The Real Dirt

Flowers blooming

The Real Dirt blog covers regional gardening issues from soil health to planting for pollinators; from fire resistant landscaping to attracting wildlife. Read all about it!

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Sulfer-flowered buckwheat (eriogonum umbellatum). J. Alosi
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Summer-Blooming Native Plants

July 16, 2025
By this time of year the lush growth and colorful flowers of spring are just a memory. Many California native plants go dormant in the summer, waiting for the fall and winter rains before they grow again. Some plants, like California buckeye, are already losing their leaves. But luckily for the native garden…
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Coral Bells blooming. J. Alosi
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Native Plants for Shade

July 7, 2025
On our hot summer days, shady garden areas can offer welcome respite from the heat. One of the challenges of gardening in shade, though, is adding interest through color, because it can be difficult to find plants that bloom in shade. Incorporating native plants in your garden can greatly increase the…
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Discoloration and distortion of peppers from Cucumber Mosaic Virus. Dennis H. Hall, UC IPM Program
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A Virus in the Garden – Part II

July 1, 2025
A virus can reduce a plant’s growth, lower its yield, and result in inferior fruit, vegetables and flowers. Viruses are often very host specific. Recognizing symptoms can help you take appropriate action, where possible, to manage a virus and hopefully prevent its spread. The following are several viruses…
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Tomato leaves with signs of Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM Program
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A Virus in the Garden

June 24, 2025
Most gardeners are aware of plant diseases that can wreak havoc in their gardens. If you grow fruit trees, you may be confronted with curled, reddened peach leaves (peach leaf curl fungus). If you grow apples or pears, your trees may sometimes look like they were scorched with a blow torch (fire blight…
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Morrison’s Bumble bee in a Chico garden. Michelle Graydon
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National Pollinator Week

June 17, 2025
In 2007, the United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution designating a week in June as "National Pollinator Week" (this year it is June 23-29, 2025). In response to the alarm raised by an annual increase in commercial honey bee deaths in the US, the government and researchers began addressing the…
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