Too Much Water Can Be Harmful to Plants
As the summer sun arrives full strength, watering becomes a primary concern to Los Angeles gardeners. This is the first summer in many years without drought-imposed restrictions on watering. Yet, too...
Category Archives: Drought Tolerant
The Secret to Growing Perfect Plants
If, before visiting Louise Olson’s private home and garden, you were not a plant lover, you would, in all likelihood, become a plant lover before your visit was over. Olson, retired from a career in ...
Australians & South Africans in Los Angeles
Wherever you go, you are always running into them. They are imported from across the seas and, having seen so many of them over the years, in such a diverse array of shapes, colors and textures, you ...
White Carpet Myoporum and Indestructible Kikuyu
No doubt you have seen a “Baby on Board” sign in the rear window of a car at one time or another. This sign, it would appear, is meant to alert other drivers to the possibility of unpredictable behin...
Tree Yuccas and Their Ilk
Gunilla and Michel Hamaoui, who live in Woodland Hills, sent me a photo of a tree whose identity they did not know. They also wanted to know how often it flowered. I did not know what kind of tree th...
Arboreta, Patience, & Australian Trees
If you want to learn the meaning – that is, the beauty – of patience, visit a botanical garden or arboretum. I recently had the opportunity to do so in Arcadia, where the Los Angeles Coun...
Prudent Summer Watering
The heat at the beginning of this month was so sudden and overwhelming that it was almost unbearable to go outside, much less work in the garden. To make things more tolerable during the Valley’...
Growing Roses in Las Vegas
I recently visited a friend in Las Vegas, Jonathan Daniels, who has become obsessed with gardening. “When I first decided to plant,” Daniels said, “I spent many long hours with pick...
Succulent Color for Low Light Conditions
Impatiens – that multicolored staple of the shade garden – finally has some competition. Actually, this competitor has been around for some time, but has not been promoted as a bedding pl...
Native Plant People
Spending a day among native plants and the people who grow them is to be immersed in beauty mixed with sadness, love obscured by obsession and desire thwarted by reality. The plain truth is that you ...
