Animals have always had a special place in Christine Richie's heart.

Taking a walk is always a breathtaking experience at this time of year. Witness the cobalt blue flowers nearly covering a ceanothus, or a stand of Dicentra formosa, with pink, bell-shaped flowers backlit in the spring sunlight. These are just two of our local native plants. Everywhere you look, nature is beginning the season fresh with anticipation and promise.

Traveling has been a great part of life for my hubby Norm and me, and when presented with the opportunity to attend a wedding in the Ukraine, we immediately made airline reservations.

During my recent visit to the Watsonville Terra Sole Nursery, owners John and Sherry Hall shared with me their experiences growing and experimenting with plants in their own landscape and nursery. From these personal trials, they decide what to propagate and sell in the small, independent nursery they operate on their property.