Carmen avocado tree: a profile
Last October, I had the chance to visit the oldest Carmen avocado tree in the USA, and I thought I would come away with a better understanding of the variety. The tree had a metal USDA tag still attached to it, from when it was held in quarantine after the budwood had...
Tomatoes love new dirt
My tomato plants are on deck, waiting to be planted, because it hasn't warmed up to their liking yet. This last week's nights still dipped into the 30s in my yard, we've got more rain this weekend, and a shift to consistently dry and warmer weather isn't in the...
What is good about weeds
I’m not asking the question, "What is good about weeds?" Here I’m listing six ways in which weeds are good. By definition, weeds are plants that we don’t want wherever they are growing. But in the absence of plants that we do want in those spots, it’s better to have...
Hummingbird on Red Baron peach flowers
I was watching bees work the flowers on my Red Baron peach tree when this hummer pulled up and stole the show.
The elusive, white-flowered Ceanothus crassifolius
Ceanothus bushes, also known as California lilacs, have enamored me for a number of years. They are a native plant that grows in great number in my part of inland San Diego County so I've added many to my yard. But one I can't seem to possess. I first noticed it about...
Girdling avocado trees for consistent fruiting: update, results
I'm going to start harvesting from my Hass tree soon so I thought I'd show yield results from the girdles I did on it in the fall of 2022 and the flowers that are emerging from the girdles I did in the fall of 2023. On those recent girdles, I used narrower cuts so I'd...
Talk on Fruit tree pests with CRFG South Bay
Join me and the California Rare Fruit Growers, South Bay (Los Angeles) chapter on Saturday, March 16, for a talk on fruit tree pests. The meeting will be held at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes, starting at 9:45 AM. Please see the South Bay chapter's...
Avocado varieties in the cold: observations 2024
Now that it's March and it's very unlikely there will be any temperatures cold enough to be damaging to avocados through the rest of this winter, I took a walk around my yard to make some observations about how different avocado trees fared during the single freezing...
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