The gulf fritillary is often mistaken for a monarch butterfly. (Courtesy Dr. Shapiro via FreeClipartPictures.com) Gulf fritillary seeks its favorite plant: Passion flowers This butterfly has a passion for passion flowers. Just as monarchs...
Aphids are just starting to collect on the top of this bud on a McCartney rose. A blast of water will knock them off. (Photos: Kathy Morrison) How to cope with these pests without...
Praying mantid molts off its old exoskeleton and emerges as an adult. (Photos: Debbie Arrington) Love them or hate them, this critter ranks among the scariest-looking insects in the Sacramento garden — especially when...
Give ’em what they like! A lady beetle hangs out on a stonecrop plant at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center last fall. (Photos: Kathy Morrison) Growing plants they favor will encourage them to stick...
As much as we — and the bees — love California poppies, they are far from the only California natives that work well in a garden. Get inspired this week via virtual visits to...
Lilacs are putting on a show right now, thanks to enough winter chill hours. (Photos: Debbie Arrington) More proof we had a chilly (if dry) winter: Lilacs. Throughout my Sacramento neighborhood, lilacs are putting...
If there’s one photo that sums up the 2020 growing season, it’s this one: Tomato behind shade cloth in mid-August. (Photos: Kathy Morrison) Warning! Today I’m going to explore a sensitive topic: The tomato-growing...
It’s always nice to see a lady beetle at work in the garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) I like to think that the readers of this blog are planet-aware enough to already be using earth-friendly...