Columns

“The spoil is made of butterfly wings, dinosaur teeth, pumpkin sees, lizard skins and fallen leaves. Put your hands in the soil and touch yesterday and all that will be left of tomorrow shall return so that new life can celebrate this day.” —Betty...

California’s Arbor Day is celebrated on March 9 this year. It’s actually a whole week in honor of famed horticulturist Luther Burbank’s birthday. The day is celebrated on different dates around the world because one of the features of Arbor Day is the planting...

Well, it’s come to this—my 900th column. Starting way back in October of 2005, my first column appeared in the newly combined San Lorenzo Valley Press and the Scotts Valley Banner, which was re-named the Press Banner. This is how it all got started. My...

The cry for help came from a new homeowner. She loves her lovely new home but feels everything in the garden is in the wrong place. She wishes to create “a haven for birds and bugs and give it a sense of life.” The...

How many of us have the mindset of keeping our fitness routine while traveling? We pack our fitness clothes with every intention of starting each morning with a run or a bodyweight session, but that doesn’t always pan out in that exact direction. Instead, we...

The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration and togetherness. However, it can also be a period of stress and overwhelm, especially when it comes to managing expectations and obligations. Setting boundaries is crucial to maintaining a healthy balance and ensuring a positive...

Every spring when the dogwoods, lilac and wisteria bloom I get excited. Not having room myself for these beauties, I visit friends’ gardens often. Seems everything is flowering now—lavender, salvia, protea, ceanothus, lily-of-the-valley shrub, bleeding hearts, coral bells, grevillea, camellia, abutilon and more. Here...

The current crisis in property insurance merely echoes the financial horrors of the CZU fires worsened by the catastrophic legal environment for rebuilding cherished homes. Leading insurers like Farmers, State Farm and USAA are cutting back on California home insurance and our area is...

My house in Bonny Doon burned down on Aug. 19, 2020. I know this because my neighbor sent me a photo the next day after the fire had moved on down the slope. The next spring quite a few of my plants were making...

With our gardens coming to life at this time of year we are hopeful that each plant will achieve its full during this growing season. But that doesn’t always turn out to be the case and sometimes it’s hard to figure out what exactly...