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'Quincing' Our Thirst
You can quench your thirst. And then you can "quince" your thirst. That would be a honey bee on a flowering quince. Yes, the flowering quince are...
Honey bee keeps a close eye on the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey(
Honey bee foraging on flowering quince. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's for Lunch?
What's for lunch? If you're a lady beetle (aka ladybug), a good bet is you'll have one of those yummy, plant-sucking aphids. In fact, you'll eat...
Lady beetle, aka ladybug, devouring an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Predator and the prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saturated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Napa Camellia Society Show
The Napa Camellia Society is hosting the first of eight weekly camellia shows held throughout the Bay Area, on Saturday, February 1st.. It is held at the Napa Senior Center, located at 1500 Jefferson St., and is open to the public at 1PM.
Experiencing this show for the first time in 2003, was an astonishing surprise. Walking into the Senior Center room, on a rainy, cold winter day, was a huge display of camellia blooms. This explosion of red, pink, and white blossoms was displayed (by plant name) in alphabetical order. It was like walking into a gigantic valentine bouquet. Table after table of these winter blooms, from boutonniere to dinner plate size, just knocked your socks off. It’s one thing to see camellias in bloom when driving around local neighborhoods, but to see all these varieties together in one place is absolutely awesome.
The camellia show is a competition. The blooms are submitted by camellia growers and camellia enthusiasts. There is a novice section where any one can submit blooms from their yard. All blooms are evaluated by “judges”, who have been through special training. They follow certain criteria to evaluate each bloom that are then numbered one, two or three. If the bloom is ‘perfect’, it is marked HT and goes to a special ‘head table’ for another final evaluation. The judges are not allowed to evaluate their own blooms. This is a very involved, selective process. Ribbons, trophies and prizes are awarded for winning blooms.
So on February 1st, drive over to Napa for this free show. It will be worth your time. And while you are there, pick up a camellia plant from Nuccio’s Nursery at a reasonable price.
Camellia flowers. (photos by Sharon Rico)
Bonsaied camellia plant.
Mighty Mites
The creative folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, have done it again. Among the many activities at their recent "Snuggle Bugs" open...
Get parasitized! The sign at the Bohart Museum says it all. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
They’re Back! Be On the Lookout for Early Aphids in Alfalfa and Share Your Observations!
Early reports are coming in from PCAs that Blue Alfalfa Aphid (BAA), as well as other common aphids, are already making their appearance in...
