Gardening With a Wild Heart - Judith Lowry's Blog

The Bolinas Lagoon in November The reassuring sounds of rain on the roof (Nov. 26, 30) make it easy to dream  of rest, even while we work. The rain aids the underground, unseen work of seeds and soil, while recharging our aquifers, and we don't have to do a thing! Moisture in the soil softens seed coats, allowing seed germination.  For many years, a wise woman in our town printed in our local paper a plea for recognizing winter holiday time as an opportunity for quiet and rest. The less energy you expend in the winter, she said, the more...

Here at Larner Seeds, we take pleasure watching plants appear unbidden in unexpected corners of the garden. Most gardeners know the joy of the volunteer plant: an exuberant winter squash vine bursting out of a compost pile, flowers growing in the cracks in the sidewalk. Having found the right conditions, these volunteers have a lot to teach us. In the native restoration garden, they are an indication of imbalance or of success.  Cobweb thistle, Cirsium occidentale, is one of those species whose unplanned appearances delight us. The seeds float gently around the garden on a windy day at summer's end. Although...

"Grasslands are not a drive-by landscape. Unless you get out in them and observe, you will never understand how diverse they are, and how much is going on." -Newsletter of California Native Grass Association.  Here at Larner Seeds, we've long (35 years) been interested in California's perennial native bunchgrasses - for their beauty and  for their importance as part of a threatened ecosystem. There are many reasons to be intrigued by native bunchgrasses, and the gardener's experiences with them can be enhanced by a general understanding of their place in the California landscape. Once you tune in to the visual rhythm of...

A Leap of Faith: Sometimes customers ask, "If I convert my garden to native plants, what will the results be? Which birds and insects will reappear, and when? How long will it take and what will happen?" Exactly what will result from your garden of regional native plants cannot be exactly predicted, but that it will be better than the alternatives, few can doubt. There is much information now,  and examples abound. Each garden, depending on its unique factors of site, climate, soils, moisture, exposure, land-use history, and current surroundings, will have its own limitations and opportunities, not knowable in...

Plant communities have secrets. Some we know, most we do not. They have to do, among other things, with plant interactions with insects, birds, and mammals. Some are of staggering complexity. In too many cases, we glimpse the mystery only as the plants vanish before our eyes. Not only do plants connect with other living organisms in the soil, but also in the ways that they feeds, shade, and shelter myriad creatures, regarding the details of which interactions we are about as sophisticated as a kindergardener is about the workings of a computer. We need to save all the pieces...