“Once neighbors and passersby see the changes happening as you begin the process of removing your default front lawn and replacing it with something more lively and interesting,” notes landscape designer Bernadette Balics of Davis, “curiosity gets the best of them, and they ask questions. I really like the social aspect of this gardening interaction, and my clients do too. If you plant something edible, the interest level really peaks. So consider replacing your lawn with some strawberries or artichokes, and meet the neighbors.” Photo: Bernadette’s gardens are frequently marked by creative pairings of common and less-common herbaceous perennials. Here a vibrant yellow yarrow and a radiant pink buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens) balance opposite corners of a rich planting around a drip-fed cut-stone birdbath. In this composition, strongly textural foliage and the focal-point of the birdbath create interest year-round - for people and for visiting birds and pollinators.
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The seeds of much of the spring and summer garden are sown in the short days and early evenings of January’s wintery span. Perhaps these are the figurative seeds of ideas and plans sown in our gardeners brain by beautiful holiday garden books and the winters batch of seed catalogues that inspire us. Perhaps they are the real seeds of warm summer tomato plants sown inside warm, humid greenhouses across our region – tiny sprouts starting on their way to tall, aromatic green indoor expanses eventually pulling us back into spring. (more…)

May is upon us – the crowning of the May is actively happening in my garden. On Egreenway.com out of Red Bluff I ran across this timely quote by 20th century naturalist, writer, and photographer Edwin Way Teale: “The world’s favorite season is the spring. 
All things seem possible in May.”


So much activity happens in our gardens in May – much to be done and much to be enjoyed. (more…)

One of the well-documented ironies of being an avid (read: obsessed) gardener is that many of the things we love about gardens – their peacefulness and their beauty, are the very things that elude as gardeners in OUR OWN GARDENS. Jokes are easy to make about the gardener who can’t see their own garden for its weeds, can’t sit down and enjoy their own garden because there is just the one more thing to do – right over there – right now. I’ll sit down and relax right after I get that one thing done. HA! As well all know, one thing leads to you noticing one more and one more and so on. It can be difficult to sit down, relax and enjoy your own garden and the rejuvenating therapy you designed it to provide. Photo: Hyssop or Agastache, a fragrant and reliable summer bloomer that does not want a lot of summer water.

Gardeners are generally a happy lot however – even if we can’t sit still. Chico allergy specialist Anton Dotson, MD of Allergy Associates tipped me off to one possible source of this happiness: according to a study done at the University of Bristol in England, a beneficial bacteria known as mycobacterium vaccae, which is naturally present in the soil, increases a person’s seratonin and norepinephrin levels – much like antidepressant medication. Dr. Chris Lowry, lead author on the paper from Bristol University, said: “These studies leave us wondering if we shouldn’t all be spending more time playing in the dirt.” – and yes, Dr. Lowry. Yes, we should.

But perhaps those of us who already play in the dirt a lot, should try to relax a bit as well. If your summer vacation is a staycation at home – by all means play in the dirt, but consider taking an hour or two to pretend that you’re visiting someone else’s garden. Sit back and let the dragon flies and hummingbirds mesmerize you, drink in the sound of the songbirds, consider the sway of the grasses around you and the rustle of leaves in the tree branches above you. Let the heat slow you down. Read a book, take a nap. Curling up and pulling back is what even the best heat loving plants do in the heat of the day – why not us?

If you need some good summer garden book recommendations - here’s a brief list of ones I like, old and new. The should all be available by calling an independent bookstore near you, for instance Lyon Books in Chico (530-891-3338), or by visiting your local library.

The Steamy, Adventurous and Generally Entertaining: Hothouse Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire, by Margot Berwin; 2009, Pantheon Books.

The Lovely and Sweet: Mrs Whaley and Her Charleston Garden, by Emily Whaley and William Baldwin; 1997, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

The Well-Written, Observant and Humorous: Second Nature: a gardener’s education, by Michael Pollan; 1991, Delta Books.

The Thoughtful and Sublime: In the Eye of the Garden, by Mirabel Osler; 1993, J M Dent, Ltd.

The Fascinating: Flower Confidential, by Amy Stewart; 2008, Algonquin Books. (Stewart has a new book out entitled Wicked Plants, which I have heard very good things about, but I have not yet read. I will let you know when I do.)

The Bite-Sized and Fascinating: The Curious Gardener’s Almanac, by Niall Edworthy; 2006, Perigree Books.

Summer heat lovers are now lighting up the garden with extravagant and sometimes outrageous blooms. The heat-tender have retreated to the background - some more gracefully than others. Watering, deadheading, weeding are our primary tasks – along with enjoying the fruits and vegetables starting to come in by the basketful. Some of your heavy bloomers or crop producers would benefit from a mid-summer shot of organic fertilizer, a new mulch of compost or worm castings. This is a good time to prune spring-blooming or early summer-blooming shrubs and to cut back the foliage on spent bulbs.

Many garden clubs and groups lay low in the summer but the native plant societies, nurseries and public gardens have a lot on offer this month: on July 11 in Redding The McConnell Arboretum and Gardens hosts a workshop on Garden Photography; on July 18 the UC Davis Arboretum hosts a guided tour of water-smart plants, on July 25th in Chico you could go to a Worm Composting Workshop hosted by the Gateway Science Museum in the morning and then still have time to get to the Plant Barn’s annual Summer Soiree with flower floozy food and fun all day. July 3 – August 11th are considered the Dog Days of Summer and the full moon falls on the 7th. More information on these events and many more can be found in the Monthly Calendar of Gardening Events. Have an event you would like listed? Send me an email with all relevant information: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State, based in Chico, CA. In a North State Garden celebrates the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region, and is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio KCHO/KFPR radio, Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is positively North State.

Ok – and be honest now – how many plants have you killed? As a gardener, the most reassuring (and funny, because true) advice, I have ever heard was from Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at the Denver Botanic Gardens, when he said something along the lines of “If you have killed 100 plants, you are a beginner gardener, if you have killed 1000 plants, you are an amateur, and if you can no longer keep track of how many plants over 1000 you have killed, you are an advanced gardener.” Hallelujah, I’m advanced. Photo:Vine Hill Manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’) is one of the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars shrub selections.

But in all truth, I would rather not kill plants, even in the name of experimentation and learning through trying. When I first began gardening in the northern Central Valley – I had a high mortality rate in my garden: some things died because I planted them too late in Spring and the heat got them, some things died because I planted them too late and the frost got them, some things that said “full-sun” did not really want full CENTRAL VALLEY sun, others things got too much water in winter and rotted, others too little water in summer and died of thirst. HOLY COW! Why even garden here, you might ask. Well, as you know, we garden here because it is in our genes to garden no matter where we are and because if we are pointed in the right direction we do actually learn quickly how to manage with our specific region and climate. Photo:Island Alumroot (Heuchera maxima), is one of the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars native California perennial selections.
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For a gardener, one of life’s peaceful pleasures is a mid-winter walk in the park (or garden as the case may be). We as North Staters are lucky to have so many outstanding parks to choose from for just such a walk. While the University of California at Davis Arboretum might seem a bit south of us, and we actually haven’t had much of a winter yet, the Davis Arboretum makes for a great walk. Photo Above: A view down the waterway that runs through the center of the UC Davis Arboretum and its gardens and collections.

Recently, Ellen Zagory, Director of Horticulture at The UC Davis Arboretum, enthusiastically walked and drove me around a good portion of the 2 mile-long, 100-acre, 73 year-old Arboretum – where we paid the most specific attention to the individual ‘Demonstration Gardens’ within the larger park.

Under the leadership of staff horticulturists Warren Roberts, Emily Griswold , Ryan Deering and Ellen, this “public garden, living museum and out-door classroom and recreation area” has undergone significant renovations and additions that are of special interest to home gardeners. Restored areas include several of the 10 distinct demonstration gardens. The largest of these renovations was completed in 2008 on The Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, famous for its “Valley-Wise” plant and plant-care principles. Photo Above: Beautiful and helpful new signs were pat of the Aboretum’s renovations completed in 2008.
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