Under the Solano Sun

On the corner of my property sits a mature Aloe arborescens, commonly known as a Candelabra Aloe, or Torch Aloe.[1] Aloe arborescens is a species of flowering succulent perennial plants belonging to the genus Aloe, (yes the same one as Aloe vera!) and is a South African native.

When is a rose not a rose? When it is the Lenten Rose. Technically it is Helleborus x hybridus. The cup-shaped, nodding flower is thought to resemble a rose. It earned the rest of its name from when it blooms late winter until late spring, surrounding the season of Lent.

My friend Ann invited me to go with her to the scion exchange in Santa Rosa. The Redwood Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) put together the annual event. I've heard about this event for many years but this was the first time I've attended.

After attending a container gardening workshop, I discovered an article based on the findings by Agriculturalist Research Service, horticulturist, Eric Brennan that organic lettuce growers like to use alyssum in their fields of lettuce to help control aphids.

The Olea europeaea is a member of the Oleaceae family known as the common olive. It is a slow growing evergreen tree or shrub with a reflective soft gray foliage and is known for its beautiful gnarly trunk, also known for it is drupes which yield oil and marketed as table or pickled olives.