Growing California Native Plants
I used to eagerly anticipate Marjorie Schmidt’s articles in Fremontia, the journal of the California Native Plant Society for her keen writing and observational skills,…
Plants: Flowering plants, vines, and bulbs
Drought Tolerant Daffodils
Planted in fall, the returning rains initiate growth producing some of the earliest showy blooms of the new growing season. Extremely drought tolerant for six…
Nurturing Plants & Gardeners
Enjoy this virtual road trip and slideshow of images of three specialty nurseries in Oregon which offer fine plants, knowledgeable help, and inspirational garden. Nurserymen…
Hardy Fragrant Jasmine
Poet's Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is a surprisingly hardy vine that thrives in gardens west of the Cascades offering intoxicating fragrance and a …
Thoughts from a Gardener of a Certain Age
Although I don’t think of myself as old, I have already gardened for over thirty-five years, including almost twenty-five years in Northern Californ…
The Madagascar Spiny Forest at Los Angeles County Arboretum
The success of the LA County Arboretum’s Spiny Forest will, we hope, encourage more plant enthusiasts to experiment with some of these plants from M…
The Oku Stone
The gardens of Julie King and Paul Smith are both enriched by a metaphorical Oku stone. Though perhaps not actually present in the ground of their sim…
Garden Allies: Honey Bees
An Insect Synonymous with Civilization In the late 1600’s, Johannes Swammerdam meticulously dissected a honey bee with home made tools and a primitive microscope. In…
Primula: the Joys of Spring and Beyond
The genus Primula includes more than 400 species distributed mostly around the Northern Hemisphere. The vast majority can be found in the high, damp m…