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A Gardening Blog for the East Side

The climate of the Eastern Sierra is very different from most of California and so gardening here is different, too! 

Preparing the contents of the pile.

In this blog we examine some of the quirks of gardening on the East Side, and cover horticultural issues that are important locally. Note that if you're visiting our site from the outside our little corner of California, you may find this information may not apply to your area.

Articles are written by local UC Master Gardener volunteers or the local Farm Advisor. 

 
And a website...

The Inyo-Mono Master Gardeners also have a website with local gardening and soil information. Visit it to learn more about our program and gardening.

 

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Large patches of the same flower are best.
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Butterfly Garden Tips

June 19th, 2018
National Pollinator Week is June 18 to 24,, 2018. What better way to celebrate and support the importance of pollinators than to plant a pollinator garden? Even a few plants can help support pollinators such as butterflies, beetles, and bees.
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Black Soldier Fly Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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Black Soldier Flies: Mostly Beneficial

June 8th, 2018
Two years ago, overwhelmed by carpets of wormy, windfall apples I resorted to tossing them into a large plastic stock tank that had numerous holes in its sides, remnants of its original purpose - a crawdad washing device.
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'Dr. Huey' Rambler Rose
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A Wild Rambler

May 30th, 2018
By Dustin W Blakey
It's rose season in the Owens Valley. Every yard in my neighborhood is full of blooms. Among all the cheery white, pink, yellow and red blossoms atop nice straight stems you can often find our most common cultivar of rose, 'Dr.
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Flanders poppies in the wild
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Remembrance Poppies - Papaver rhoeas

May 18th, 2018
How red poppies became associated with fallen soldiers: John McCrae was born in Canada in 1872 and was a successful poet, physician, artist, and author. He served in the Boar War (1899-1902) and quickly became disillusioned about the cost of war in human lives.
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Shrubby Bonsai
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A Field Trip to Hawaii?

April 30th, 2018
On a recent trip to Hawaii I discovered a bonsai nursery that was off- the- beaten path, not a tourist destination, and free.
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