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…
A gardener’s April day trip On a recent visit to Coarsegold, California, I stopped by the Hillside Iris Farm of Bill Tyson, just before the peak bloom. His farm is open to the public just during the month of April when Iris are in full bloom and ready to order by color and shape. You choose the ones…
Beautiful Beard Tongue As I stroll through the garden, my attention is drawn to how well adapted Beard Tongue or Penstemons are for the Sierra Foothills! Whether, cultivated hybrids or CA Natives, they are perfectly easy to grow and the bloom is spectacular in your garden. Scroll through the ones I have in my garden and see…
Fall is time for dividing iris, planting and sowing wildflower seeds… Bearded Iris Growing Tips Spring-flowering bulbs thrive in full or partial sun. Good drainage is important for most bulbs, so avoid placing them in soggy areas and in low-lying parts of the garden where water pools during wet winters and spring thaw. Dig a…
Just came in from the garden,…perfect day to be out there, especially with my camera. There was really nice, even lighting. Come see what I’m doing in the garden and what is blooming now in June. I’ve been trimming the lower branches off oaks and manzanita, …I’ll pull all that ivy, (from 1 4″ pot!)…
Celebrating a fine nursery… Have you been here? I hope so! We are very fortunate to have a nursery nearby that purchases and grows plants that are perfect for our foothill gardens. Besides having a wide variety of California native and drought tolerant Mediterranean plants, Bonnie Bladen, her husband Ray Laclergue and their staff are…
Now, is the time to plan Your meadow can be large or small …or even in a container, and the first step is to get you area as weed free as possible, and raked smooth. My garden is in the Oakhurst area, just like you! See how to ‘get’ your meadow! Weed and Rake Do…
In our third year of drought in the Sierra foothills, we search for ways to allow our gardens to survive. Here, you’ll see how to make your garden thrive! Learn which plants to grow, how to water and how to preserve that water once it’s in the soil. Included is a print and keep ‘ideal’…
What happens if you don’t trim lavender? You all may know I like garden experiments. For the last two years I’ve been experimenting with my Spanish lavender field and NOT trimming the blooms off. This is the field a week ago that I’ve not trimmed OR watered and as I went up to inspect, I…
In 2000, we moved from the city to the country of California in the Sierra foothills near Bass Lake. For five years, I planned the decoration of my dream, a casual camp-style ranch house on a pretty steep slope. In February 2004, the building began and that August we moved into our trailer to wait for…
First weeks of Fall in the Sierra foothills The season has changed in the foothills around Oakhurst. The fierce heat of the last month has broken and the cool of this morning is delicious. I’ve been hand watering all along and I can see the end to this chore coming. I take stock of the…
The Highly Valued Manzanita Manzanitas are typical and beautiful Chaparral plants in the Sierra foothills. They, and the chaparral as a whole, have long been here in California before we so how can we think it is good or bad? My thought is that manzanita is not any more flammable or less flammable than any…
Many of us here in the California Sierra foothills have gravel driveways, paths and roads. This can be a help or a hindrance to gardeners searching for more space in which to garden. Gravel gardens could have their origin in formal Japanese ‘dry landscape’ gardens located on the grounds of Zen Buddhist temples. The raked…
We had a dream to move out of Southern California to paradise on seven acres in the Sierra foothills. Here is more about the process, choosing a builder for our mountain home, around which, my Sierra Foothill garden grows. What I wanted was a log cabin. Or any kind of cabin. A real mountain house. We had stayed…
Our adventure We had a dream to move out of Southern California away from the congestion and stress and switch from the daily commute to living in paradise in the Sierra foothills. Here is how we made the big move! Our Move: From Fullerton, CA to the foothills just south of Yosemite in 2005 Old…
Have you ever noticed a striking color combination when planting flowers together by chance? You suddenly see that the hot pink rockrose bloom looks stunning with lime and burgundy euphorbia. Or you see that an orange Monkey flower contrasts wonderfully with an iridescent lavender-blue Cleveland sage ‘Pozo’. I recently became aware of this particular combo…
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…
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! …
