks of Chico Creek. Look closely, its trunk is encircled with a stand of poison oak, just leafing out. Some of the poison oak twines… Continue Reading
PHOTO: A hummingbird sitting on her tiny nest. Her body literally fills the lichen, spider web, twig and fluff-constructed nest to the edges, sealing in the eggs from weather and temperature fluctuations. Spring is here and more than a few… Continue Reading
This time of year is marked for me by the early morning calling of a great horned owl, who roosts (and hunts) from a line of blue oaks at the end of my garden. In the mid-day, the sound of… Continue Reading
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 10th, 11th and 12th – the Redding-based Shasta Chapter of the California Native Society will hold their annual spring plant sale open to the public. Continue Reading
PHOTO: Foothills penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus) in vigorous summer bloom in a low-water Chico home garden. Some people call them beardtongue – the visual image of which always made me laugh as a girl. Now – as an adult gardener whose… Continue Reading
There’s nothing like a good heat wave to make you reconsider (once again) why you have so much lawn and just exactly why you have it. “Once neighbors and passersby see the changes happening as you begin the process of… Continue Reading
With winter upon us, many of our favorite birds return for the season. Bird feeders come out of summer dormancy and are cleaned and filled for a new season. With leaves off of many trees, and the distractions in the… Continue Reading
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