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Six years ago, while swimming laps with a Masters swim team, I found myself sharing a lane with a tall Romanian man named Corvin. It wasn’t until after the workout, when he picked up his red-and-white cane, that I realized Corvin was visually impaired.

Each time I'm in my garden it's a different experience. The familiar buzz of hummingbird wings brings a smile to my face. Sometimes it's the silence that gets my attention. Where are the chirping songbirds or the raucous scolding of the jays? Where is the wind, the rustling of the forest grass leaves? Other times the quaking of the redwood boughs a hundred feet up makes the garden come alive like giant wind chimes. Sound adds dimension to the garden.

Front and center in the news and in your garden is the drought and what you can do about it in your own landscape. If you’ve dabbled before with replacing thirsty plants with climate-appropriate low-water-use California native plants or those from areas similar to ours, this is the year to step up your efforts.

April 7 was opening day of salmon season, and it started with a bang.

Every drop of rain that hits bare soil is destructive. More than 3,000 years ago the Chinese knew how to protect their soil from erosion and increase fertility by planting cover crops. Early Nile Valley inhabitants 3,500 years ago also practiced this method of agriculture as did first century Romans. Lupines were planted in poor soil when no animal manure was to be had. I learned this and also how to protect and improve my soil from Orin Martin, manager of the Alan Chadwick Garden at a cover crop workshop recently on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus.

I have a shady garden, so each flower on a shrub, tree, perennial or annual is a precious commodity.