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September in the Garden

By Peyton / September 4, 2023

I’m thinking of “resilience” as we enter September and a new season. After years of drought, this year has brought historic flooding to end winter and enter spring, heat waves but also periods of unseasonably cool summer weather, thunderstorms and wind, a tornado or two, and measurable, in some cases significant, rain in August. What […]

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August in the Garden

By Christina Morris / August 15, 2023

Bonus web-only content: June seemed to go on for six weeks. July was two weeks. August is lining up nicely with the Julian calendar (so far). Expect another heat wave or two. Watch night time temperatures more than daytime. If temps are in 60’s, the plants can cool off. If nighttime temps are in the […]

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July in the Garden

By Peyton / July 14, 2023

            “We’ve had a lovely long spring, but summer is inevitable.” I wrote that last year for the July Garden Tips, but it applies this year as well. It seemed like June went on forever, weather wise, and I’m not complaining! But, beginning this weekend, July has arrived. With the snow still on the mountains […]

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February in the Garden

By Peyton / February 12, 2023

Is it spring yet? Many days in February feel like spring. But we still might get frost. Fog, rain, snow and even hail are not out of the picture. It’s a transition month. Manzanita is blooming, along with early wildflowers like mustard and fiddleneck. Marah (native wild cucumber) is coming up everywhere in some gardens, […]

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January in the Garden

By Peyton / January 5, 2023

            Happy New Year! If we (and our soils!) can manage the extra water this month, our gardens will be happy. That’s just what our climate-adapted plants want. Although growth slows down in the cold soils of winter, some growth continues, often only underground. Our winter and early-spring blooming shrubs, bulbs and perennials love frosty […]

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December in the Garden

By Peyton / December 16, 2022

Oh dear! Apologies for the late posting this month! Hopefully you will read this and be able to check this list, “Yes, did that,” and “Yes, already done…” Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for reading!             December is the coldest month of the year in our area, and the winter solstice occurs on […]

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November in the Garden

By Peyton / November 8, 2022

Autumn is in full gear this month. This is a great time to plant almost any tree, shrub, perennial, ground cover, wildflower seeds and the last of spring-flowering bulbs. While the days are shorter and storms may affect our ability to work outdoors (we can hope for many such interruptions!), it is generally more pleasant […]

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April in the Garden

By Peyton / April 22, 2022

Sorry this is getting posted so late!! What happened? Perhaps it’s spring??? Hopefully you have done all of this and you just say “check,” “yep, did that,” and “already got it covered!” May tips will post in a couple of weeks. Peyton Spring in the garden! Expect flowers. And weeds. And baby birds. And aphids. […]

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March in the Garden

By Peyton / March 15, 2022

The month is half over already! It must be spring…busy days. You’ve probably already done about half of these garden chores! If so, you’re ahead of me. But I love being outside during these warm (not hot!!) days with cool mornings, green hills, wild flowers blooming and lots of wild activity. I don’t even mind […]

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September in the Garden

By Peyton / September 10, 2021

Perhaps you have noticed the days are getting shorter? A sure sign that summer is winding down and fall is around the corner. I think of the garden year not from January-December, but from autumn to autumn, since so much of our garden creation and re-creation happens in the fall. The first half of September […]

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Gardening in a Drought

By Peyton / July 20, 2021

                While hand watering my container plants on Wednesday, the approved day to water in my district’s guidelines, I thought about comments people made to me last week. They were basically of two kinds:                       “We’re all going to have to move out of California.”                 “We can’t have gardens anymore. There is no water.” […]

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Summer is Here (no kidding)

By Peyton / June 19, 2021

I’m writing this from my outdoor office, surrounded by shrubs, trees, vines, perennials and one giant night-blooming cactus. It’s hard to be a gardener and not prefer the out of doors. But it’s hot. Barely summer and it’s already hot. And dry. Not brown in my courtyard, thank heavens! But brown on the hills surrounding […]

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