Under the Solano Sun

This spring is the best I've seen my front garden bed. This is the area where I planted the drought-tolerant plants, next to the driveway, farthest away from the house. The California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and California lilac (Ceanothus spp.

In June, Araceli Lavender Farm in Dixon hosted their 2nd Annual Lavender Festival.

During this time of year, our outside world is full of blooming Crape Myrtles. (Lagerstroemia), If you are wondering which spelling is correct (Crape Myrtle, Crapemyrtle, Crepe Myrtle, or Crepemyrtle), they are all acceptable and any may be seen on plant tags, in an article or web search.

We had a surprise visitor in the middle of the day a couple of weeks ago. Stretched out across our tiny patch of grass in our backyard was a large snake. He or she had yellow stripes running the length of both sides of the dark brown body, round pupils and no rattles. Whew! Not a rattlesnake.

In early July my husband and I were in Renton Washington, a community near Seattle. We went for a late afternoon walk along a lakeside park called Coulon Beach Park. It's a lovely park that is beautifully landscaped.