Illustrated History of Landscape Design
I wish I had had this book when I was (a) studying world history in high school, (b) studying architectural history in college, (c) lecturing…
Topics: Gardens & Design
The Tree Dahlia
I saw my first tree dahlia a few years ago, as I was walking down a street in the north coastal town of Arcata, California, glancing into gardens on m…
Orchard Trees of Rancho Los Cerritos: Avocados
When hired to design the Bixby estate garden at Long Beach’s Rancho Los Cerritos in 1931, landscape architect Ralph Cornell included three different…
Trees of South Coast Botanic Garden: The Banyan
Visitors to the South Coast Botanic Garden are treated to a large collection of fig trees (Ficus spp.). Belonging to the mulberry family (Moraceae), t…
The Sustaining Garden
An old African proverb, “Little by little grow the bananas,” describes the evolution of the Korpinen Erickson garden, perched in the south-facing …
Garden Allies: True Bugs
When it comes to the world of small insects, we often use "bug" as a catch-all, but the word has a more specific meaning in entomology, referring to j…
Sustainable in Seattle
Good intentions don’t always add up to the most beautiful gardens, but Jennifer Carlson’s little urban farm in Seattle is as attractive as it is e…
Kinzy Faire Clematis
One of the specialties of Kinzy Faire, an exceptional and extensive garden in Estacada, Oregon, is its collection of clematis, inspired by Linda Beutl…
Downsizing: It Just Suits Me
I discovered that the neighbors refer to my 350-square-foot studio as “the glass house,” most likely because the top of a twelve-foot-high window …