Under the Solano Sun

At last Saturday's plant sale at the UC Davis Arboretum, I bought a Tagetes lucida.

You've probably had a similar experience. You see an interesting plant in a mail-order catalog or nursery website you suddenly desire for your garden. You order it.

This question actually came up last year at the Vallejo Farmers' Market: Nice couple: We went to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago and bought this plant called an Aloha Lily and brought it home; can you tell us how to care for it? Me: It's a what?

Maybe it's just me an ordinary gardener who's growing a little skeptical while getting a bit older.

On a 4-day getaway, we came across the Greek goddess of youth while site seeing and of course shopping. This Greek goddess is the plant Hebe. So while we were walking around this big outdoor shopping center, admiring their beautifully maintained landscaping that had a variety of plants and trees.