It's that time of year when imprudent planting decision make themselves known. Labor Day already, can you believe it? At any rate, I'm editing heck out of the garden. Noting where plants have flopped, too little sun. Or plants are fried, too much sun. Also looking at...
Way back a million years ago, in May, we did a short trek to Santa Barbara. I thought I'd seen it all after going to Huntington Gardens in San Marino, CA. However, see that picture atop this post--that's the garden at our Airbnb in Santa Barbara. The one below is...
I count Aralia californica aka Elk Clover in the cheap thrills department. This baby was planted two years ago and it grew to four feet its first season. It's winter deciduous, lending to its fresh, airy look come spring and into summer. Mine is sandwiched between our...
Oh boy, talk about a good thing, and perchance too much of it? The jury is out. But if year one is any indication, Flamingo Park, we may have a problem. These plants were gifts from Ron Wagner, a guy who packed his bag, and I mean singular bag, and headed for...
It's been a few years since I've felt like showing off my garden, after multiple forces converged and took it from a wild lush jungle, to a big sad mess, with the occasional interesting plant hinting that a gardener used to tend these parts. Not the way I like to...
My brain likes puzzles, and the longer I live in my own flip flops, the more I appreciate this as a bona fide creative strategy. Puzzle working is in my bones. My parents claimed I could work a wooden US puzzle when I was just three--and lickety split. Now it's my...
Walking through the garden I noticed the new foliage on Lupinus albifrons (silver lupine) looked a little different. Larger, “greener,” less intensely silver. Darn! It’s going to bloom. But that silver foliage is why I love this plant and why it's growing in my...
Usually, this is my favorite time of year in my garden. The big leaves are at their biggest and the trees and shrubs are having their fall growth spurt, and the garden is a bit closer to the jungle of my dreams. After a few rain storms have freshened things up and...