Autumn’s arrival for me is accompanied by a renewed sense of community. Perhaps it is the return of regular school schedules, and the return of regular monthly meetings for garden clubs and organizations. Perhaps it is the primal sense of oncoming winter and a need to come together and prepare. Perhaps it’s the anticipation and energy of the harvest – from the vast chartreuse rice fields and the statuesque almond, olive and walnut orchards running through our region, to the end-of-summer tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash finishing up in our home gardens and now filling our kitchen counters, freezers and shelves. Cool, even cold, nights and days with a prospect of rain are returning. We are gathering, and we are planning and planting for the seasons to come. Photo: Rice fields, Central Valley in October. (more…)

Renowned American wildflower and native plant advocate Lady Bird Johnson, founder of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in central Texas, once wrote: “Wherever I go in America, I like it when the land speaks its own language in its own regional accent.” But of course in order to hear this language, we need to slow down, stop talking ourselves……and listen. As with any language, if we take just a little time to learn more about it - the language sounds so much more clear and mellifluous to the ear. Photo: Vernal Pool in flower, photo courtesy of Joe Silveiras, all rights reserved 2011. (more…)

I am going on several winter weeks without rain (or snow) on my garden. I am enjoying the sun, but I am very aware of the lack of needed water as well. If you are a gardener (or living creature of any variety really), water is a fairly constant topic of interest to you – and to your garden. It is one of the small-handful of things that neither we, nor our gardens can live without and as a result its sources, supply and usage are of paramount importance. Photo: A John Whittlesey garden design featuring low-water plants - and what, in winter, I dream of my garden being come summer. Photo by John Whittlesey, 2010. (more…)

I have said this before: October in the Northstate garden is a sigh of relief. A deep cleansing breath. Summer’s heat has mostly subsided, fall rains are returning, but the garden is not yet done. Its colors are deepening and mellow; October to me is about this seasonal artistry and seasonal surprise. (more…)

It’s August. It’s hot and dry in interior northern California and in most cases, our gardens are looking a little…worn, a little worse for the wear of our long, hot, dry summers. Every gardener I know, prefaces a high or late summer visit to their garden with the warning: “You can come, but you won’t be seeing the garden at its best, you know.” Photo: Eriogonum umbellatum and coyote mint (Monardella spp.) in the wild of California’s Monitor Pass. Photo courtesy of John Whittlesey, copyright 2010.

High summer and late summer are when many of our native or drought tolerant and heat loving plants can and should shine. Especially those plants adapted to the arid North American West, are just such plants. And for me, the wild buckwheats, of the Eriogonum genus, are top choices. Photo: Eriogonum species feeding native butterflies in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (more…)

Ahhh, long hot days, coolish nights and the plump, fragrant flesh of tomatoes. August is the iridescent shimmer of sunshine along the edge of the scented foliage of exuberant tomato plants – running wild in the vegetable garden. It is the salads and soups and sandwiches made of this most anticipated summer fruit/vegetable. Photo: Fragrant tomato leaf glistening in the early morning sun.

Photo: The wide variety of tomatoes in my garden this year - seedlings of which I got from Brian Marshall and Nancy Heinzel of Sawmill Creek Farms in Paradise (marshall-n@sbcglobal.net) - if you ask me, the little purple red ones are the very best - Black Plum, they’re called. (more…)

The first full moon of summer hung in our night skies last weekend - ripe with the promise of the coming full summer season. After our long, cool and damp spring, the North State is slowly heating up - but again nice and slow - the heat so far is being almost gentle with us. With the long spring and easy entry into summer, wildflowers generally associated with spring on the valley flower have given us an extended show, we have enjoyed spring vegetables a little longer as well, and the summer vegetables are are also beginning to show their ripe promise. I have not had a ripe tomato from my garden yet, but my green ones give me much to look forward to and my basil, cucumbers and squash are coming in nicely. Photo: Native Collinsia in bloom in Upper Bidwell Park, late June.

In the edible farm and garden report David Grau of Valley Oak tool and the Chico Organic Gardening Class series writes that “July is the time to work up soil for planting your early winter crops out in August. He points out that cool season crops like broccoli, cabbage, beets, spinach, and onions often go to seed instead of producing a crop in our climate often because they were planting too late the fall before. We don’t naturally think of planting cool season vegetables in July or especially August, but that is the best time. September is too late. Transplants should be planted in early to mid August here in the north valley. The plants need a lot of sunlight to size up before the days turn short and cool in October and November. If you get your plants in late, they will overwinter, but in the spring when they start to grow, they go directly to seed instead of producing nice big heads of broccoli. Broccoli raab is grown for the leaves and small florets, but you won’t get much if the plant is put in late.” Photo: Ripening plums, late June. (more…)