Melothria scabra is a vine grown for its edible fruit. Fruit are about the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness. Vernacular names include mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin, cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon and Mexican sour cucumber. This plant is native to Mexico and Central America,[1] where it is called sandiita (little watermelon). It is …

The Purple Cayenne produces dark purple fruits that are about 4-6 inches long and are very hot. Great when used in salsas or stir fry. They can also be pickled and some people just grow them as an ornamental pepper. The flavor is slightly sweeter than the red variety of cayenne. Purple Cayenne chile plants grow just over two feet …

The Dave’s Garden website has detailed info on thousands of plants.

Try growing bee balm in view of a window so you won’t miss the acrobatics of hummingbirds that visit in summer. Bee balm also attracts butterflies and bees.

Gymnocalycium mihanovichii is a species of cactus from South America commonly grown as a houseplant. The most popular cultivars are variegated mutants which completely lack chlorophyll, exposing the underlying red, orange or yellow pigmentation. These cultivars are often called moon cactus. Since chorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis, these mutations die as seedlings unless grafted onto another cactus with normal chlorophyll. …

This is a shameless promotion of the beekeeping website of my brother Adam and his wife Therese.

tbd

Circular trellises are a great design element. You can hang decorative elements, especially those that move in the wind. We use ours for anchoring the marionberry canes. The height is 84 inches unplanted (76 when planted).

Nopal (also known as the Prickly Pear cactus) is hardy, drought-tolerant, and reproduces easily by cuttings. Forty years ago I took a small cactus pad from the home of my wife’s grandmother in Hollister California. Nopal is a species and an ingredient made from the Opuntia cacti, in the subfamily Opuntioideae. They are particularly common in their native Mexico where …

The black phoebe is a common visitor in the Sunnyvale garden. It is mainly insectivorous and waits on a perch before flying out and catching its prey in the air. (Sayornis nigricans) is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its …