This picture shows two little flowers that are in bloom this week. The soft pink flowers on the left are late blooming Choral Bells (Heuchera) which many gardeners know and love. The maroon flowers on the right are less well known. They are from a little silver gray alpine geranium native to South Africa (pelargonium sidoides). For our area, this delightful plant behaves more like an annual than a perennial as it usually does not survive our winter weather. But it grows well in containers and can easily be brought indoors for protection from the coldest part of our winter freeze.

Another interesting thing about this beautiful little geranium is that it might be a natural cure for the common cold. In 2007, the National Center for Biotechnology Information reported on "a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial" which tested over one hundred men and women with cold symptoms. Randomly, patients were given either a placebo or a liquid herbal drug preparation made from the roots of pelargonium sidoides. The study concludes:

[The herbal drug] represents an effective treatment of the common cold. It significantly reduces the severity of symptoms and shortens the duration of the common cold compared with placebo.

Come to find out, the plant has been used as a medicine for centuries by the Zulu and several other African cultures, not only for curing colds, but for treating other more sever lung ailments, like bronchitis, sinus infections, and even pneumonia. (Of course, we do not recommend you try this at home.)

Remember: if you plant pelargonium sidoides in the ground, don't expect it to come back next year, although it might return, especially if it's in a protected place. Just don't count on it. It's worth growing, though, both for its beautifully textured silver leaves and for its unusual dainty deep purple flowers.

When planning a backyard orchard, it's fun to choose several types of apple trees -- one or two for sweet, juicy apple-a-day snacking, at least one tart and firm for baking the Thanksgiving pies. All do well for making cider, jelly and sauce.

Apple and other fruit trees can be planted pretty much anytime the ground is workable. It's good to prepare the soil. Come in and see our selection of apple and other fruit bearing trees, and talk to us about setting up your backyard orchard.

According to Peter Weisberg of the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, once introduced, the big problem with cheatgrass is this:

Cheatgrass is able to alter natural fire conditions through its particular life history characteristics. Cheatgrass has a winter annual life cycle that differs from that of most native grasses. Seeds germinate in fall or early winter so that established plants grow rapidly in early spring as a result of their head start. Abundant seeds are produced and the plant's life cycle is completed in early summer, while native bunchgrasses are still green and not yet reproductively mature. Dry, dead cheatgrass burns readily and produces a continuous layer of fuel to carry range fires. The resulting fires put native vegetation at a disadvantage because many species have not yet set seed. A positive feedback loop is created; with each successive fire, cheatgrass becomes more dominant.

In our area, this mat forming succulent likes to have a little shade in the hottest part of the afternoon, but will grow most anywhere. It's somewhat drought tolerant, but does enjoy a good drink from time to time. They are a good choice for rock gardens and over time will spread out as much as two feet from a single planting. They also do well in containers.

When you notice the center of the Hen begin to protrude, know that it's beginning to flower. And know, too, that it's time to celebrate its flowering as a reminder of how precious life is, always giving way to each new generation.

Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum) have a long history in Europe as a companion plant, especially grown on tops of houses to help thwart lightning fire damage on dry thatched roofs. Perhaps we could learn from this, as it is truly a fire resistant plant.

For the most part, black widows are not pugnacious, unless of course, you disturb them or try to steal their egg sacs. Humans are bitten most often from surprising the spiders by putting hands or feet, or other body parts in close proximity to the spiders as they suspend themselves -- usually upside down -- in their sticky, erratic, non-symmetrical webs. In fact, if there's a chance to get away, the spider will most likely attempt to hide rather than attack. If given the chance, they will often roll into a ball, then drop to the ground and flee.

Even though Black Widow spiders are awesome creatures that demand respect, it's never a good idea to allow them to make your garden their home. Organic gardeners often ask how to control Black Widows without using pesticide chemicals. There are two basic ways:

1. Scatter a thin layer of diatomaceous earth around the area where you find the web. The fine powder acts as an abrasive which dries out the spider's exoskeleton. (You can pick up some diatomaceous earth at the nursery -- it's good to use on earwigs, too.)
2. Or, find a nice blunt object, go out at night with a flashlight to where you know the spider lives, find it, surprise it and squish it before it gets away.

If you've ever noticed how sunflowers follow the sun each day from sunrise to sunset, then you've witnessed the phenomenon called "floral heliotropism." Also called "phototropism," this amazing ability of some plants to actually follow the sun's path is not the plant's adoration and worship of the sun (as those who believe in the secret life of plants might conclude), but rather a structural motor ability of a particular part of the plant's stem just beneath the flower. This bendable part is called a pulvinus which is defined as "a cushion-like swelling at the base of the stalk of a leaf or leaflet" (Random House Dictionary, 2009). At the botanical level, in reaction to the light of the sun, plant cells in the pulvinus actually draw, concentrate and redistribute potassium ions from one segment of the pulvinus to another. This changes the cell wall pressure. The result is slow, motor movement of the sunflower's head.

Interestingly, ancient Roman philosophers and religious thinkers used the term, pulvinus, to describe "a cushioned couch kept in readiness for any visitation of a god." For the sunflower -- and for those who do believe in the secret life of plants -- that god would be the Sun.

Every time we see a dragonfly we should thank it for the work it does keeping us safe. They love to dine on mosquito larvae and they catch house flies and horse flies in midair.

In our day and age, the largest dragonflies grow to 4 or 5 inches, but these amazing insects have ancestors dating back millions of years. Back then they were huge. In fact, they win the prize for being the largest flying insect ever for the planet earth, reaching up to nearly three feet across! It makes you wonder just how big the misquotes were back then.

Some dragonflies also live for a surprisingly long time. If they are lucky enough to avoid pesticides and water pollution, some species can live for over half a decade.

If you have a pond in your yard, it's a good idea to keep the water pesticide and chemical free, not only for the occasional Western Toads and Spadefoot Toads that might happen by for a summer evening visit, but also for this amazingly beautiful, non-biting insect that does such good work.

The mild, rainy spring seems to have been good for local grape vines. Sometimes springtime cold snaps can set back grape production and even affect the taste of the grapes. In fact, according to research conducted at UNR (UNR has its own experimental vineyard), a single day of springtime freezing weather can harm and even kill young, unestablished plants that have begun their season's growth. Once established, though, cold snaps don't usually kill the plants, but can still have an effect upon the season's production.

The research from UNR concludes that Reno (and Fallon) show great potential for growing wine grapes, especially with certain drought resistant varieties. Concerning production, the UNR study found that Chardonnay grapes had the highest yield due to less winter die-back, although Chardonnay vines were found to be susceptible to spring frost because they bud earlier than other varieties. Muscat Blanc and Muller Thurgau were the least productive.

The owners of this nectarine tree thought it was simply a dwarf ornamental until this year when it suddenly covered itself in beautiful and delicious fruit. The tree has been in the ground, planted on a south facing slope, since 2002. This is the first year that it's produced any sizable fruit, so much that the tree's branches needed props to keep them from breaking.

Nectarine and other stone fruit trees react well to heavy pruning, usually in March (put the date on your gardening planner for next year). Pruning produces new fruiting wood. They need lots of sun, well drained soil and periodic deep watering. You don't want the deep roots to dry out, especially during fruit production.

This tree is a dwarf variety which is great because pruning is easy and the trees can produce an abundance of full-sized fruit. Dwarf trees also seem to produce fruit at a younger age, but they are more likely to need support for their heavy branches than regular-sized trees.

The leaves of the Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii), also known as the Sacred Thorn Apple, resemble the leaves of the eggplant (both are nightshades), but unlike the very delicious and nutritious eggplant, Datura tastes more like a relentless, violent, three day long nightmare that more than likely culminates in death or at least permanent psychosis

So don't eat it!

Viewed from a distance, though, this wide spreading, night blooming perennial is a desert beauty to behold. Often seen on roadsides where their roots catch the runoff from an occasional rainstorm, the Datura is pollinated mainly by the Sphinx Moth, which in its caterpillar stage, loves to dine on another favorite nightshade, the tomato.

Remember, if you are new to desert living, you should know that native desert dwellers are taught from the earliest age to always enjoy Datura from a distance. Good advice, as the name 'Datura' is said to come from Sanskrit, meaning "the eternal substance (as in not of this embodied world) of the gods," or as one close to Hinduism might suggest: "The Call of Yama, the god of death."

The Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos), also commonly called the "Horned Toad" or "Horny Toad," is native to Nevada and other dry western states. Their color and skin varies greatly as they tend to resemble the terrain upon which they live. For example, in environments which are predominately sand, such as the Mojave Desert, skin and markings look like sand; in rocky environments, such as our local Virginia Range, skin and markings look like the surface of the rocks upon which they love to sun themselves.

Horned Lizards usually do not bite and are in fact, quite gentle, although they do not like to be picked up or harassed. They have a strange defense mechanism where, if abused, they can squirt blood from their eyes.

The Horned Lizard dines almost exclusively on ants! When hungry, they typically search out an ant hill, sit quietly waiting for the ants to approach, then snatch them one by one with their long, sticky tongues.

The Horned Lizard is an unfortunate victim of the pet trade. Sometimes, even as far away as the east coast of the US and beyond, they can be found in pet shops, thrown in with other exotic lizards, given crickets to eat. But they don't eat crickets and the particular ants upon which the Horned Lizards feed are not sold in pet shops. And so, these awe inspiring creatures typically starve to death within a matter of weeks or months after capture.

There is a very interesting and worthwhile book titled, Tiny Game Hunting: Environmentally Healthy Ways to Trap and Kill the Pests in Your House and Garden by Hilary Dole Klein and Adrian M. Wenner, published by University of California Press. Not only is the book great for learning practical, environmentally friendly ways to battle house and garden pests, but it is packed with interesting facts about the insect world.

For example, did you know that there are over 8,800 ant species worldwide? And did you know that ants "along with termites" are the dominant insect species on the planet? "In terms of sheer biomass, ants...not only outnumber us; they outweigh us."

The authors go on to say:

Besides being utterly impossible, it would be foolish to attempt to eliminate all your ants, because in many ways ants are our friends and allies, and we need them. In China, ants have been used for thousands of years to help control pests in orchards, making them the first insects known to be used for biological control. Ants actually help control pests that we haven't always been very successful controlling on our own. Both indoors and out, they eat the eggs and larvae of fleas, flies, spiders, bed bugs, and probably silverfish and clothes moths. They also go after cockroaches and conenose bugs. In addition, ants patrol the perimeters of our houses and keep termites, their mortal enemies, from establishing colonies in our homes. If we let them do their job, that is.

Perennials might not bloom all summer, but they offer many advantages over annuals. A few gardeners -- usually new to the avocation -- will complain that perennial flowering plants have such a short seasonal window for blooming that they're not worth the effort or expense. But seasoned gardeners know differently. Sure, annuals might be crazy bloomers all summer, but they don't come close to the array of benefits that perennial flowering plants bring to the gardening experience.

Certainly, there's a strategy that goes with planting perennials. Since most do not bloom throughout the growing season, gardeners will often plan their plots around the blooming timetables of various species. The secret is to plant a wide variety of plants so that different flowers will appear at different times. This creates a garden that conjures a spectrum of different moods as the season develops.

Another advantage to perennials is that once you get them well established and happy in their living space, they will come back year after year, returning like old friends.

It's true, though, perennials require a certain mindfulness. That is, you need to remember where they've been planted since many die back completely as winter approaches. For this reason, experienced perennial gardeners keep a garden diary or garden map.

Early this spring the nursery had sets of Walla Walla sweet onions for sale (50 per set). They went into the ground in late April. Now they are ready to begin pulling. Begin by thinning. This onion went into a barbaque sauce flavored with dark roasted chili peppers, hot dried pepper flakes and Asian Five Spice. The sauce was drizzled over grilled chicken strips. Freshly picked and sauteed Kale was served as a side dish with dill onion rye bread hot out of the oven. The rye bread recipe called for dried onion, but the Walla Walla onion greens were used instead to excellent results.

The people of Walla Walla, Washington, each year honor the Walla Walla onion with the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival. This year will the the 29th year of the festival, but growing sweet onions in Washington has been a tradition for over a century. According to sweetonions.org, this delicious onion was the result of several generations' effort in selective cultivation.

Even though regular onions are plentiful in supermarkets and grocery stores, rarely do you find Walla Walla sweet onions available locally. If you didn't plant any Walla Walla sweet onions this year, put it on your list for next year's vegetable garden. Dry Creek usually carries Walla Walla onions each spring. Supplies are always limited and they go fast because they are exceptional onions, both in flavor, color, shape and ease of growing.

Learning to avoid Tomato Blossom Drop Syndrome (TBDS) is like learning the Zen of perfect balance, or like trying to discover Aristotle's golden mean. Blossom's sometimes drop if daytime temperatures reach into the 90s, or if nighttime temperatures drop into the low 50s. We get both. They can drop, too, from their roots wanting more moisture between watering. It can also be due to a severe lack of humidity in the air. Or maybe the flowers weren't visited by pollinating insects. No sex. No fruit. Sometimes it's because there's already too much fruit setting on the plant. Blossoms will drop, too, if the plant has been attacked by insects. Or maybe the soil needs some good organic fertilizer. Or maybe you've shocked it from too much fertilizer. Then again, maybe the plant hasn't quite made the adjustment between the climate it received as a young sprout and the climate it endures now. Where is the perfect balance?

This weekend is predicting higher temperatures again, so be sure to keep an eye on your tomatoes. They, like almost all edible nightshades, like deep watering. And especially watch your container tomatoes; the winds we've been having dry out those ceramic pots, especially the unglazed terracotta.

It looks like a drop of blue, green and white essence exploding and suddenly frozen at once in a moment of natural logic, a fractal moment of nature exposed and becoming conscious through the human eye staring down from above.

This vision of nature is of its geometric rigidity. Or is that fluidity? Such a vision infused early modern thinkers to imagine a much more powerful language than the merely human, a more perfect and fundamental intentionality exhibited in the way nature appears. It is then this presence of the flower enjoyed and contemplated by the human observer that allows the moment an investment in meaning and definition. The vision of the flower then is able to become such things as a symbol of love or a message from the gods.

If the Sea Holly flower is a message from the gods, it says: logic, fractal logic that for some imparts through the vision a tinge of joy and aesthetic pleasure. But times past and even now, to those so mystically inclined, the bushes and the trees and the flowers speak! They speak in a fractal language that seems to relay a message, however undecipherable. Of course, to entertain that thought is like Alice down the rabbit hole. Such speculation by a species that still howls at the moon easily becomes the stuff that myths and metaphysical speculations are made of.

Today we have both Blue and White Sea Holly. Supplies are limited.

Happy 4th of July! Is your corn knee high?

Today our country marks its two hundred and thirty third birthday. In some ways, two hundred and thirty three years seems like a very long time, especially in comparison to the surprisingly short life expectancy of its citizens. A mere eleven generations ago, more or less...

In perspective: consider a particular Sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum) living not far from Reno, patriotically named, General Sherman. This mighty conifer is thought to be some 2700 years old, a plant, still living, eleven times older than our nation. Or consider another living neighbor, Methuselah, the oldest known living Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva), whose germination is now estimated to have been 2832 years before the birth of Christianity. (An even older Bristlecone, named Prometheus, was cut down in Nevada, on Wheeler Peak in 1964, ironically, to see how old it was. Not until the tree had been killed was it discovered to be the oldest known Bristlecone in the world, its rings revealing 4,844 years.) Or consider the clonal creosote rings of the Mojave desert just to our south: the oldest rings have been forming since the last ice age, some 11,000 years ago. And consider Pando, the Quacking Aspen in Utah (Populus tremuloides) whose root system is estimated to be up to 80,000 years old!

What can we learn from all these old timers in a country so young?

Reno certainly isn't known for its cool crop vegetable growing, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to grow spring-fresh greens.

This week this cabbage began forming its head by curling in its inner leaves. The seed sprouted in a raised bed, in the old southwest part of Reno, in April. It's growth has been slow due to afternoon shade. But the shade does it good, too, in that with weather now in the 90s during the day, the afternoon shade cools the cabbage enough to allow it to develop its head.

Cabbage is beautiful to look at, too. It isn't uncommon for gardeners to grow cabbage as an ornamental.

This Praying Mantis hatched a month ago and is living in a small flowering herb at the base of a potted Cottenwood. The mantis is about one and a half inches in length.

In a month the mantis has at least tripled its size. And just this week its color has turned from tan to green.

Each spring we supply Praying Mantis pods which when placed in the garden and allowed to hatch, will produce a good number that will reduce down to a few for a backyard delight.

If you have praying mantids as garden dwellers, remember that mantids are extremely susceptible to even the mildest of chemicals. Garden chemicals and sprays are poisonous to mantids (as well as many small song birds, bees, butterflys, hummingbirds, etc.). The rule is: If you want to have mantids and other wild wonders in your garden, just say no to chemicals.

• See more about the Praying Mantis.