Here is a developing list of the existing native plant life here existing before we came to our home on Malum Ridge next to the Sierra National Forest near Oakhurst-Yosemite, CA.
One of the best ways to appreciate the park is to watch this Yosemite Nature Notes series. It’s produced by Steven M. Bumgardner, who has lived and worked in Sequoia and Yosemite Park for 20 years.
In 2009, I visited my sister in New Zealand and on one weekend trip we drove down to the city of Dunedin on the South Island. There, before breakfast and while Karen’s hubby slept in, the two of us walked over to the Dunedin Botanical Garden nearby our hotel. The most impressive garden for me…
First Views is a meme that Town Mouse started to show seasonal view of larger areas of your garden, rather than more focused photos of certain plants. She has a Mr Linky widget on her page so others can enjoy this idea, and add links to their blogs. Please visit her page to see her views and add yours: September First Views (Town Mouse). Now on to this month’s views at the Sierra Foothill Garden.…
Field Trip: Hornitos On a recent photo trek through the area between the Sierra foothills and the Central Valley of California, the little tiny town of Hornitos was found, baking in the 105 degree heat. My brother Ken accompanied me. Quiet and deserted now, the one-street town once had 15,000 people living there, Mexicans who…
House place, mountain, barn wood, waterfalls, these words describe the place we found in the mountains near Yosemite and Bass Lake. When we made the momentous decision to buy property in our favorite vacation spot, it started a whole series of changes, of mind, of lifestyle, of financial decisions and really, the meaning of our families’ lives together.
Keywords.
Thinking of keywords can help when brainstorming about what you want a new home to be like. When faced with the task of creating a new home, you have to come through. Planning is glorious fun, but at some point you have to make the decisions on what to build, what to decorate with, what possessions to keep and use and so forth.…
Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.
Jane Austen
Sometimes it can be so enjoyable to have unlimited time to wander and putter and work on projects in the garden, but if I’m short of time, I set a timer.
Losing track of time with Maggie
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“I have found, through the years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon our land.” ~Julie Moir Messervy,…
How to dry your tomato harvest to enjoy gourmet dried tomatoes all winter long
Like red gold
If you have a good crop of tomatoes in your garden, more than you can eat or give away, you can preserve them by drying them and enjoy delicious gourmet eating all winter long. Dried tomatoes are tasty additions to fresh pasta, sauces, sandwiches, salads, stir fry dishes and you can also enjoy them just the way they are, as a chewy tangy-sweet snack.…
In a series of Then and Now photos, it’s satisfying to look back nostalgically to see how far we have come. Bought in 2000, and in a completely natural area, we’ve striven to preserve the beauty of our 7 acres near the Sierra foothills of California, as we make a place for ourselves in this beautiful spot.…
Learning about watering for California natives …and some Mediterranean plants in a home garden in the Sierra Foothills. I like to hand water. It’s relaxing, …cool on a hot day, I can watch over the newly-establishing plants and weed a bit in the wet, soft soil. I like a hose sprayer that doesn’t leak…
Last month, my friend, Cheryl and I, committed to giving a workshop to the garden club on a subject we were trying for the first time, “How to make Hypertufa Troughs“. Risky? Foolhardy? Fun! We were interested and I must say, excited to see for ourselves how it would turn out.
One finished trough, the largest one we made with a corrugated box mold
Why make hypertufa troughs? For cost of the materials, Portland cement, perlite and peat, for us $37, you can make any size and shape plant container you want for your plants. These can show off small plants that would otherwise get lost if planted in a garden bed.…
Hypertufa (pronounced hyper-toofa) is a mixture of peat moss, perlite, cement and water.
Old stone watering troughs in England could be found in farmer’s fields, sometimes built into stone walls to provide water for two fields of livestock.
Traditional Stone Water Trough in Britain, Wikipedia Commons Photographer Roger Nunn
These troughs are usually one-of-a-kind, and very rare and desirable to alpine gardeners and plant collectors and are very expensive and heavy, as well. Now you can make them yourself.
There is a natural volcanic rock called tufa, which has also been used by gardeners. There are a few natural deposits found around the world, some in Britain, some in North America and various other areas. In the 1800’s, English gardeners found that by mixing certain ingredients they could make a light weight version of stone troughs. In time, hypertufa will develop the look of weathered stone.
For those who like miniature plants which often get lost in a garden, making your own troughs, and really, any shaped stone-like container, is easy and fun! I like growing succulents and other small plants and after hearing about hypertufa long, long ago, have always wanted to try it.
So,… this past month my friend Cheryl and I decided to give ourselves an assignment: to give a workshop to our garden club! O…K…!…
Butterfly magnets and how they grow Butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, is a fast growing, vase-shaped, usually gangly shrub growing 6 to 10 feet tall. They attract several types of butterflies like crazy and do well in the Sierra Foothills because they need little water, bloom when most flowers are fading and grow to an impressive…
Studying the singular Soap Plant As the season passes, the Soap Plant is on the wane, still over 7 feet tall, waving over the drying meadow and garden. Here is a record of its life cycle here in the Sierra foothills. Wavyleaf Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum Startling at first, this strange plant is really very interesting.…
In early July, the meadow is at its peak and gives pleasure every day. Here are some of the advantages and realities of growing your own!
A CA Native seeded meadow is possible.
It takes some weeding.
The flowers are bright and grasses wave in the wind
Bare spots happen.
Seeds wash down hill sprout where they can.
Seeds spread where they can and more flowers pop up.
Meadows need little water and care if native seeds are used.
Meadows can fit into a garden with perennials.
Meadows are enjoyable for months of the year.
Meadow color in summer
2011-5-5 California native meadow in May, the ideal image in my head and now in reality!
July meadow
Meadow in May, poppies, bird’s eye gilia and tidytips mostly. Pacific fescue is blooming
All the wild color make the Brodiaea look subdued.
“Ah! How I long for the beautitude of a summer meadow-place
That calls me ever forward and slightly to the left
That begs of me to forget the stressful stresses of life.”
Past the peak bloom-late July
This late afternoon, while watering, I noticed the last strong rays of sun glinting on the seedheads of the meadow. In mid summer, the last of the California poppies and Globe gilia have done and are forming seeds. A few Clarkia amoena hang in and the yarrow is at its peak. The vulpia grasses are golden brown as they’ve been all last month.
A few Clarkia amoena hang in and the yarrow is at its peak. The vulpia grasses are golden brown as they’ve been all last month.
Everything is drying quickly and I have a bit more mulch I’ll cover the bare ground with as the plants shrink and dry. I’ve been watering about every three days by hand, especially the new perennials around the edge.…
Oakhurst’s official flower? When I arrived here in the mountains of Central California, I slowly became familiar with some of the individual plants living here. Right now the Mule’s ears are at their peak and here is a look at how they grow. Hall’s Mule Ears, Wyethia elata These are wonderful sunny flowers to encourage in…
My friend, Diane, of Oakhurst area, CA, has long dreamed of having a real glass greenhouse, and now after many years and a few obstacles, has it standing majestically in her rural garden, ready for use in all seasons. On my visit, she showed me this and future projects in her garden.
Diane's greenhouse
Diane grew up with a Dad who loved roses, so spending time in the garden was a time for them to do something together. She says, “At the time I believe it was the idea of just being with my dad, but the love of gardening bloomed inside me and I have loved it ever since. My love of roses has not changed either. I think it is the challenge of keeping something beautiful alive.…
June’s Blue Haze, Brodiaea This is a picture story of Elegant or Harvest Brodiaea in the Sierra foothill garden. This is its native area, just south of Yosemite National Park. This and Pretty Face are the two main wild flowers existing here on the land we settled ion near the Sierra National Forest. Until starting this…
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…
