Under the Solano Sun

Nature Still Provides Breathe, Look Around, Clear Your Mind Touch, See, Smell and Taste...

Oriental Poppies (Papaver orientale) Now is the time to start your Oriental poppy plants. Oriental Poppies come in a variety of colors. The paper-like petals are almost translucent and are very soft to the touch. The blooms only last a day or two. Be sure to deadhead the flowers.

Betty Victor wrote a wonderful blog about Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens recently. She encouraged blog readers to visit, and I can heartily second that. What many may not know is that December is actually a beautiful time to visit.

As one year passes and another begins, I think we all pay a little more attention to time. Whether it was watching that clock for the big countdown, throwing away our old calendar, or writing that new number on checks and documents, we all are a little more aware of time moving on.

I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself. Sir Peter Smithers Don't do it, the nurseryman said as I wistfully admired the Mexican lime tree. They are too frost-sensitive for our area. So I didn't buy the tree. At least not then.