Prune orchards once reigned supreme in the Napa Valley. Pears, walnuts and fodder for grazing sheep were also grown where now 45,000 acres of premium wine grapes flourish.

“You’ll never run or ski again,” the emergency room doctor announced the moment I regained consciousness at San Francisco General Hospital.

I was on my deck recently with a friend who commented that everything smelled so good that it must be nice to just sit and enjoy the garden. I thought to myself "What? How can I just sit when there is so much to do?" That's when it hit me, why do we create gardens if not to enjoy them?  So as summer winds to an end, celebrate what you've created and just sit and enjoy the fragrance, sights and sounds of your garden.

With large returns expected to California’s rivers, some anglers are waiting for the expected fish to show up. But the Klamath River is at the top of the list for no-show salmon while the Sacramento River has had a steady return of fall Chinooks.

Each year I wait for them in my garden and so do the robins, varied thrush, jays, spotted towhees, grosbeaks and band-tailed pigeons. The fruit of sambucus mexicana, a California native plant, is relished by an incredible number of songbirds. The creamy flower clusters in the spring are a favorite of bees and other beneficial insects. My Western Elderberry grows tall and gangly in the shade of a California bay tree, shorter and more compact in the sun. Their exuberance for life makes me happy just to watch them provide for so many other species.