Napa

If you're a gardener in Napa Valley, you know that winter is not the off season it is elsewhere. In our climate, we can always plant something. When I walk into a nursery at this time of year, I feel like the proverbial kid in the candy store.

A few weeks ago, some friends were over for dinner, and I was throwing food scraps into my miniature compost bin that fits under my kitchen sink (free from the City of Napa). One gentleman told me he didn't compost. It's easy, I said. The UC Master Gardeners have workshops on it all the time.

When I was still living at home with my parents, I remember my mother loving the succulent known as hens and chicks (Sempervivum spp.). They were often planted along highways. To be honest, I was not impressed with them. But today, I am very impressed.

Sometimes I think I should write a book called Gardening for Geezers. For those of us of a certain age, the idea of creeping about on all fours, even equipped with kneepads, is not a felicitous prospect. Some of us even need canes or wheelchairs.

I always love the bulb catalogs that drop through my mail slot at the end of every summer. I once overbought and then procrastinated on planting them. This was when I lived in Humboldt County.

My daughter gave me a wonderful, scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) for Mother's Day several years ago. It flourishes on my side porch, and I repot it regularly. I like it so much that I have rooted sprigs of that plant and given them as gifts.

We have had our first rain, and the nights are starting to get cold. Napans are fortunate: we can enjoy our gardens pretty much year-round and that includes working in them. I welcome rain. First, it means fire season is over. It also softens the soil, making it easier to pull out weeds.

Every year at this time, deciduous trees drop their leaves. This natural phenomenon has many benefits. For one thing, trees don't really need their leaves now that the days are shorter and there's less sunlight for photosynthesis.

Several decades ago, I went hiking on Mount Tamalpais with the mother of a good friend. She handed me a burlap bagreason unknownand off we went. I soon found out why she wanted me to carry a bag.

I was lucky enough to buy a small Napa house in 2008. Trees, shrubs, and a lawn dominated the large backyard. Mowing the lawn took a long time due to the rocky terrain and poor shape of the lawn. Not what I wanted to do on a Saturday. Then there was the weeding and watering.