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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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July in the Garden

By Peyton / July 5, 2021

Be easy on yourself and on your garden this month. Do everything you can to conserve water. Enjoy the harvest of the summer garden. PLANTING: Don’t plant ornamental plants in July. Instead use your water to keep the vegetable garden, orchard and existing plants (especially trees) healthy. Edibles to plant include tomato, basil, and artichoke […]

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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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June

By Peyton / June 1, 2021

June means hot and dry weather, with occasional drops in temperature. Daytime temperatures average around 92 degrees Fahrenheit daytime and 58 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Expect almost 14 hours of sunshine per day, but don’t expect rain: June is historically the third driest month of the year. Without adequate snow pack and rainfall this winter […]

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Spring

By Peyton / March 27, 2021

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly. “One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” Hans Christian Andersen This year, spring sprang into being in the Northern hemisphere at 2:37 a.m. PST March 20. Some plants in the garden decided it was spring in February, or even January. Some are just getting the […]

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March in the Garden

By Peyton / March 1, 2021

March was the first month of the year in the original Roman calendar.  That feels right to me: March is a month of flowers and growth, the first full month in which almost everything in the garden is bursting with energy. Even the weather gets in on this act: March may be hot, cold, dry, […]

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Are you a Native Plant purist?

By Peyton / February 22, 2021

When we design, we talk about “purpose.” In the established garden, we use the term every few years -to reconsider the garden. Guiding principles, such as water-efficient and beneficial-to-nature, are big-picture “purpose” values in many modern gardens. On the micro, unique level, has the purpose in your existing garden changed? Are there new activities that […]

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February in the Garden

By Peyton / January 28, 2021

February is a busy gardening month in our area, even with fog, rain, snow, cold weather and general gloom. It’s not my favorite month. But some of you love cold and fog, and even I recognize the importance of winter. So on we go with dreams of spring, cheerfully taking care of the following garden […]

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Will summer ever end?

By Peyton / September 15, 2020

September is a hopeful month that begins to remind us that winter will be here again someday. It has become harder to predict what kind of September we will have. Historically, we should enjoy cooler temperatures both day and night, mostly due to the ever-shortening days. Planting:. We can finally begin to plant trees, perennials […]

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Native Plants and the Vegetable Garden

By Peyton / June 25, 2020

What does vegetable gardening have to do with California native plants? Plenty, it turns out. When I first became interested in native plants, my philosophy was that it would be a good idea to use water, time and chemicals (if needed) on the edibles and use ornamental plants that wouldn’t need so much from me. […]

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The Latest on Bees

By Peyton / April 17, 2020

Last week I attended a webinar hosted by the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program about what’s new in the world of our bees here in California. The basics: 60-70% of flowering plants require animal pollination. More than 80 crops require animal pollination. Some agricultural/garden crops require specific types of pollinators. For example, […]

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Spring is Here, whether we are noticing or not.

By Peyton / March 26, 2020

“In time of crisis people want to know that you care, more than they care what you know”      Will Rogers How will we remember this spring of 2020? What we remember? How much we learned about coronavirus or how much we discovered we cared about things we took for granted? I’ve been reading lots of […]

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