Jeffrey Caldwell - Biologist and Horticulturist
Favourite Gardening Blogs & feeds (40)
Country & Rural Garden News (13)Newspapers (6)Other Gardening News (A-J) (29)Other Gardening News (K-Z) (30)Serving the San Francisco Bay Area Horticulturist with an ecologist's heart Jeff at work Garden and Landscape Evaluation, Design, Renovation, Upkeep Expert in: Wildlife Gardens California Native Plants Regenerating Historic Habitats phone: 408 741-5430 email: ecosys@neteze... Even in downtown San Jose there are elements of wildness, proving that if the habitat is there, the creatures it serves can survive. Early this afternoon I discovered scrub jays nesting on the rafter of a dilapidated shed behind a Victorian house just a few blocks from San Jose State University... We've had a lot of rain this year. And it seems that most people have watertight containers in their yards which have caught some rainwater -- often something along the side of the house or out in a neglected corner... Europe -- Natural History Resources Europe's natural history interests me and I hope to study it firsthand some day. The flowering, as it were, of wildlife gardening and amateur biological study in Great Britain has been an influence in my life... The Oak Woodland Bird Conservation Plan The California Oak Foundation sponsored this popular book: Their latest offering is: The Oak Woodland Bird Conservation Planby Dr. Steve Zack and published by California Oak Foundation California oak woodlands rank among the top three habitat types in North America for bird richness... Native Plants in Landscaping -- Philosophy of Use What is the key to the appeal of indigenous plants? "Notes on Development of a Philosophy For Use of Native Plants in the Landscape (An uncompleted paper evolving in development)" is an obscure article written by the great plantsman J... "Suburban plant junk" is one of my stock phrases. It aptly characterizes most residential neighborhood landscapes. I picked it up from Judith Larner Lowry, author of Gardening with a Wild Heart: restoring California's native landscapes at home... California Buckeye Leafing Out California Buckeye. Aesculus californica HIPPOCASTANACEAE. Buckeye or Horse Chestnut Family. California Buckeye trees are leafing out. At lower elevations on the San Francisco Peninsula it started about a week ago and most are already almost fully leafed out... "Monarch butterflies' numbers drop sharply" was an article in the newspaper today. This winter there's about a 75% fewer monarchs observed on their Mexican overwintering grounds. Tree poaching in their mountain fir forest overwintering preserves may be partly responsible for the reduction... Bird Feeder Alert from Fish and Game! This news release says much about why I, as much as I love gardens teeming with life, am reluctant to encourage the use of "bird feeders". I maintain this reluctance despite the fact it would probably be more advantageous for me, business-wise, to promote birdfeeders... When you're having a "professional" take care of something for you, don't check your brains at the door. Mistakes are made -- routinely! Ask questions! Near the top of the list of typical designer foibles that annoy me is the specification of a vine without provision of means of support... San Francisco Bay Region Internet Wildlife Gardening Resources ... Garden Habitat Makes a Difference I just ran across some news stories that confirm what a difference it makes when gardeners are friendly to wildlife. Wildlife gardening is popular in the United Kingdom, bolstering the numbers of some species of birds... California Native Plant Resources for Central Valley Gardeners When reading lists or whatever, for photographs of a species, enter its botanical name in ?Images? search field at: Google Growing Native: topical articles chronicling interviews with California native plant gardeners: basics of growing native plants, grasses, medicinal plants, oaks, clay soil, small spaces, birds and butterflies, etc... Pruning Fruit Trees and Roses and others Native plants and wildlife gardens are my specialty, but I've been gardening for decades with non-natives as well as natives. I even cared for the formal rose garden at Knott's Berry Farm for a few years... Oxalis - Gopher Connection confirmed Today (31 January 2005) I personally confirmed my theory that gophers are significant dispersal vectors for the bermuda buttercup, a serious invasive exotic weed, put forward in the article Oxalis -- Bermuda Buttercup Dispersed by Gophers... How to Enjoy "Ants of the San Francisco Bay Area" Native ants were much more in evidence back in the late 50s and early 60s when I was a boy. Even in those days the coast horned lizard, which specializes in eating native harvester ants, was rare in the Cupertino area -- but at least I ran across a few... Oxalis -- Bermuda buttercup dispersed by gophers A few years ago I was called to consult on a large backyard in Los Gatos. The entire yard was covered with Bermuda buttercups -- Oxalis pes-caprae -- one of the most troublesome and invasive weeds in our area, even if colorful in bloom... I found a salamander! I've been renting a room in an Eichler neighborhood in Cupertino for about a year. It was a small housing development in 1961. There are few native plants in the neighborhood other than a stretch of remnant riparian forest along an urban creek a few hundred yards away and several coast live oak street trees on the next street over... Native Bee Garden Notes, San Francisco Bay Area Native bees are mostly in mind when I think of bee-friendly gardens, rather than honeybees, which are not native, though marvelous for their honey, beeswax and other benefits. Honeybees are the ?cattle? among the insects ? tended by man, providing him benefits, sometimes at the expense of other creatures... California Wildlife Gardening Links ... San Francisco Bay Region Wildlife Gardening Bibliography Amme, David. ?Creating a Native Meadow? in Grasslands, A Publication of the California Native Grass Association, Volume XIII, No. 3, Summer 2003, pp. 1, 9-11. 1-866-456-CNGA. Definitive information from a pioneer of native meadow making... These are either in print or still easy to get. You will find my name in the acknowledgments of the first two on this alphabetical list. For links to books on Amazon.com please look in the right-hand column... California Wildflower Seeding Rates These rates were calculated from wholesale grower recommendations for per acre seeding rates ... which vary widely species to species because some plants have many seeds small and light, while others yield few seeds large and heavy ... Plant Diversity Supports Animal Diversity I?m interested in understanding the values native plants have for wildlife. The data discussed here was derived from a survey of the larval hosts the microlepidoptera of the San Bruno Mountains on the San Francisco Peninsula...
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