Autumnal Acts of Faith: Planting Alliums for Food and Beauty

PHOTO: The dense spherical head of the ornamental Allium ‘Globemaster’ in a home garden in Chico, CA. I am planting bulbs, culinary and ornamental. A heavy box of hope and spring dreams arrived from the heirloom bulb supplier Old House… Continue Reading

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A Lounge of Lizards: Upstanding Community Members of a North State Garden

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

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It’s Pomegranate Season!

It’s pomegranate season here in the North State and I recently watched a friend demonstrate a new (at least to me) pomegranate cleaning device that looks a little like a flat strainer. You place the pomegranate cleaning device over a… Continue Reading

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Late Summer Bloomers: California Fuchsias

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

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The Power of A Garden that’s Open to the Public

I’ve spent a very enjoyable portion of my life visiting gardens – small and large – rustic and elegant – casual and formal – public and private. I’ve visited as a girl, as a daughter, as a student, as a… Continue Reading

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Late Summer Beauty of Buckwheats

It’s August. Drought or no drought, August is hot and dry in interior northern California and in most cases, our gardens are looking a little…worn, a little worse for the wear of our long, hot, dry summers. Every gardener I… Continue Reading

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Fortunately: A Rich Resource for Gardeners in Times of Drought

When my children were little among the books they loved to have read to them was one entitled Fortunately, first published in 1964 and written by Remy Charlip. The story goes something like this – “Fortunately, Ned was invited to… Continue Reading

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Getting to Know a Familiar Face: Manzanitas of North America

Today I am joined by Michael Kauffmann co-author of the new Field Guide to the Manzanitas of California, North America and Mexico, published this year by Backcountry Press. Michael last joined me in 2012 after the publication of his first… Continue Reading