A Bounty of (Hardier) Begonias
Lately, I've been experimenting with some of the newer, hardier selections of begonia in my Sacramento garden (USDA zone 9, Sunset zone 14). The group…
Regions: Northern California
Nor. Cal
A Wind-blown Garden on a Sea Ranch Bluff
The power of the incessant winds, which lash the bluff and everything that grows on it, was a lesson learned in designing a garden at The Sea Ranch, o…
Garden Allies: Tachinid Flies
Tachinids are the most diverse family of Diptera (true flies), and help control many pests; of the parasitic insects, only parasitoid wasps are of gre…
Cyclamen for Summer and Autumn
My appreciation for cyclamen begins anew each year in late summer when the first flowers appear in gardens that usually look tired, dry, and in need o…
Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies
Landscape architect Owen Dell long ago established himself as a maverick, promoting design solutions that actually enhanced the natural ecology of a site, while providing…
Xanthorrhoea quandrangulata
A chance visit to the Los Angeles County Arboretum endowed us with a great potted ox of a plant that we now consider one of the finest things we grow.…
The Melissa Garden: A Sanctuary and Season of Honey Bees
Barbara Schlumberger envisioned the Melissa Garden, in Healdsburg, California, as "an iconic garden to venerate the honey bees, demonstrate bee-friend…
The Begonia in California, Part 2: The Begoniacs
Continuing the story of California’s begonia industry is this series of brief biographical sketches of some incomparable people in the begonia worl…
Gardening at Ninety
As I kneel on the grass to plant daffodils for next spring, I wonder if I shall be here to see them. I am now ninety—well beyond the allotted three-…