Plant Profiles

Miner’s lettuce surprising seedlings

While working on another project last January, I saw this pot full of grass seedlings,..looking so lush and full.  So…

13 years ago

Thinking plant combinations in California foothill garden

Have you ever noticed a striking color combination when planting flowers together by chance?  You suddenly see that the hot…

13 years ago

Violas in bright December

Winter gardening Forever, I have loved the tiny flowered Johnny Jump Ups, Viola tricolor, which seed themselves happily around the…

13 years ago

A garden seasoned with Autumn sage

Autumn sages, Salvia greggii, are low key shrubs most of the year. In cool seasons these evergreen mounding sages shine…

13 years ago

At the level of mushrooms

“Misidentify a mushroom and your liver could dissolve.”  Hank Shaw, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook  After one autumn rain, it’s enough…

13 years ago

A New Zealand inspired California rock garden

 In 2009, I visited my sister in New Zealand and on one weekend trip we drove down to the city…

13 years ago

How to make your own delicious dried tomatoes

How to dry your tomato harvest to enjoy gourmet dried tomatoes all winter long If you have a good crop of…

13 years ago

Buddleias never drop their flowers

Butterfly magnets and how they grow Butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, is a fast growing, vase-shaped, usually gangly shrub growing 6…

13 years ago

Soap Plant in full bloom

Studying the singular Soap Plant As the season passes, the Soap Plant is on the wane, still over 7 feet…

13 years ago

Wild Wyethias- sunflowers in the foothills

Oakhurst's official flower? When I arrived here in the mountains of Central California, I slowly became familiar with some of…

13 years ago

Light reflected by elegant brodiaea

June's Blue Haze, Brodiaea This is a picture story of Elegant or Harvest Brodiaea in the Sierra foothill garden.  This is…

13 years ago

Summer native discoveries

This spring and summer several plants native to California much to my delight. A couple were known, but have just…

13 years ago

What’s blooming in June

Here are the native and non-native flowers and plants that are blooming this month in my Sierra foothill garden. The…

13 years ago

Euphorbia, drama queen of the Sierra foothill garden

 Euphorbia is one of the most diverse family of plants, with many different shapes, sizes and colors, from shrubs to…

13 years ago

Dandelion, Grand dandelion and Silverpuffs

These three plants, well, you'll notice a few similarities and a few differences. Two are California natives and one is…

13 years ago

Lewis Creek: Converging Ladybugs converge

In May, I decided to take my camera to explore Lewis Creek Trail, just 7 miles south of Yosemite. The creek…

13 years ago

A profusion of Pretty Face

Pretty Face, Triteleia ixioides Sunny starry yellow, Pretty Face is sometimes called Golden brodiaea or Golden Stars, and is native…

14 years ago

Enough Miner’s lettuce for salad

Much about Miner's lettuce It may seem a weed in many California gardens, but you'll find that miner's lettuce, or…

14 years ago