Fastigiate Trees, ‘Starry Night’

There is something about fastigiate (fass-ti’-gee-it) trees. You either love them or hate them.  Or so it seems. Fastigiate means columnar and I could not help but contemplate this arboreal for...

Primrose Jasmine, Thickets, Cherimoyas

The more I learn about primrose jasmine, the more I like it.  This time of year, it’s nice to look at, too.  Long shoots are bedazzled with butter yellow blooms.  Primrose jasmine will cover a ...

Laurustinus for full sun to semi-shade

In Los Angeles, February is known as the month when winter merges into spring.  The Super Bowl, in early February, coincides with a major botanical event:  the onset of flowering — known scient...

A Luddite’s Paradise

                    Loren Zeldin doesn’t have a computer or a cell phone or even a camera. But he does have a garden, which is the focus of his...

Nutgrass, Gardenias & Plum Trees

Q: Some friends of mine had a beautiful lawn here in the San Fernando Valley, but they have nutgrass growing in it. I had never heard of it, but everyone on their street has it. Can you recommend som...

Wonders of Wigandia

For years, it had baffled me. I caught a glimpse of it every time I traveled north on Beverly Glen Boulevard, just as I began the ascent that ended at Mulholland Drive. At the base of the steep emban...