All the Dirt on Gardening

Our drought is just now relieved with 40-inches of rain in the first 7 months of 2015. We saw the results of a few years of drought in NE OK and they were sad to say the least. In CA there is no relief in sight. At the UC Botanical Garden, Daniel Mosquin reported on what he observed on one of my favorite botanical blogs, Botany Photo of the Day. Here's a link to the well-worth-reading article - http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2015/07/nymphoides-peltata.php Excerpts A small constructed pond sits on the low side of UBC Botanical Garden's EH Lohbrunner Alpine Garden. This pond was absolutely "hopping" (bad pun intended) with activity on a hot day during an unusually dry July. Many Pacific tree frogs ( Hyla regilla  (PDF) were sunning themselves on the leaves of  Nymphoides peltata . In the water were hundreds of tadpoles nearly ready to join them. The frogs were a treat to see, but other signs of wildlife around the pond reminded me of the ecological ...

Do you subscribe to several blogs and newsletters? Do you actually read them all? I keep trying to cut back but for each one I send the dreaded unsubscribe message, there is another (or two) to which I subscribe. Here are a few of the links I've loved this week in no particular order - 1) State by State Gardening (full disclosure - I write for them a couple of times a year) Marilyn Stewart of Wild Things Nursery wrote about Blackfoot Daisy, Melampodium leucanthum. Here's a link to the article about this plant. Stewart says, Natives of Texas "One amazing standout in my yard has been blackfoot daisy, which has thrived in heat and limited moisture and looked, well, as fresh as a daisy the entire summer. One attribute of this plant I appreciate is how white the abundant blooms always look; there is no fading to brown. Native to several western states, I have seen it growing on clay outcrops in fierce winds and sun. It doesn’t need much in the way of care, just not ...