Winter chores and pleasures! It’s sunny and 70º as I write this and it’s a reminder that our winter weather can be rainy, snowy or sunny with brilliant blue skies! It also means that we can still get out into the garden; we just need to don our flannel shirts and jackets in the early…
A Winter walk-around What’s blooming? What’s happening? A walk through my garden just before Winter begins. First off, the patio has been cleared of summer projects, tools, soil and extra containers! I’ve put three sugar cones in three pots to act as a winter centerpiece for the table and all the cushions are in the…
One year of seeds brings seven years of weeds! Three things will make your life easier when it comes to weeds in your garden… #1 Mulch I use mulch around the plants in my garden as a lazy way to manage weeds. After three years of mulching your garden, you’ll see that your weeding chores have lessened…
Plant sweet peas. Between rains you can plant sweet peas along a fence or trellis. It’s amazing how sturdy the stems are on this delicate looking plant. Plant bulbs. Many bulbs are on sale now and can be planted in groups of 5 or 6 about 6 inches deep. When March arrives, stop and enjoy…
My Favorite Junk Store and Why I Like It I’m itchin’ to go to the junk stores again. Boy do I miss the “ARC Store” (Assoc of Retarded Citizens) in Fullerton, CA, near where I used to live. They’d bring new things in by the box-full EVERY DAY from the greater Los Angeles area and…
How to choose end-of-season sale plants Every year, while visiting my favorite nurseries, I prowl the sale tables in late August and September. I cheerfully call these plants that I purchase “rescued plants.” I bring them home at a much discounted price and find them a home in my garden so that they can make…
The table centerpiece catches snow and adds a bit of color to the natural beauty beyond.…
While working on another project last January, I saw this pot full of grass seedlings,..looking so lush and full. So I took a photo. This is the pot that for the last few years has held hyacinth bulbs and off season, I keep it in my potting area just waiting for April. It has reliably…
Easy garden projects for you and a child Interesting children in the joys of gardening can be fun. They’re eager to learn and amazed by seeds sprouting and flowers blooming. We have a passel of kids and even grandkiddies to have fun with, and these are some of the things we’ve tried. This is a…
A few months ago, I found this rusty brake thingy in front of our car in a parking lot. Of course, I lifted the heavy thing and set it in the back of our small truck bed. In the dusk, I couldn’t tell if Tractor Man rolled his eyes. It was a Red Lobster parking…
Across the valley, where Willow Creek flows south, there is a tall sugarpine that becomes backlit at a certain point in the morning. It must be on our side of the mountain, but far below. Here it is in November: Early morning, February 15th, I woke up to see everything covered in a frosting of…
Saturday– Hmmm, Tractor Man gone for the day? Having coffee and wondering WHAT to do today. I love having a day when nothing is planned.” Here is friend, Jeanne Sammons’s barn door which grabbed my attention. I first put it in my ‘Idea’ file, but then thought, ‘I have some of the things to make…
“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” “Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts.” “As…
What is a rain garden? It’s a garden specifically designed to take advantage of where water naturally collects. In dry climates, this extra water allows a wider variety of plants to be grown. Rain gardens can also be planned just to direct water away from certain areas, like home foundations or low spots that collect…
While going out to photograph my ‘first views’ of February in my California mountain garden, I already know that my predictions of January 1st,…that we’d have snow by now, are false. My photos are for Town Mouse’s meme, First Views. Visit her post, and sign in to the Mr Linky tool there to join in! …
The first photo is from a set taken this month after a small fire broke out in the valley a mile up from my California mountain garden. It shows a Ponderosa pine tree superimposed over the column of smoke. The second photo shows the same tree appearing through the gathering storm. Welcome rain! The valley…
Winter is a good time to evaluate your garden tools. I’ve stashed them all away for the coming rain and in doing so, looked them all over really good. After gardening for so many years you kind of get a familiar routine or system when it comes to your equipment, gardening clothes and tools. First of all,…
Did you think you were through gardening in California Sierra mountains? Usually we have rain and snow, but noooo. Here are more winter gardening ideas and things to do for the Sierra foothill garden in California: Get ready to sow seeds. Rake out and remove weeds in the area you want to seed. Do not add…
