Under the Solano Sun

Each summer I anticipate the annual return of a dragonfly to my backyard patio-pool area. Like clockwork, this Odonata anisoptera appears, perching atop a narrow 3' high metal garden trellis, surveying the pool before zooming down to encircle the water.

When I first inherited this pear tree it was hemmed in between two structures and restricted to a 3-foot diameter opening in the concrete. I had noticed that several of the branches growing straight up were blacken and appeared dead. I assumed that the recent drought had caused the problem.

In early June on the way home from a trip to Bodega Bay, my husband and I stopped in at the Luther Burbank Gold Ridge Experiment Farm. Luther Burbank, the famous American plantsman, had purchased the farm in 1885 and used it as a base for his long successful career.

Seven years ago, I wrote a blog on wild onion, Allium triquetrum.[1] Since that time, I've learned that I actually have one type of wild onion in my yard and another plant that initially looks like wild onion or wild garlic, Nothoscordum gracile, but actually is not.

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