The season for daffodils is starting and I will go through the procedure of planting, maintaining and long term care of the bulbs. The bulbs arrive from Holland via several US companies such as Van Bourgondien and Colorblends. The bulbs are laid out in the garden where they are to be planted. Here Vicente is…

Grasses are very popular in the garden now because of their drought tolerance, deer resistance and low maintenance requirements. This plant, Lomandra longifolia ‘Breeze’, looks like a grass but is actually in the Lily family. In the garden, when planted as a mass, it is a green wave of fine texture. Here is a close-up…

Few flowers are blooming in the fall but the ones that are blooming are highly valued. But they must compete with the fall foliage color. Copper Canyon Daisy (Taygetes lemmonii) blooms November and December. Russian Sunflower (Helianthus angustfolius) blooms October through the middle of November. (See ‘Russian Sunflowers’ post on Jan. 8, 2020). Helianthus maximilianii…

This is the flower of Trachelium caeruleum which blooms most of the summer through November. The flowers are tiny in dense clusters shaped like umbels The common name is Throat Wort because a medicine is made from it to treat some kind of throat problems. The flowers are quite profuse and beautiful. Butterflies love Trachelium….

Dawn Gardens is an 8 acre garden on a 12 acre piece of property in Grass Valley, CA which is composed of several different gardens with different themes and plants. It is open occasionally to the public. No admission fee is charged but a donation box is available. See website for schedule: Dawn-gardens.com Here is…

Jackie and Steve are my friends who live in Lake of the Pines in the California foothills. They built their house over 20 years ago and have been working on their garden all those years fighting with the voles and gophers. Jackie is the gardener and Steve is the carpenter and laborer. At the beginning…

The goal of this project is to provide fresh vegetables and fruit to the Nevada County, California residents who need it. It will also provide a nature outlet for people who want to work outside and get good exercise. This area was once an old gravel parking area with poor drainage. A new French drain…

This is a story of how these vegetables and flowers were produced in a home garden in the Sacramento Valley in less than a year: In 2022 Kelsey and Steven purchased a house in Elk Grove. Kelsey is a great cook and had a dream of making a large garden to provide food and flowers…

Butterfly bushes (Buddleja) are easy to grow shrubs with colorful flowers that bloom most of the summer into the fall. They are attractive to butterflies and most are very fragrant. Buddleja davidii ‘Royal Red’ Buddleja davidii ‘Buzz Velvet’ Buddleja ‘Lo and Behold Blue Chip’ Buddleja ‘Pugster Amethyst’ Buddleja ‘Buzz Purple’ at The Station Public House…

When I was in Portland recently at an open garden, I ran into a friend, Marilyn. I had met her and her husband, Stephen, on my trip to New Zealand last fall. She was telling me that they had a lot of Lilies blooming this year and wanted to know if I would like to…