Wow – How about that rain and snow? And more is on the way. Which is wonderful for our plants, soils and watersheds, but when it comes in long stretches of gray days, it can play havoc with my mood (and the power in much of our region). Even a few minutes of fresh air and weak sunshine does me a world of good. You don’t want to walk on planted ground when it is very wet if you can help it, because you will compact the soil to the point of harming its structure. But you can get out and walk on unplanted ground – such as paths. I got so stir crazy in the latest long gray stretch that in the pouring rain I rebuilt my whole compost system and weeded all my pathways. Weeds come out of wet soil so nicely – slick as snot as my father likes to say. Photo: Gray skies hand low and tulle fog fills in the valleys looking southwest from Mt. Shasta in January. (more…)

This epic wet weather in the North State over the past few weeks has me holed up and dreaming about my spring planting of seeds. I am working on expanding my raised beds for vegetables from the existing two to a productive six beds - each about 3 feet wide, 12 feet long and 2 feet deep. Photo: Raised beds framed in cedar in an enclosed and formal home garden.
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This week’s program was first published in January of 2008. Something about the mid-winter grayness inspired me to run it again - to remind us of winter’s bright spots.

Variegation is an interesting thing in a plant. And gardeners’ responses to variegation are almost as interesting. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Some people like striped variegation; others love splotchy variegation; still others like multi-colored variegations. My Aunt Bettina, Head Gardener at Ash Lawn, James Monroe’s historic home in Charlottesville, Virginia, once said to me. “Enjoying variegation comes with age.” And she may have been right, for while I am still not a total fan of all variegation – some of it absolutely stops me in my gardening tracks. Photo Above: The visually refreshing variegated Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum ‘Brise d’Anjou’).
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Marilynn Jennings is a woman on a journey - a journey with a mission to bring a public labyrinth to the North State. The Chico Community Labyrinth Project (CCLP) is a local initiative to build a permanent, centrally-located labyrinth at Children’s Park, near downtown Chico. Photos: (Top) A spontaneous stone labyrinth near Half Moon Bay, California built by Eduardo Aguilera, a well-known public labyrinth builder along the Northern California coast. (Bottom) The logo and ultimate design for the Chico Community Labyrinth Project. (more…)

Look up the word “succulent” in the dictionary and as an adjective you will find something like: juicy, thick and fleshy; from the Latin succus, meaning “juice.” The designation “succulent” describes any plant that “stores water against times of drought in specialized tissues,” according to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens’ Crazy About Cacti and Succulents. Succulents such as jade (Crassula ovata) or Aloes, store extra water in their leaves, others, including most cacti, store water in their stems, and still others store water in their roots or bulbs. While all cacti are succulents, not all succulents are cacti, but almost all succulents are low-maintenance, drought tolerant, relatively pest and disease free and darn good looking - in or out of bloom, year-round. Photo: A view down a covered shade area to one of Claude Geffray’s demonstration succulent and cacti gardens in Chico, open to the public Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th of November 2009.
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As a person who visits gardens large and small, fabulous and fantastic as part of what I do, I find it really easy - frustratingly easy - to fall into a trap of garden envy and discontent. Maybe my garden should be bigger? Or smaller? Maybe it should be more whimsical? Perhaps more formal and statuesque? If only I had more trees? More ferns? More flowers? More time? More money? Ahhh…if only I had more. Photo: The Breakers historic mansion and garden Newport, Rhode Island, summer 2009.

But then late October and November come upon me and the garden. In many areas, it is the end of the growing season for summer flowers and typical summer fruits and vegetables. It’s the beginning of seasonal rain and snow, the season of evergreens and winter vegetables. It is the season of deep bold colors exuberantly lighting up in contrast to the softening, lessening light - the last ditch efforts at glory for our roses, our tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. It’s the beginning of the citrus season in the valley portions of the North State. It’s the season of storing the fruits of our labor for winter; the season of digging hopeful and un-likely-looking bulbs into cooling, dark soil in hopes of spring beauty returning in time. It’s the season of that first killing frost having arrived in almost all gardening zones of our region and the beginning of simpler times in the garden. Photo: Autumn oak leaves. (more…)

It’s officially Fall in the North State Garden and although in a lot of our region it’s been hard to tell based on the fairly high temperatures over the past few weeks, our gardens know anyway. Nights and mornings are finally cooling - and frost warnings are being issued in the high country. The seasonal temperature notwithstanding, it is the length of daylight that trigger most plant’s seasonal reactions - fall color and seed set are included in those responses. And yet even while many plants look as though they are preparing for decline or dormancy, fall in the garden – and for the gardener - is about multiplication and division. And addition!

Fall is the perfect time for planting new spring and summer blooming bulbs. It’s also perfect for planting trees, shrubs and perennials, which will all benefit from the remainder of fall and all of winter in which to put down roots, while not being asked to put on a lot of foliage, flower or fruit growth until spring. Fall is also the time for making more plants from those you and your fellow gardeners already have. Collect seed to sow now or to sow in the spring. As you look around your garden for seed, look to see if your herbaceaous perennials – those that die back in the fall but regrow from the same plant again next spring – look crowded or even dying out in the center of their clump. These are good signs that these plants might benefit from being divided. In most cases this involves using a good sharp and clean spade to literally cut the plant’s root ball into smaller pieces. You can dig the whole plant up and then divide it, or you can just cut a portion of it right out of the ground. If you dig your original plant up, carefully replant it and water it back in with some root stimulator or compost to give it a boost. You can either plant your new division directly into the ground, or if you want to give it a really good chance of survival (and not forget about it), you can pot the division up into container just a little bigger than it’s root system and water and feed it until you see roots popping out the bottom of the pot letting you know you can safely plant it our into the garden with confidence. (more…)

A little more than one year ago, I had the privilege of writing about the ground-breaking for an exciting new regional resource: The Gateway Science Museum on the campus of CSU, Chico aimed at helping all of us Explore the Natural History of Northern California. The Gateway Science Museum is a partnership between community members and the College of Natural Sciences at CSU, Chico, and its mission is a lofty one: “to create a life-long learning environment that enables people to explore, interpret, and celebrate the magnificent natural heritage of our region through science, research, and education. We strive to combine the resources of California State University, Chico and the entire region to provide an educational and culturally enriching site where families, school classes, clubs, and friends can gather for a variety of activities: 1.) To learn about the natural history of Northern California, past and present; 2.) To compare Northern California’s habitats with others in North America and the world; 3.) To explore interactions between our region’s environment and the people who live here, including the original Native Americans; 4.) To participate in the exhilaration of “doing science”; 5.) To learn about our region’s critical habitats and then visit the habitats on field trips.” Photo: Front entrance of the new Gateway Science Museum on the campus of CSU, Chico.