2011 Tour Host Garden Pick of the Week

This week's pick is a great example of how to garden on a steep slope and deal with a large population of marauding deer.

If you think your yard is steep you should check out Sally Leveille's. Over the last 20 years she’s converted this juniper

Spring at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Red and pink heucheras, orange poppies, yellow fremontodendron, blue ceanothus, purple Douglas iris…flower blooms from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden covered the color spectrum during a visit earlier this month. Situated on 78 acres 

2011 Tour Host Garden Pick of the Week

This week's pick produces annuals on the scale of a small market garden, has an orchard, chickens, a vineyard, and keeps bees.

Organic gardening is a tradition that runs deep in Jim’s family. His parents gardened in Sunol and so did his grandparents. Jim keeps ¾ of an acre in year

Happy California Native Plant Week

Ribes sanguineum

If this time of year makes you want to celebrate California natives, you are not alone. The State Assembly passed a resolution establishing the third week of April as California Native Plant Week, beginning April 17-23, 2011. What a great chance to appreciate our beautiful native plants and think about how much they add to our gardens and the environment.

The natives are definitely the most happening plants in my front yard right now. The douglas irises are blooming all over the place, the ceanothus are covered in bees, and the bishop

Visit Napa Gardens on May 1

This spring the Bay-Friendly Garden Tour will be held in Napa for the first time. The 12 gardens on the Napa Tour represent the many different styles of Bay-Friendly. There is a worm farm, wildlife gardens, edibles, native plants, and several examples of lawn conversions. Following is a preview of what’s in store for tour goers in Napa.

Butterfly Gardening & The Plants We Grow

Gardening for insect life certainly runs the risk of raising an eyebrow or two. Why, would anyone wish to attract insects, one might ask? Well the simple answer is that not all insects are bad. In fact many insects are beneficial to your garden in specific, and to the ecosystem in general. The obvious examples are the pollinators. Also of worthy mention are those heroic predatory insects whose appetites keep the numbers of

2011 Tour Host Garden Pick of the Week

This week's pick is a professionally designed garden with habitat plants that are flourishing because of improvements made to the soil. 

A couple of years ago Carolyn and Bob Heywood looked at their weed-choked lawn and rotting wooden deck and decided

2011 Tour Host Garden Pick of the Week

This week's pick blended edibles, chickens, and bees into a great looking garden.

A contributing writer to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Home and Garden section, Scott gardens with a sense of style and taste. He tore out the large concrete

Easy Entertaining in the Garden

Since finishing up (if you can call a garden ever finished) our yard we have had more parties than ever before. Living in a small bungalow there is never enough space inside to have more than a couple of friends over for dinner. Almost all of our friends with children never came over in fear something getting broken. I admit our house was never very child friendly with art leaning against the walls, and all sorts of local crafts displayed within easy reach of anyone over 24 inches. Once we had our own little one, things did change inside, but mostly