What do you get when you combine a world renowned pottery artist with a reformed corn grower? On California Street in Ben Lomond, the result is the Brook Lomond Iris Farm of Rick and Chris Moran. This fun, educational, inspiring couple recently invited me to admire this year’s crop of tall bearded iris grown with certified organic gardening practices as well as to share their organic vegetable garden, cactus and succulent collection and Chris’ unique pottery.

Sunny skies and cool mountain temperatures on April 23 provided a perfect day for the 14th annual Mountain Charlie Challenge, a fundraising bicycle ride and community event offering both fun and fitness challenges for all ages.

In the eight years that Richard and Nancy Liu have owned and operated the Foster’s Freeze fast-food restaurant on Highway 9 in Boulder Creek, they have become widely known for their grace, kindness and generosity.

Did you know there is a Madam Ya Ya’s Red Hat Society in our community? Queen Arlene LaBorde knows and she is telling us all about it.

All this talk about “drought tolerant” plants or “water smart” plants is misleading in some ways. What really matters for the success of a plant in your garden is that they are climate smart. You can call the new California garden climate tolerant or climate adapted but it all comes down to the same thing. The plants you choose to grow in your garden should be able to naturally tolerate periods of lower than average water. This doesn’t mean no water during extremely long dry periods. No plant can live without water.