Napa Master Gardener Column

By David Shubin, UC Master Gardener of Napa County and ISA Certified Arborist.  You can expect mushrooms to appear after rain in Napa Valley.  Many gardeners find mushrooms and think “rotting decay.” However, mushrooms are a sign of life.  They’re the fruiting bodies of fungi, the quiet…

By Cynthia Kerson, UC Master Gardener of Napa CountySeveral Napa County Master Gardeners recently traversed a long drive of sycamore and olive trees to visit the Trefethen Family Vineyards gardens in Napa with the winery’s landscape manager, Vanessa Giampaoli, a Master Gardener trained in the Class of 2023…

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa CountyOne of my favorite plants in my garden is nicotiana (Nicotiana sylvestris), also known as flowering tobacco. The plants need almost no care and bloom most of the spring, summer and autumn. The flowers are fading just now in October.Nicotiana also does double…

By Cindy Kerson, UC Master Gardener of Napa CountyA walk in the park, a pause at a window overlooking your garden, or a day at the beach. We allknow these are rejuvenating moments. But why? What happens in the brain to make them so?What are the chemical and physiological functions in your brain during these…

By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County While organizing some of my old newspaper columns, I came across one that declared myaffection for invasive plants. In fact, I ranked them at the top of my plant pantheon, because forme, “invasive” can be synonymous with “easy to grow.” (Yes, I’m…