My husband and I have landscaped two homes now with California natives and other drought-tolerant plants. We even won a local award in a Western waterwise landscape contest sponsored by our area's water district. So while we’re not experts I thought I would share our favorite California native …
High Water Bills? Maybe it’s Lawn Removal Time
It's the time of year of high water bills - and perhaps time to think about replacing plants that need too much water, or maybe even taking out some of your thirsty grass. I recently came back from the Midwest where drought conditions have prompted many folks to let their lawns go dormant. When I …
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Did you know: 1600 bee species in California?
I visited the Living Desert Museum in Palm Desert the other day and came across an exhibit on bees that stated the following fact: There are over 1600 species of bees in California. Now I find that amazing - 1600 out of an estimated 4000 worldwide. It went on to say that 100 different species were …
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Medicinal and Edible California Natives
My husband and I often test berries from native plants that we know are safe, especially after seeing birds and other wildlife eat them. Some of the past grazings have included native currant berries or hollyleaf cherry berries - both bright red and pretty good tasting. Sometimes it's non-natives, …
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Great Hikes: Caroline Park’s Lush Natives (Redlands CA)
I just did a walk up to Caroline Park and luckily had my camera to capture the flowering natives, birds and bunnies. Caroline Park is a native plant park set aside in Redlands CA by Olivia Phelps (of the Phelps-Dodge family) in 1929 to honor her sister Caroline. While the many flowering plants in …
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12 Ways to Help Birds on their Migration
Here are things you can do to help birds of all kinds - songbirds, raptors and shorebirds - especially as they fly from their winter homes to their summer breeding ground. To help them avoid the many perils along the way: (from Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation plus 2 of mine …
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