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Latest · California Natives

Currant & Gooseberry: The Natives That Flower in Winter

A field guide to Ribes, the California genus that runs the garden year backwards. The currants and gooseberries leaf out in the rain, bloom in the cold, feed the hummingbirds that nest in December, then drop their leaves and rest through summer. What the genus is, why the bare summer plant is doing exactly what it should, and the federal war that once made it illegal to grow.

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1Understand the pot Substrate The Root Zone What a plant is actually asking for from its soil, and the three-ingredient fix for most struggling houseplants. Start here → 2Rescue what's struggling Diagnosis Why Plants Die in Good Soil Most "good" potting mix is bad at the job it's sold for. The ten-minute fix, start to finish. Start here → 3Pick a first plant Houseplants Pothos, the Unkillable Starter The best first plant you can own, plus the small handful of things that can still trip you up. Start here →

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The Propagation Lab Deflasking a Variegated Alocasia Frydek: The Older Protocol, and Why We Changed It July 31, 2026

The Propagation Lab Deflasking Tissue Culture: From Sealed Flask to First Pot July 29, 2026

The Flower Library Panicle: A Raceme That Branched, and the Lilac That Isn't Quite One July 28, 2026

The Substrate Library Reading Your Native Soil: The Test Before the Amendment July 27, 2026

The Leaf Library Pinnately Compound: California Black Walnut and the Throwaway Branch July 26, 2026

California Natives Coffeeberry: The Shrub That Was Never Coffee July 24, 2026

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Specimen-tray of six potted houseplants — Monstera, Philodendron, Anthurium, Begonia, Alocasia, and Hoya — arranged on warm kraft paper

The Plant Library Long-form portraits of single specimens and full genus deep... 9 profiles

Specimen-tray of six substrate ingredients — perlite, pumice, pine bark fines, charcoal, coco coir, and calcined clay — in wooden trays on kraft paper

The Substrate Library The science of growing media, written for an actual potting... 12 guides

Five botanical leaf specimens — palmately compound, sagittate, cordate, pinnately compound, and orbicular — illustrated in vintage Kew Botanical Magazine register on cream

The Leaf Library Learning to read leaves, one shape at a time. The twelve... No. 02 live

Six botanical inflorescence specimens — sunflower head, yarrow corymb, foxglove raceme, lilac panicle, Queen Anne's lace compound umbel, and calla lily spadix — illustrated in vintage Kew Botanical Magazine register on cream

The Flower Library Learning to read flowers, one form at a time. The twelve... 4 of 12 forms

Five Bay Area pollinators — hover fly, honey bee, bumble bee, anise swallowtail, and Anna's hummingbird — illustrated in vintage natural history register on cream paper

The Pollinator Library The creatures that close the loop. Twelve Bay Area pollinators... Opens Late 2026

California chaparral and oak-woodland landscape — golden grasslands with coast live oaks, California fuchsia in coral bloom, and California buckwheat in the foreground, hazy ridges in distance

California Natives Bay Area-first native plant pillar. Hybrid voice — editorial... 12 entries

A clear glass plant mister in the middle of a single spray, droplets suspended mid-air over a Monstera deliciosa leaf in soft window light

Myths Demystified One widely-repeated piece of plant advice per entry — delivered... 5 entries settled

Scientific specimen study — five glass petri dishes containing plant-diagnosis specimens beside a brass magnifying lens and a leather field notebook on kraft paper

The Field Manual Mug-shot cards for the pests, damage, and disease you'll... 5 dossiers

Rows of tissue-culture plantlets growing in sterile glass culture jars in a laboratory

The Propagation Lab Tissue culture, cuttings, division, and seed. Bench protocols... 2 entries

Specimen-tray of six gardening hand tools — bypass pruner, brass hand lens, pump sprayer, moisture meter, folding pruning saw, and pH meter probe — on kraft paper

The Workshop America's Test Kitchen methodology applied to gardening tools.... Opens this summer

Bright-window interior scene — weathered wooden window box planted with basil, parsley, chives, trailing nasturtium and cherry tomato vine on a sunny urban apartment windowsill

The Window Box Urban growing in apartments, balconies, kitchens, and small... 4 guides

The Window Box

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In the latest issue · Issue 01 · July 2026

Move your watering to first light
Stop watering established California natives
The summer pot-up window for houseplants

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