Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden
When faced with the loss of her garden, Elda Behm saved more than just a few plants; she saved her entire garden—at least most of it— and it has b…
Topics: Perspectives
Manzanita
Among the plants rooted in California is the genus Arctostaphylos, made up of evergreen shrubs commonly known by the Spanish folk name of manzanita or…
Lawnscapes: Mowing Patterns to Make Your Yard a Work of Art
If there is someone in your circle of friends who simply cannot give up his manicured lawn, regardless of its drain on water and energy…
Garden Allies: Ants
Ants…As Allies? In Aesop’s fable, the ant is held up as a paragon of industry. Carpenters, weavers, gardeners, harvesters, drivers, and honeypot ants all uphold…
The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes
Grasses are in the news! A recent front-page article in the San Francisco Chronicle extolled the virtues of a tropical grass now being tested by…
Sweet Peas in California: A Fragrant but Fading Memory
Sweet peas were first grown in California’s Central Coast valleys on an agricultural scale in 1907. The region’s rich soil and benign climate were…
Married to My Garden
As Barbara Blossom Ashmun reveals in Married to My Garden, her new collection of essays, a romance with gardening may thrive even as relationships falter…
Making Gardens Seem Bigger, Part II
The author, a landscape architect, discusses design possibilities for manipulating spatial perceptions that are inherent in the physical and visual ch…
Chasing Wildflowers: A Mad Search for Wild Gardens
Raconteur Scott Calhoun leaves his plant-loving reader ravenous for Baja fish tacos, Mexican Coca-Cola, ice-cold Tecate, Red Iguana mole, Johnny Cash, Ravel, Kandinsky, Yeats, Lewis…