It’s almost mid-September, which means that autumn is looming.  But instead of thinking about fall leaves, I’m contemplating spring flowers.  More specifically, some of the iconic blooms of spring—purple crocus, yellow daffodils, sweet-scented freesia, purple hyacinths and colorful tulips—are on my mind.  Despite blooming in spring, these are called fall bulbs. With little effort now, you can add beautiful splashes of spring color to your garden. 

Now is the time to purchase spring-blooming bulbs.  At the nursery, choose large, healthy bulbs that are neither dry and withered nor spongy and moldy. 

Most bulbs prefer a location with full sun.  However, don’t overlook spots in your garden near deciduous trees. These can be...

By Val Whitmyre, U.C. Master Gardener

This year, the balmy August days were a joy to most gardeners. Tomatoes took their time ripening, but chores were more pleasant without the usual searing heat. Bees love balmy days, too.  My garden teemed with bumblebees early in the morning, with honeybees arriving just as the sun peeked through the mist.

Sofie, my small white Lab, and I enjoy watching bees float from hollyhocks to abutilon to roses, as they wriggle deep into the blossoms for nectar. Sofie’s eyes cross as she tries to follow these busy creatures.

I wonder what the garden would look like if bees didn’t exist, a notion not entirely silly. It has only been five years since farmers experienced a phenomenon that...

Have you been thinking about going native? Are you ready to replace your lawn with plants that evolved in this area?  

     There are many reasons to do so. I was recently reading an article on milkweed (Asclepias sp.) in Wings, the magazine published by the Xerces Society. The society was founded to save invertebrate populations. The article gives several examples of insects and plants not working together because they did not evolve together. In contrast, the Monarch butterfly and California’s native milkweeds work in harmony. The native milkweeds provide nectar for many bees, bugs and butterflies. Monarch caterpillars can only mature on milkweed.

     Invertebrate populations include all the little...

Attracting and helping honeybees thrive is always good for the garden, but other pollinators deserve your attention and appreciation, too.

More than 80 percent of the world’s food and flower crops need pollinators to produce crops. Luckily, the honeybee isn’t the only pollinator responsible for such a herculean task. Ants, bats, other types of bees, beetles, wasps, butterflies, animals, flies and gardeners with paintbrushes can also fulfill the function of fertilizing the many plants we depend on.

Pollination occurs when pollen grains from a flower’s male anther (the pollen-bearing part of the stamen)are transferred to the female stigma, the part of the flower which receives the pollen.

Important...