The Mountain Gardener | All About Fragrant Flowers
Is everything blooming now fragrant or is it just me? Does Mother Nature have a card up her sleeve to insure pollinators find nectar thereby ensuring plant propagation or is it mostly spring fever on my part? What makes flowers fragrant anyway?
Fragrance in flowers...
The Mountain Gardener | Growing the Best Dogwoods
When the dogwoods start to bloom, I’m torn between the flowering crabapples and cherries and wisteria and lilacs. But those huge dogwood flowers—or more precisely, bracts—get my attention every time I drive along the thoroughfares of San Lorenzo and Scotts Valley.
Most of us are...
The Mountain Gardener Celebrates 900 Columns
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 Mountain Gardener | Post-Thanksgiving Ideas for Your Garden
The weekend after Thanksgiving I like to get my Christmas tree and put it outside in a bucket of water until I’m ready to bring it inside to decorate. One of my friends has the solution for the longest lasting tree with the most...
The Mountain Gardener | Get Your Bare-Root Edibles Now
The other day I visited three local nurseries to see what’s new in their bare root edible selection. In addition to the classics, I found a ton of new varieties for containers and smaller home gardens.
Now is the time to add ornamentals and edibles...
Finance | Accounting for Your Financial Plan
“In the world of finance, the best accounting is like poetry—precise, impactful and timeless.” —Daniel Adams
Every New Year, calculate your present resources, income, expenditures and cash flow. Eight accounting classes helped me do financial “dream planning” well while proudly wearing CFP therapist, economist and...
Guest Column | Difference Between Sympathy and Empathy
“Could a greater miracle take place than to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” —Henry Davis Thoreau
That day in Boulder Creek was much like these past few days have been, cold with on and off spurts of rain with some sun mixed...
Fitness | Benefits of Strong Knees
How are your knees? Knees are one of the largest and most complex joints of the body, your knees are crucial to movement, which means protecting knee joints should be a priority. Knees bear your body weight, allowing the full range of motion of...
The Mountain Gardener | Plant Combinations That Inspire
You know it when you see it. That combination of plants that cry out “we get along.” Because it’s fall already after a way-too-short summer, I’m drawn to grasses and warm-toned flowering perennials.
I’m thinking of ways that will have any garden bursting with interest...
Guest Column | Juvenile Hall Reformation
“We are always too busy for our children. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly.” —Mark Twain
I had the privilege of being sworn in as a member of the...
News Briefs | Published Sept. 12, 2025
Fun run, emergency preparedness fair set for Saturday
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the City of Santa Cruz will be hosting Race the Wave, a 3K...