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August in the Garden
August can be a light work month in the garden, assuming you have repaired water leaks and kept the weeds, diseases, and pest insects to a manageable level. The main job this month is to conserve water in every way you can and plan on ways you can make your garden more drought resilient. […]
Read MoreAutumn arrives
A busy year! And we’ve barely begun begun our busiest season, which is autumn, the best time of the year to plant almost everything here in the Southern Sierra and southern Central Valley of California. Challenges: I need to hire another landscaper! Quick!* Joys: I have great clients, customers, colleagues and team members! The plants […]
Read MoreVisiting Denver Botanical Garden
One of the reasons I love to travel is to visit public lands and botanic gardens, both to admire and discover plants that I am unfamiliar with, and to bring ideas back that might work in our Southern Sierra and southern central valley areas. I’m always interested and delighted when I see California native plants […]
Read MoreMaking use of all this rain
After years of dry winters, 2015/16 wasn’t bad. But nothing like this winter. In almost all of California, we receive the overwhelming majority of our annual precipitation in the winter months of December and January, with good amounts still possible in February. This year’s above-average amounts so far, combined with saturated soils and warm storms […]
Read MorePromising new (to me) California native plants
Like every other gardener I know, I love to try out new plants. And, lucky me; I get to call it part of my job! Here are some promising new plants we’ve been growing this year in my Springville garden. Some of you may have been growing these already, but they are new to me […]
Read MoreSpring in the CA native plant garden
Late-winter is one of my favorite seasons in the garden. Plants that were dormant in summer and fall look refreshed and green now. One of the showiest is silver bush lupin (Lupinus albifrons), with great stalks of purple or pink flowers that you can see from a distance. Bush lupin like to grow in colonies, […]
Read MorePlanting in winter
Our season of fall planting is nearing its conclusion. But if you need to finish off the landscape this year, or are like me and want to add “just a few more” new plants to the garden, here are some ideas and tips to ensure success with your new transplants. In fact, there are some […]
Read MoreAutumn is here, but do we care?
I should have paid more attention to the Autumnal Equinox, the day when day and night are the same length. For a few months, until the solstice, there will be a little more night than day. I should have posted something on facebook, sent out a tweet, posted pictures on Pinterest of what a typical […]
Read MoreWinter in the California native plant garden
What do you need to do in winter to keep your California native plant garden thriving? The following tips are geared towards gardens in California’s Central Valley and Southern Sierra Nevada. These ideas can also apply to gardens that share similar traits: 1) Inland – Little or no ocean influence means cold winters and long, […]
Read MoreSummer arrives with a roar –
How is your garden weathering this heat wave? The best care is prevention, watering extra up to a week ahead of an anticipated hot spell. But if you didn’t have the chance to do this, here are some tips for during and after the hot weather: 1) Overhead water your plants in the early morning […]
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Spring 2013
Howdy, March 1 – weather is warm – rain is scarce – the bush lupins & early wildflowers are blooming, and it’s hard not to want to plant something! But it’s early days yet, and if all goes well, we’ll have another few storms–maybe even cold ones–before spring really settles in. I know this, I […]
Read MoreCalifornia native plants during the Freeze
Plants that need help now, during periods of sustained low temperatures: 1) plants you found and bought at nurseries outside the area that originate –grow in the wild–in areas that don’t routinely experience freezing. 2) plants that originate in low elevation areas that you planted in your high (2000′ feet and above) garden. 3) plants […]
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