Plant Profiles

The wildflower meadow in May

May Meadow In Fall of last year, I became tired of a field full of Filaree and embarked on planting a…

14 years ago

Sitting…looking up at oaks

The Oaks of the Sierra foothills "I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again…

14 years ago

May Day bloomers and identifying new native plants

Recently identified, four CA natives on the property are  ‘new to me.’  If you read this blog very much, you know…

14 years ago

Two garden accidents and happy ending

OK, there are conflicting accounts, but seeing as it is my blog, I will say that the Tractor Man got…

14 years ago

California Fuchsia, easy to grow, complicated in name

Growing California Fuchsia is like hanging out a neon sign to a certain pollinator, namely hummingbirds! It also fills a…

14 years ago

Foothill Penstemon, vivid and bright

It’s California Native Plant Week and I’m profiling a different California native each day that is on my particular wish…

14 years ago

Sulfur Flower, native Californian butterfly magnet

California Native Plant Week It’s California Native Plant Week and I’m profiling a different California native each day that is…

14 years ago

Blue-eyed grass, native gem

It’s California Native Plant Week and I’m profiling a different California native each day that is on my particular wish list. …

14 years ago

A California native, served sunny side up

It’s California Native Plant Week and I’m profiling a different California native each day that is on my particular wish…

14 years ago

wordless wanton wednesday

Ceanothus 'Dark Star'

14 years ago

Allelopathic Plants….what? “I want to be aloooone”

Marlene Dietrich, in her strong German accent, said this in the old movie ‘Grand Hotel’, but plants say it too,…

14 years ago

wordless wildish wednesday

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14 years ago

California Buckeye, always one season ahead

... or, how I discovered Buckeye 'bulbs'. California Buckeye, Aesculus californica, is always ahead of the season,...first to leaf out in…

14 years ago

Manzanita ‘Howard McMinn’ and companions

This is National Wildlife Week and for that, I have chosen some favorite California native plants to show, as well…

14 years ago

Spring’s Ephemerals in the Sierra foothills

 My idea of gardening is to discover something wild in my wood and weed around it with the utmost care…

14 years ago

Winter check on the Sierra Foothill garden

What I am really doing in the garden Sunny January weather is lasting into February, and although chilly, by mid…

14 years ago

Native plants from Lewis and Clark, found in the Sierra Foothills

Lewis & Clark discoveries we can plant... In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson requested $2500 from Congress to send Meriwether Lewis and…

14 years ago