Flower Shops Santa Clara CA

Santa Clara CA Press

Farmers markets open during the holidays •

The Downtown Ventura Market, held Saturdays at E. Santa Clara and Palm streets from 8:30 a.m. to noon, will be open both Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31. The Wednesday market at Pacific View Mall, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., will remain open during the holidays For more information, visit www.vccfarmersmarkets.com or call (805) 529-6266. http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2016-11-18/Neighbors/Farmers_markets_open_during_the_holidays_.html

Los Gatos, Saratoga: Native Plant Society holds 42nd Wildflower Show

The plant biodiversity of Santa Clara, San Mateo and surrounding counties will be showcased at West Valley College on April 23 at the California Native Plant Society's 42nd Wildflower Show. Coinciding with the Northern California wildflower bloom, the event will feature a variety of species of native wildflowers and plants. This will be an opportunity to view native plant displays, become familiar with them and learn where they can be found locally. To help attendees make sense of what they're looking at, expert botanists, gardeners and biology students will be on site to describe different samples and answer questions. The day will also include lectures on wildflower identification, pollinator relationships with flowers, habitat gardening and wildflower photography. And when folks need a break from that, they can join tours of the college campus that will showcase the native landscapes and the restoration project of Vasona Creek, which runs through the middle of campus. This will be an opportunity to learn how... http://www.mercurynews.com/saratoga/ci_29793163/los-gatos-saratoga-native-plant-society-holds-42nd

In Ecuador, the Frugal Traveler Tries Luxury

Quito School’s artistic traditions. At the old-fashioned Santa Clara Market, he plucked a yellowish ovoid fruit called a taxo off a fruit stand and cracked it open to reveal countless seeds enveloped in bright orange globules, like alien eggs. A relative of the passion fruit, but sweet rather than sour, it is my new favorite tropical treat. And he pointed out a lot that I would have missed on my own — candles made of animal fat that he used on his children as a treatment for raw noses, and borojó, a fruit added to drinks as an aphrodisiac (“It’s why there are so many children in Ecuador”). As he took me by the stands selling medicinal herbs, he mentioned that the women working there perform “cleansings” for $5. My frugal instinct took over, though I knew a fancier $49 version could be arranged through my hotel. I was taken by a young woman named Laura to a rundown back area of the market, led into a narrow tile stall decorated with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and told to strip to my underwear. Then she had at me, slapping my entire body, front and back, with a loose bouquet of herbs and plants, most notably stinging nettles. It felt as if I were running (almo... http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/travel/ecuador-budget-travel.html