Western spice bush (Calycanthus occidentlias) under some severe heat stress in this part sun foothill garden. Is more water the answer? I’ve been receiving several questions over the past month or so about plants that have been doing fine for years, but suddenly this summer are looking ragged. This is …
One of the reasons I love to travel is to visit public lands and botanic gardens, both to admire and discover plants that I am unfamiliar with, and to bring ideas back that might work in our Southern Sierra and southern central valley areas. I’m always interested and delighted when …
I’m an expert, right? Doesn’t mean I don’t get things wrong sometimes. My contractor colleague and friend, Steve Koemppel (SK Landscaping) said, “The only wrong thing is to quit.” Thanks, Steve! It’s tempting to pretend no one noticed, no one will notice, or that whatever you got or did wrong …
Greetings! Welcome to new subscribers and thanks to all of you for reading and spreading the word about this blog. The following is part two: please also read part one, available in the archives. In the upcoming weeks, I will write about plants, life, and our life with plants. Mostly …
Greetings! Welcome to new subscribers and thanks to all of you for reading and spreading the word about this blog. The following two-parter is something I’ve been wanting to share for a long time. So, here it is! In the upcoming weeks, I will write about plants, life, and our …
Like every other gardener I know, I love to try out new plants. And, lucky me; I get to call it part of my job! Here are some promising new plants we’ve been growing this year in my Springville garden. Some of you may have been growing these already, but …
Our newer, water-saving landscapes are helping us break free of plain old green in the garden. With many plants, the traits that make them water-thrifty, also give them interesting foliage color and form. We can use this to our advantage by creating a “wow!” garden based on the monochromatic style. …
Almost everyone has heard that our beautiful Monarch butterflies across the United States are in decline. Fortunately, many gardeners and property owners, including farmers, are taking steps to help the population rebound. Habitat loss is the main reason for the butterfly decline, according to the experts. It’s also at least …
Late-winter is one of my favorite seasons in the garden. Plants that were dormant in summer and fall look refreshed and green now. One of the showiest is silver bush lupin (Lupinus albifrons), with great stalks of purple or pink flowers that you can see from a distance. Bush lupin …
This article first appeared in the Porterville Recorder newspaper Dec. 7-8, 2013 and was written with mainly the Southern Sierra and Central Valley gardens in mind, but hopefully it’s useful to native plant gardeners across California. Cold, cold, cold Frost periods like the one we’ve just had make me glad …
