by Dan Vierria
BEE GARDEN WRITER
Bob Tanem felt he had more to say about gardening in Northern California even after 40 years in the nursery business
and 20 years as host of a radio gardening show.
He and co-author Don Williamson share their knowledge in a series of four softcover books focusing on Northern California
gardening. The most recent is "Gardening Month by Month in Northern California" (Lone Pine Publishing, $15.95, 160 pages).
Other books cover annuals, perennials and trees and shrubs.
Tanem, 75, lives in Novato, where he attempts to outsmart plant-hungry deer and continues to host his radio show on KSFO
(AM 560) from 7 to 10 a.m. on Sundays.
Q. What prompted you to emphasize Northern California gardening in a series of books?
A. One of the biggest things is that there are so many gardening books out there, but they don't
write books about Northern California. Even Sunset's (Western Garden) book covers a much larger area of the West. Hopefully,
the books are helping people with anser for their area - specifically, Northern California.
Q. What are our biggest gardening challenges in Northern California?
A. Temperature and winter moisture. Hot in summer and not enough rainfall at times.
Q. You've spent decades around plants. Did you learn anything new researching and writing these
books?
A. That the number of perennials has grown exponentially. That there were some annuals I hadn't
grown myself and I had to go around asking knowledgeable people what their experiences were with those plants.
The book on annuals was the hardest. The publisher wanted more plants than I felt were readily available in Northern
California. As an ex-nurseryman, I felt it was important that the annuals in the book be readily available to the public.
Q. Pereinnials are extremely popular. Have any favorites?
A. Sages are great. Yarrow is one of my favorites, and the wallflower, "Bowles Mauve." Gerbera,
but it's tough to grow. Bear's Breeches (Acanthus). I love penstemon. How many thousands of new ones are there each year?
And I like ornamental or perennial grasses.
Q. What major changes in the home gardener have you seen in recent years?
A. Years ago, people were just covering the ground with juniper, but eventually they became a lot
more sophisticated gardeners. They're demanding color...plants like clematis. They're into hostas now because of improved
snail baits. They're interested in beauty and plants that bloom.
Q. Are you pitching any other books in the Northern California series?
A. I would love to write a book about growing vegetables. There's need for that one. The tomato
is the No. 1 vegetable. Did you know that 85% of the people who have gardens grow tomato plants?
