It is time for the annual pruning of the Matson-Mowder-Howe (MMH) Celebration Garden’s Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) and do some other gardening such as spreading arbor chip mulch. We will prune the Matilija poppy more thoughtfully again this year—sort of a hybrid between the historical severe pruning and skipping a year. I think we had good results last year from this . . .
. . . intentionally growing plants, [not] just chopping things back and tidying them up. And that’s really to tend the land thoughtfully, to enhance it for both people and wildlife and produce . . . a beautiful landscape from that as well. ~Sid Hill (from the December 28, 2023, interview with Jennifer Jewel, Thinking Like Healthy Habitats with Sid Hill, Ecological Land Artisan)
We will meet at the historic Matson-Mowder-Howe Celebration Garden in Caldwell Park on Friday, January 10, from 10 AM to noon. The forecast is for a partly cloudy day with temperatures in the 50s. Wear layers. Please bring gloves, a bucket, and your favorite manual gardening implements (loppers and hand pruners especially).
Happy winter gardening! ~Doug Mandel
Photo by Margaret Widdowson.