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UC Gardening Blogs
Owls Contribute to an Integrated Pest Management Program
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a science-based pest management process which focuses on...
Jackie-in-the-Box
In your childhood, somebody probably gave you a jack-in-the-box toy, a music box that you crank up,...
A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, pops up between the petals of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Surprise! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Halloween Surprise: A Migratory Monarch
It's beginning to look a lot like...Halloween. If you haven't noticed, stores are gearing up for...
A migrating monarch butterfly stops on Halloween, Oct. 31 to sip nectar from a milkweed in a Vacaville garden. She was on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female monarch spreads her wings. She stopped in Vacaville on Halloween 2023 for some flight fuel while on her way to an overwintering site in coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Battle Between a Butterfly and a Bee
So, here you are, a newly eclosed Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, eager to sip...
A Western tiger swallowtail, aware that a territorial bee is about to attack, raises its tails to ward off the intruder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail begins to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail leaps off as the bee draws closer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail escapes a hit by the longhorned bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dwarf Purple Heart
By now you have heard of purple tomatoes, and you've probably heard of heart-shaped tomatoes, but have you heard of the Dwarf Purple Heart tomato?
For those who haven't heard, The Dwarf Tomato Project “grew out of a comment made in a Tomato Forum at Gardenweb when Craig LeHoullier lamented the fact that the dwarf category in tomatoes was very restricted, and suggested it would be good to cross dwarfs with heirlooms to remedy this situation”.
I love that both the plants, with their rugose leaves, and the tomatoes, with their variety of shapes and colors, are attractive and easy to manage in my garden.
Dwarf Purple Heart is a cross between ‘Dwarf Wild Fred' and ‘Brad's Black Heart', both known for their flavor. Heart- shaped tomatoes are known for their large size and meaty texture. This tomato variety is good in both raw and cooked preparations.
https://www.dwarftomatoproject.net
