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Garden Tour Day!
Let's say this up front: The Town Mouse garden is not on the Going Native Garden tour this year. Town Mouse is leaving for a long trip, and a house sitter will take care of the house and garden.But you...
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Belly plants of Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve. Etc.
But first an apology.And no, this is not Paul Heiple apologizing on my behalf. He's just looking at something very, very small in the kingdom Plantae.So many interesting topics have come up for...
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Path clearing - a little poem
It had gotten to the point where I had to step on tender shoots to get to the gateAnd one day I just ripped and hacked them backTill I could again see the boulders edging the path.I sat on a green...
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Seabright Ecosystem Restoration
The ecological restoration at Seabright Beach, Santa CruzTill I got overcommitted to too much volunteering, I helped out with the Westcliff Ecological Restoration group (WCER), whose mission it is to...
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Inspiration from an unexpected source
I was at a fundraiser for my granddaughter's preschool a couple of weeks ago at a venue in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its lush gardens were - especially in this time of drought - rather startling.The...
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Wonder in an unexpected moment - western azalea (and phacelia and ninebark)
So as I drive the creek-side road up towards our ridge-top road, I keep my eye open for seeding natives that might like to extend their reach by a mile or two to my restoration garden. I stopped to...
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Coppicing deer grass rejuvenates it so fast!
This deer grass had started to look permanently bleached, with a thick thatchIt was with trepidation (and a lot of effort!) that five weeks ago, I took the shears to a huge deer grass (Muhlenbergia...
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Deer, deer!
Nice coffeeberry! You can keep that coyote bush though.As I was writing the last post a young doe stepped past my window and down the path and began nibbling on the coffeeberry bush.I've seen her in...
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That's not drought tolerant--that's normal - Saxon Holt's Summer-Dry website,...
This book changed my life!I'm preparing to give a talk on best books for native plant gardeners. I was thinking about books that get gardeners reoriented, or I should say occidented, turned towards the...
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Gardening for Wildlife can be Harsh
The shy little Bewick's WrenSitting on a cushion, four feet from a tangle of toyon and coyote bush, I hear an eruption of urgent chattering within the thicket, and a buzzing in another bush a few feet...
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Joyful June in Country Mouse Garden - with Clarkia rubicunda!
Clarkia rubicunda - Ruby Chalice Clarkia (locally wild)Please join me in a pictorial wander through my garden. As you will see Clarkia rubicunda is the plant of the month! I'll gather seed this year -...
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Stojanovich Family Park, Campbell CA: Natives and Local History
Well, so here's a little story.Mr. Dusky Footed Wood Rat's "baby brother" (I'll call him Mr. Moose) lives far far away in Minnesota. But now and then his company sends him to Fremont, a town about 40...
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My very own discovery: Grassy Tarplant has two different seed distribution...
Well, I may not be the first to notice this but... it's always deeply satisfying to make your own discoveries, don't you find?"What the heck are these little burr things?" I wondered.I was out in my...
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The California Native Landscape by Greg Rubin and Lucy Warren
When I first read The California Native Landscape by Greg Rubin and Lucy Warren, I didn't altogether like it. But then I'm not actually who this book was written for. Once I got that -- this became my...
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Kezar Triangle, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Mr Wood Rat and I had occasion recently to cross Kezar Triangle on our way to eat a picnic lunch and watch the lawn bowlers in Golden Gate Park.We've crossed Kezar Triangle before, and enjoyed watching...
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Yellowjackets munching Dutchman's Pipevine seed pods!
Dutchman's pipevine - Aristolochia californicaThis year we had a bumper display of Dutchman's pipevine flowers. The vine shown above is growing up through a rambling rose.This plant is the sole larval...
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California Native Plant Seeds -- Propagation begins!
I've been busy starting seeds! October is a good time to start a lot of seeds, except for the winter dormant ones -- the ones you have to stick in the fridge three months to convince them winter is...
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California Native Plant Seedlings!
First my blurb and then the seedling photos - you can skip down to the photos. I won't mind!I blogged about sowing the seeds here. This is the first follow up post.The first leaves to pop up are the...
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Starting Bulbs from Seed and Potting Up Seedlings - and Other Joys of...
I haven't been going at it hammer and tongs but I'm making headway with propagation of local natives for use in my garden and on our ridge top property. Here's how it's going.Bulb seeds!I attempted to...
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Growing Castilleja affinis, Paintbrush, from seed, with host plants
Paintbrush, Castilleja affinis (and friend)Note: This post edited to change the common name from Indian paintbrush to paintbrush. I felt a little uneasy with the name, and then a FB friend messaged me...
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