Wordless Wednesday: A Berry This Isn't

How Do You Think This Trash Got into the Madrone Shrub?

Please make your best guess in the comments. 

Umbrage is Abundant in the North County

What is Umbrage?

Umbrage is abundant in the North County. You probably see it everywhere you go. Umbrage is simply the foliage of our many trees and shrubs which produce shade. We depend upon it most in the summer when we seek shelter from the hot sun. The people in the photo below, taken at Leffingwell Landing in Cambria, are taking advantage of it.

Large Shade Tree at Leffingwell Landing, © B. Radisavljevic

You Need to Choose and Place Shade Trees Carefully

Sometimes umbrage helps cool a home in summer when you have trees near your house. These trees are helping to shade a mobile home on our Templeton property, or were. One of those large pines fell since I took this photo and we are lucky it didn't fall on the mobile home. You have to be careful about choosing and maintaining trees that provide shade on your property.

Shade Trees Threatening Mobile Home, © B. Radisavljevic

Sometimes umbrage is a nuisance. When my mother planted this tree behind her new rose garden, she thought it was an apricot tree. Maybe it is, but it has never produced so much as a blossom. What it does produce is umbrage -- lots of it. The shade makes it much harder for the roses near and under it to get the sun they need. Can you even see that small pink rose near the middle of the photo that the shade makes barely visible?

Shade Tree Covering Rose Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

Even our flowering shrubs, such as these Cecile Brunner rosebushes produce umbrage that makes shade.

 Rose Garden Umbrage, © B. Radisavljevic

 Planting the Dry Shade Garden: The Best Plants for the Toughest Spot in Your Garden
Whether you have a problem in your yard with too much umbrage or too little, one of these books should help you. When you have too much shade, you have to choose your plants more carefully and get plants that will thrive in shade.

If you have the opposite problem and need to plant shade trees on your property to help cool your home or patio, one of these books will help you make the right choices -- trees that won't clog your plumbing or be prone to falling on your home.

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 Making the Most of Shade: How to Plan, Plant, and Grow a Fabulous Garden that Lightens up the Shadows The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change Shade Tree Wilt Diseases: Wilt Diseases Taylor's Guide to Shade Gardening: More Than 350 Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers That Thrive Under Difficult Conditions, Illustrated with Color Photographs and Detailed Drawings (Taylor's Guides)

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If you enjoyed this post, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of this post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning. 

This is my twenty-first post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is Things You Can See or Experience in North San Luis Obispo County. Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Acorn
B is for Barney Schwartz Park
C is for Cattle in Wine Country
D is for Dark Star Cellars
E is for Electric Wires
F is for Family Farms
G is for Graveyard Vineyards
H is for Horses
Insects in My Neighborhood in April
J's Burgers in Paso Robles: A Review
Kosta is God's Gift to Me from Across the Ocean
Laguna Lake is Full Again
Mission San Miguel Photos
Niner Estates Decorated Heart Hill with Vineyards
Ocean Photos from the California Central Coast
Paso Robles Police Vehicles
Quiet Places Near Paso Robles
Red Soles Winery at Dusk
Shale Oak Winery at Dusk

Trader Joe's In Templeton is my Favorite Grocery Store

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Mother Nature Also Decorates in December

Mother Nature Decorates with Red and Green in December

Traditionally, we think of red and green as the Chrismas colors. Mother Nature loves them at this time of year. I took this photo a couple of days ago in front of the Historic Depot Office at the North County Transport Center. It's currently home to Anglim Winery and a law office. Do you see the red "ornaments" on the hedge and the rosemary bush next to it?

Rosemary Decorating with Bradford Pear Leaves

In this next photo, we see a different view of the same plants with the current Amtrak waiting room / office in the background.

Shrubs with Autumn Leaves
Amtrak Waiting Room is in Back

The cotoneaster plant with its green leaves and red berries are also on display during the holiday season. I have made coordinated greeting cards and stamps from my photos of cotoneaster should you want to use them for your holiday cards. You can find all my variations at Zazzle. There are four cards with this design: a blank greeting card, a blank postcard, a card appropriate for businesses to send, and a more personal greeting for friends. Of course, you can also add, change or remove text and even change the image to design your own card if you have one you like better.

 Red Cotoneaster Berries: Holiday season Greeting Card Holiday Postage Stamp: Red Cotoneaster Berries

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Pyracantha in Bloom

At least I believe this is a pyracantha, commonly known as firethorn, even though I'd always thought it was a cotoneaster. I looked up cotoneaster in my Sunset Western Garden Book tonight and there was no mention of  thorns.  This plant you see in the photo has dangerous thorns, and only the pyracantha description mentions thorns. Both plants can grow tall like this and both have colorful orange or red berries. Both plants can grow in poor soil and are drought resistant. The fruits appears in July or August and last long enough to provide winter color.

This is the same shrub in bloom in May. The bees love the flowers. I can hear the tree buzzing as I approach it when the tree is in bloom. Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

This is a close-up of the pyracantha flowers.

I love my Sunset Western Garden Book as a General reference for finding out more about the plants in my garden and selecting plants for special situations or with certain characteristics. In this case, I looked up plants with colorful berries to see what else this might have been, if not cotoneaster. It's a book no western gardener should be without. 

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Happy Bees Enjoying March Flowers

I'm always happy when I see bees digging into my plants. I expect to see them on the rosemary, since it blooms sometimes when nothing else will. The problem with taking their pictures is that as soon as you aim your camera at them, they move to the next flower. They seem to be in perpetual motion.

The second plant in my garden that is covered with bees is the holly. This is an interesting season for holly. As you can see, some of last year's red berries are still there, even as the flowers that will produce the next batch of berries are in full bloom.

What are the bees enjoying in your garden this month?

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