Salvia splendens ‘Saucy Wine’ is a vibrant, heat-tolerant tender perennial featuring velvety, burgundy-red flower spikes from spring to late fall. Growing 2-3 ft tall, this low-maintenance, self-cleaning plant is ideal for borders and containers, attracting pollinators while resisting deer and drought.  Key Care Guidelines Light: Thrives in full sun to partial shade, requiring at least 3 hours of direct sunlight. Water & Soil: Thrives …

Sisyrinchium angustifolium is noted for its violet-blue flowers and branched flowering stems. Though their foliage is grass-like, the blue-eyed grasses belong to the iris family not the grass family. It is native to southeast USA where it occurs in damp open woods, slopes and along stream banks. It is a clump-forming perennial that features a tuft of narrow grass-like leaves …

Bright gentian blue flowers to 1” across with a surprising pink eye & bright yellow anthers lit­erally smother this striking front of the garden annual or dry garden perennial. Neat & compact, this Mediterranean native grows to 10” tall & 20” across & is stunning combined with contrasty blooms & foliage like Ursinia anthemoides & Heuchera ‘Marmalade.’ Thrives with little …

Fast growing baby turnips with crisp, pearly-white flesh, mild flavor, and tasty tops. Sourced from Japan, for reneesgarden.com. Enjoy them sliced up raw for green salads and crunchy snacks or quickly stirfry, saute, or roast them whole in the oven. They cook in minutes. Mikado’s tasty and notritious tops make fine cooked greens. in early spring, as soon as ground …

Emma Prusch Farm Park is a 43.5 acre (176,000 m²) park in East San Jose, CA. Donated by Emma Prusch to the City of San Jose in 1962 to use to demonstrate the valley’s agricultural past, it includes a 4-H barn (the largest in San Jose), community gardens, a rare-fruit orchard, demonstration gardens, picnic areas, and expanses of lawn. The …

If you have a Meyer lemon tree and it is January, you are looking at dozens of ripe lemons. You have made lemonade. You have made lemon ice-cubes. What else can you do with them besides play bocce ball with them? Preserve them! They add a great flavor to chicken tagine. Reprinted by epicurious.com with permission from Couscous and Other …

The Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild is dedicated to beekeeping and helping non-beekeepers understand bees in and around the Santa Clara Valley. The valley comprises San Jose California, the surrounding cities,and parts of Santa Clara County. Their membership also includes those from nearby Santa Cruz and the areas in-between.

Charles Street Gardens is Sunnyvale’s first community garden. It is a one-acre organic community garden located in the heart of Sunnyvale, CA. Charles Street Gardens consists of 92 garden plots available to Sunnyvale residents, as well as a Food Forest project that grows food for hungry families, and a demonstration garden maintained by the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County. …

Australian Finger Limes ripen in fall or winter in California, and have a flavor reminiscent of true limes. The fruit is sometimes referred to as “citrus caviar” because the small round interior vesicles pop in your mouth with tart lime flavor. Chefs the world over are finding creative uses for Australian Finger Limes, which add unique texture and a special …

You hear what sounds like a couple of men running across your roof. They stop. They start wrestling, rolling around. You go outside and shine a flashlight: Bandit eyes! It’s a couple of juvenile racoons playing around. Where I live is about 4 miles from wilderness. If you have a fish pond, good luck to you. If you have cats, …