Under the Solano Sun

Every year I find excuses to avoid thinning our prolific nectarine tree. It is a tedious and time-consuming chore, and for me, conveniently postponed until too late. My laziness inevitably results in ripe fruit the size of big cherries.

I have always liked Gala apples - sweet tart and crunchy. An old school pal in a cooler zone has 2 established Galas, and every fall they are loaded with beautiful pink blushed fruit. The owner of a local nursery assured me that galas would do fine in USDA Zone 9b.

Ancient plants fascinate me. I've written about horsetails and magnolias for Seeds for Thought, the UCCE Master Gardeners newsletter of Solano Co., but it wasn't until I researched and wrote about ginkgo trees (Winter 2021, https://solanomg.ucanr.edu/newsletters/Seeds_for_Thought87791.pdf, pp.

Imagine my delight when I found these tiny dragons on my Helborus hybrid. They are of the order Coleoptera, and the larvae of Ladybeetles, or Ladybugs, scientifically known as Hippodamia convergens. The larvae are more voracious aphid slayers than the adult.

There's a map on the back of your seed packet. Colored zones of the contiguous forty-eight states are highlighted. On the side the colors are identified as when to plant your seeds. Climate change has disrupted that map. Areas that were cooler in the spring are now getting warmer.