Photo: Acorn from a blue oak, or blue oak hybrid (Quercus douglasii). Note the stout, rounded body of the acorn and the well-fitted cap. Who doesn’t love an acorn? Who can resist bending over to pick up a fresh acorn… Continue Reading
The regions’ hop vines are nice and high right now. Soon, they’ll be harvested and dried for use. I’ve lived in a handful of cities in which the smell of drying hops and brewing beer is integral to the days,… Continue Reading
Harvest. A word replete with cultural, seasonal and regional meaning and imagery – from the kitchen-bound harvest of the home garden to the large-scale harvest of North State nuts, rice, grapes and other autumnal fruit. Because we live in a… Continue Reading
More of our favorite summer flowers, some of my life long favorites – Geraniums. Enjoy this interview from In a North State Garden’s “best of” archives. One of the first plants I remember knowing and loving as a child was… Continue Reading
As summer moves into full swing, with temperatures over 100 for many sweltering days at a time, the gardener is profoundly grateful for those plants and flowers that (with a little water) can stand up to heat and refresh us… Continue Reading
Walking around the garden in the cool of morning last week, it occurred to me how much flowers remind me of fireworks – their colorful explosions, forces of nature demanding that we look at them: Here! Here! Here! Photo above:… Continue Reading
You know it’s summer when you’re barefoot as much as you are in your shoes in the house and in the garden. A friend recently said to me that he was practicing walking barefoot around his garden pathways to prepare… Continue Reading
All loss is potential opportunity. Opportunity for change, for growth, for creativity. This is not news to anyone – it’s a story old enough to be a complete cliche. And yet, sometimes being reminded of even obvious truths can be… Continue Reading
If you plant melon seeds right now – this weekend! – your reward will be sweet juicy, healthy and beautiful melons come mid-August through early October. What else can I say? Put the growing needs of melons and the gardening… Continue Reading
My clematis are blooming nicely, elegantly draping themselves over trellises, fences and my shrub roses. I attended a meeting this past week for which my friend Jeanne had created two amazing arrangements for the table from her collection of now… Continue Reading
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