This ethereal foggy morning is now gone, blown away by strong winds. Wet, dewy fog has to be enjoyed while it’s here, especially in fall when it intensifies colors and transforms an ordinary leaf into a translucent jewel.
Category Archives: Plants
Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!
Our Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is putting on quite a show now that we’ve had cool nights and bright, sunny days. These plants get around twelve feet tall, and develop an interesting branch structure. They also have strange, fuzzy tapering knoblike flower heads in summer that give them a bold, architectural look. Staghorn sumac isContinue reading “Rhus typhina – now that’s fall color!”
The incredible flying circus
The Aster chilensis is blooming, and it’s the biggest insect party of the year. The plants are covered with skippers, with frequent visits by mason bees and other creatures. Despite its Latin name implying South American origins, it’s a California native – but from the Southern part. It’s common name, California aster, makes its originsContinue reading “The incredible flying circus”
Leucadendron salignum update
Our Leucadendron salignum plants in August, still alive.
Planting sedge plugs in summer
It would be nice if plant availability and the optimum planting season coincided, or if planting time on a project were planned for cooler weather. They’re not. Since we’re not in an ideal world, things sometimes must go in the ground during hot weather. The trick, then, is to develop techniques that ensure a highContinue reading “Planting sedge plugs in summer”
Scary Monsters!
This is not, strictly speaking, a tomato worm. It’s the larva of Manduca sexta, the dreaded Tobacco Hornworm. Nor is it a worm. It’s a larval insect that could more properly be termed a caterpillar if not for the image of caterpillars being cute and worms being ugly. Anything capable of stripping the leaves ofContinue reading “Scary Monsters!”
WIld Ginger (Asarum caudatum) having a tough establishment period
Wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) is a California native that grows under redwood trees in coastal valleys. This alone should have given me pause before planting it here in the Central Valley, yet I was told that it does grow here. I was letting it go fairly dry between waterings, since it is a native plantContinue reading “WIld Ginger (Asarum caudatum) having a tough establishment period”
Testing a new plant: Dicliptera suberecta
Uruguay. I’ve never met a plant from there before, yet there it was at the nursery: Uruguayan Firecracker Plant (Dicliptera suberecta). The plant, in a four inch pot, was covered with bright red-orange tubular flowers, the type that shout, “hummingbirds!”. It has fuzzy gray leaves, suggesting that it might be a water conserving plant. OtherContinue reading “Testing a new plant: Dicliptera suberecta”
First harvest
Our community garden plot is starting to produce. Tomatoes are rampant on their wire cages; beans twine up corn stalks while squash grows beneath. Peppers hang from their plants, basil puts forth leaves waiting for pesto and other uses. Purslane spreads between the watermelon leaves, and the hollyhock leaves multiply in the warm summer sun.Continue reading “First harvest”
Fun with invasive plants
Some invasive plants are just too fun to pass up. Perennial morning glories, running bamboo, gaura, Santa Barbara daisies… as long as they limit their invasiveness to the garden. Plants listed as invasive in natural areas – things like St. John’s wort and periwinkle – are invasive everywhere, so please don’t use them at all.Continue reading “Fun with invasive plants”