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A Vernal celebration

Well, we made it through another winter. Late storms finally blessed us with a decent volume of moisture, but now it’s warm again. The sun hasn’t forgotten us. Everywhere little new leaves and teeny-tiny fruits are emerging from their winter homes inside branches and stems... Continue

The Sonoma Garden: Meet the All-in-One Almond tree

The All-in-One almond tree (Prunus dulcis) is one of my favorite trees. I added three in my front yard just last year and I'm already treasuring them. If you like beautiful flowers, edibles, and water-wise landscaping make some space for a few of these botanical... Continue

Options for fruitless olive trees

Karen Boness | The Sonoma Garden -- Olive trees (Olea europaea) are icons of the water wise garden in Northern California. They are immensely popular in drought tolerant landscape design. What’s not to like about these sun-loving, evergreen gems? They save money on the water... Continue

Top five trees for fall color

If you think your autumn garden looks a bit blah, now is the time to act. The soil is still warm. Plant transpiration rates are down due to shorter daylight hours. Sales abound at plant nurseries. The rainy season is coming soon, too. Fall is... Continue

Six reasons why I love my southern magnolia tree

I first met my first southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) in a tree identification class through Oakland’s Merritt College a couple decades ago. From then on, I mostly witnessed them stationed in small street-side squares of dirt struggling to survive. Chlorotic, mis-pruned and heavy-headed, I wasn’t... Continue

The Sonoma Garden: Signs of troubled trees

By Karen Boness -- I recently got a call from a woman who was very distressed about her Japanese maple trees. As she described it, the trees were dying. Based on her description I suspected that her trees were succumbing to verticillium wilt. caused by... Continue

At peace in the garden

My latest writing theme focuses on the language of flowers or plant symbolism. In my first article I designed a little love garden. It was a pink fluffy sketch filled with flowers we associate with romance and love. Last time I explored the world plants... Continue

How to make a ‘Love Garden’

Upon a good friend’s recommendation I recently read the book “The Language of Flowers: A Novel” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The novel is set in San Francisco and North Bay wine country. A confused, self-sabotaging 18-year-old woman, freshly ejected from the foster care system, struggles to... Continue

Wet winter garden tips

Standing water and slick conditions inhibit drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Heavy skies press down on us in a study of 50 shades of grey. We pass the time contemplating the size of raindrops and the angle of sheeting downpours. It’s hard to imagine working in... Continue

The Sonoma Garden: Nursery news

I stopped by Sonoma’s local retail nurseries last week to find out what is ready and in stock for your fall garden. Lydia Constantini, over at Sonoma Mission Gardens on Arnold Drive, reports that spring blooming bulbs are now on hand. Autumn is the time... Continue