Bonnie Nowicki Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and the plant nursery people have filled the stores with colorful mums, sunflowers, and more. Why not be more creative and source some of your holiday decor from your own yard. Start by choosing a favorite plate, platter, bowl, tray, or basket to display your finds. Cut various size shrub…
Bonnie Nowicki Lemon tree aficionados take notice! Can anything be yummier than lemon bars, lemon curd, and refreshing homemade lemonade? Meyer lemons are prized because they are sweeter, juicier, less acidic, and completely edible (even the peel). Some of my Quail Creek neighbors grow Meyer lemon trees and kindly share their plentiful harvest. I wanted to learn…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener Hello Quail Creek neighbors. It’s time to shake off the almost year-long stresses and allow peace and joy to overcome us. Festive holiday plants are waiting to grace our tables, countertops, and patios. Support your local stores and purchase a cheerful plant or two. My December 2019 article on holiday plant…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener As we continue to be ever hopeful about these challenging times in our country, perhaps envisioning a lovely arbor covered with lush greenery and fragrant flowers is just what we need to boost our spirits. Visualize a charming vine meandering up a wall, arbor, or trellis. Vines, actually, are a practical…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener Two books devoted exclusively to herbs sit on my bookshelf and need attention. Both books extol the versatility and medicinal value of herbs. So much information! For this article, I decided to focus on growing herbs in containers for their beauty, practical uses, and movability. You don’t need a garden or…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener A recent butterfly article in the SanDiego News gave me cause for concern about the noticeable decrease of butterflies everywhere. The article centered their attention on the tiny Quino checkerspot. Its remaining habitats are under threat from development projects, and environmental groups have filed a petition to have this butterfly added…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener As our country’s health struggles continue, I delve deeper into my book collection. I was fascinated reading about the language of flowers. From ancient times, flowers have been symbolic. Greek and Romans made garlands and wreaths for their warriors. Poets have extolled the virtue of flowers over the centuries, but it…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener Perusing through my favorite gardening books, I can’t help but marvel at the amazing variety of succulents. They are unusual; so plump and artistic looking. In my May 2019 article on cacti, I mentioned that all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. Succulents are plants that are able…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener The lazy days of summer are fast approaching. As we continue to shelter in place from the virus, many of us are planning in our minds, or even on paper, how we will enhance our yards with new plantings or exciting yard art once the local nurseries open again. During these…
Bonnie Nowicki, Master Gardener As we continue to hunker down and cocoon in our homes during this unprecedented national crisis, perhaps a pleasant diversion could be assessing our landscape watering practices. We live in the Sonoran Desert, and home landscape plants probably suffer more from problems related to watering than from any other cause. Since Green…