Top Five Places to Plant Yourself (for lunch)
As much as I enjoy working at Marin Art & Garden Center, one of the things I’ve missed the most while we’ve been sheltering in place are my lunch breaks. Can you blame me, when I get to sit outside surrounded by beautiful gardens while I eat my lunch and read a book? We know […]
Cold Blooded Companions
Reptiles are more than just part of the scenery here, they’re important links in the garden ecosystem. It’s a sure sign that the weather is warming up at Marin Art & Garden Center when the lizards appear. You’ll catch sight of them sunning on a rock or skittering into the shadows, or even doing pushups […]
Keeping It Fresh: Help Your Cut Flowers Last Longer
To keep your fresh cut flowers looking vibrant as long as possible, here are a few tips. Before venturing out to a cutting garden, have a pair of clean, sharp hand pruners in hand, a bucket filled with tepid water with a conditioning agent (flower powder or a nutrient-rich hydrator*), and gardening gloves. Ideally, select […]
Five Picks from the Executive Director’s Bookshelf
Antonia Adezio knows a good gardening book when she sees one; here, she recommends reading from authors we know and love.
The Wild Life
The 11 acres that comprise the Marin Art and Garden Center are a mix of planted beds, paved paths, various structures and buildings; the area that is left to run wild is comparatively small. Nevertheless, like most of Marin County, we host a wide variety of wildlife here, whether welcome or not. Gardening can sometimes […]
Pruning Society Cleans Up
Pruning is an activity that is rewarded by what we don’t see. Trimming back branches is an important part of tree and shrub care, for the health of the plant as well as for safety and appearance. We recently hosted the volunteers of the Merritt College Aesthetic Pruning Club on the grounds here, and we […]
Squirrel Talk
Of all the wildlife that calls MAGC home, perhaps none is so easy to spot as our community of squirrels. Our acrobatic residents include both the native Western Gray squirrel and Eastern Grays as well; Eastern Grays can actually range in color from sandy brown to black. While we have yet to take a census […]
Winter Wonders
You could be forgiven for thinking that winter is a time when you won’t see anything new at the Center; it’s true most of the plants here are waiting for spring to look their best. But the cool damp weather that winter brings to our part of the world is just right for mosses, ferns, […]
What’s That? A Hornets’ Nest
If you stop in at the MAGC office, be sure to take a look at our range of materials about the various programs and activities we feature on our bookshelf. While you’re browsing, you might notice a peculiar object on top of the shelf, resembling a bark football. That, friends, is a baldface hornets’ nest, […]
What’s That? Oak Galls
This time of year, acorns large and small start to rain down all around MAGC, keeping the squirrels busy and the rest of us on our guard. You may have noticed some other, more unusual objects growing on and falling from our oaks: oak galls, sometimes called oak apples. Their rounded shape and surprisingly light […]
