Under the Solano Sun

At the beginning of spring, my friend Calvin sent me some really weird looking plant pictures. At first I thought he was goofing with me, but it turned out that the picture was of his chard plant.

Remember the spirited commercial, There's a new pet - Ch Ch ChChia! TheChia Pet, the pottery that grows? This was one of the catchy jingles in the 1980s for something called theChia Pet: which are terracotta figurines that growchia sprouts to resemble an animal's hair or fur.

Over the years, filmmakers have ingeniously incorporated plants into the narratives of all kinds of movies including horror and thriller movies, creating a unique and chilling atmosphere that lingers long after the credits roll.

The pitiful whimpering caught my attention. That's when I realized, not for the first time, that I might have a plant problem, specifically, a pumpkin problem. But first, an explanation . . . . Each year, I have the best intentions to edit my garden and not overplant. And each year, I overplant.

I love when I meet a fellow gardener and they can name every plant they see with its formal botanical name! I'm always so impressed and sometimes intimidated. I have often found myself making up names when someone asked me. "What is the name of this plant?".