Attracting Hummingbirds to the garden… Plant a hummingbird garden and they will come! Lure them right into your own garden with a proper feeder or this list of plants so that you can enjoy them. Be sure to keep binoculars and a zoom camera handy. Hiding behind the drapery may become a habit when you begin attract these living ‘flowers’…
Orange you glad to find two new CA natives in the garden? Yes, I am! A new bird and a new California native annual are discovered here in my garden in April. New or just not noticed before? Either way, I’m delighted! And both happen to be shades of orange. First, what I thought was a…
How to clean a bird bath in twelve photos Keeping a birdbath sparkling clean is easy and it’s worth a bit of effort to keep your wild birds happy and healthy. Algae may be a natural thing, but it’s not attractive when your bird bath is within sight of your windows like you want it. …
Some of our deer friends… I still like the deer better than any one plant. They are the best sort of ‘lawn ornaments.’ I watch, don’t you, when they’re passing by and it’s gratifying when they pass by my carefully chosen ‘deer-resistant’ garden? List of what I plant: Acer palmatum, Japanese maple Acer negundo,…
“The more people know about bats the more they’ll care about them.” Sitting out tonight, while watering, I noticed a few mosquitoes and moths flying about in the half light. I hadn’t realized so much that bats could see the same insects as I, yet, here they were, swooping and darting around the big sky…
Butterfly gardeners begin this way….they see a colorful butterfly in their garden and start paying attention. They want to see more so they wait and observe during the spring and summer. How can they see more kinds, they wonder. That’s how I began, I’m sure. Once you begin observing, you notice more and more about…
Gophers and other living garden pests can drain the enthusiasm from the hardiest gardener in the California Sierra foothills. To have your beloved plants eaten from below can be very discouraging. Once, while relaxing on the patio, I came suddenly alert by a waving plant in the distant garden bed. On a windless day, a leafy…
How we garden
Normally, gardeners have only had themselves to please when creating a plant world around them. And that’s one of the best things about gardening, it can be so personal. You don’t have to follow any plan or design, you can use your favorite colors and plant as many flowers or vegetables as you want. Beauty and functionality have been most important.
California mule deer
There are cottage gardens, woodland style gardens with shade, and the ever popular herb gardens. But what about a wildlife garden? A wildlife garden is one meant to attract the native wildlife that would be living near your home if the original native plants were still there upon which they naturally thrive.…
At Sierra Foothill Garden, we love birds! In our albums we have collected, there are many photos of the ones in our backyards, from humble sparrows to brilliant bluebirds. And what better time than Autumn and Winter for watching them? It’s a sign Cool weather is here. Steller’s jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, with its black head…
One of my favorite color combos is cobalt blue and turquoise. That is why I like this picture! These are Western Bluebirds, Sialia mexicana, and have appeared here in my Sierra foothill garden for the first time this Fall. I’ve never seen them here in the ten years we’ve had the property. The Western Bluebird is…
Birdbath love ♥ As the garden flower color takes a back seat here in the Foothills, the wildlife have become the stars. It’s been a regular Birdie-palooza here and I’ve moved the birdbath to a spot on the patio within view of the largest windows, with winter views in mind. When we can’t garden, it’s…
A Backyard Habitat is a transformation of your garden into a place that provides the things wildlife need to live there. You also ‘reduce the civilization’ there to make it more welcome and safe for small, beautiful creatures. My mother did this in 1970 in the suburbs of LA and I have established a wildlife habitat…
Bordered Plant Bug, Largus californicus These true bugs, those with sucking mouth parts, live in the Sierras of California, especially in areas with lots of pine trees. These are striking looking fellows, with neon colored borders. They seem to like the patio or at least that’s where we see them most. We call them love…
In May, I decided to take my camera to explore Lewis Creek Trail, just 7 miles south of Yosemite. The creek is named for Washington B. Lewis, one of the Park’s early superintendents and is a few miles of us along Hwy 41 heading north. Part One: The trail and the bugs The trail This is a favorite walk…
Why do they do it? Not for fortune or fame–few outside native plant circles know who they are. People like Lester Rowntree, a plant explorer extraordinaire, who traveled the length and breadth of California to find and record the locations and characteristics of California native plants simply lived for this ‘doing.’ When’s the last time you thought…
As some of you know, I live very near Yosemite National Park, a place where my family has vacationed since I was a small child. My parents traveled here in 1950 and fell in love, as a young married couple, with the incredible granite walled canyon and the Merced River running thrugh it all. We camped,…
Maggie says, "Let's go."
Today, Maggie and I walked all the way to the bottom of the property, where it’s fairly wild.…
