Napa

By Yvonne Rasmussen, UC Master Gardener of Napa County What's this weird thing growing in my yard? Is it dangerous, poisonous, or killing my plants? How can I get rid of it?

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County January is a great time of year to plant strawberries in Napa Valley, regardless of online recommendations to plant them in the spring, late summer or early fall. Strawberries come in three types: June bearing, day neutral and everbearing.

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County The ficus plants that many people grow indoors are actually tropical trees. They are a different species from Ficus carica, the edible fig. The ficus we eat is from temperate areas of the world and does well outdoors in Napa Valley.

By Yvonne Rasmussen, UC Master Gardener of Napa County What flowers in the dead of winter in Napa County? With few pollinators active then, it's not a great time to have flowers that need pollination. Also, the weather is dicey. It could be cold or icy or raining and blowing.

We have some catching up to do with our articles--our computer system has been having hiccups! This is the first of several that have already been published in the Napa Valley Register.

by Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County One of my favorite drought-tolerant plants is the smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria). This wonderful bush is sometimes called smoketree. It is native to southern Europe and temperate parts of Asia.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County If you live in an older home, you likely inherited some amount of old landscaping.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Rainfall totals over the past 30 days range from a low of 8-1/2 inches in downtown Napa to more than 15 inches in parts of St. Helena and Angwin. You can check the rainfall totals near you on the One Rain Napa website.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County One thing that Master Gardeners talk about a lot is putting the right plant in the right place. That means choosing plants adapted to the climate, to the soil in your garden and to the amount of sunlight and water they will receive.

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Fall and winter are great times to do sheet composting in your garden. So just what is sheet composting and what are the benefits? Some people call it smothering, sheet mulching or lasagna composting.