Botanical Gardens – Page 2 – The Smarter Gardener

Everything You Need to Know About Camellias

February 9, 2014 no comments

In the Valley, camellias do best in a partial sun/light shade exposure. One of the best places in the world to learn about the light and shade requirements of the camellia is at an arboretum right in...

Indian Penicillin and Native Oaks

February 4, 2014 no comments

When you think of Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, camellias, lilacs and roses come to mind. Home to the largest camellia collection in the world, the most extensive lilac planting in Southe...

Don’t Forget to Stop and Smell the Sagebrush

February 4, 2014 2 comments

Chris Van Schaack has carved a bare-bones life out of the Santa Susana chaparral. He lives in a 50-year-old refurbished Quonset hut, an army surplus item from World War II, surrounded only by native ...

Englishman Theodore Payne and His Adopted California Natives

December 8, 2013 no comments

Imagine a garden that needs little water, fertilizer or soil amendments. In this highly economical garden, there are many shrubs with fragrant foliage, trees with smooth or textured bark, bulbs that ...

Camellias

December 4, 2013 no comments

Getty Center Garden

December 3, 2013 no comments

The garden of the future has arrived and is on display at the Getty Center. This is a garden where leaf color is as important as floral display, where plant diversity takes precedence over formal des...

Mildred Mathias and Her Garden Beauties

December 1, 2013 no comments

In 1993, I was exceptionally fortunate to make the acquaintance of Mildred Mathias. Mathias was a world-renowned UCLA botanist who was distinguished not only for her achievements in horticulture and ...

Japanese Gardens: Junipers & Their Relatives

November 19, 2013 no comments

Two gardening questions received by e-mail toward the end of 2001 may stimulate creative horticultural thinking for 2002. Q: I want to plant a garden but cannot afford to spend a lot of time or money...

Sing to the Lord a New Song

November 13, 2013 no comments

This column is dedicated to the memory of the innocents murdered in Newtown, Connecticut. Last Sunday was drizzling and cold. It had been many years since I had visited South Coast Botanic Gar...

Conejo Valley Botanic Garden

November 12, 2013 no comments

On a gloomy December day, I found my way to the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden in Thousand Oaks, without expectations or reservations. The garden is large, nearly always open, and admission is always f...

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There is a certain plant that has remarkable strength. I always think of an ox when reading about it or hearing its name and for an obvious reason: it’s called oxalis. Yet the etymology of oxalis has nothing to do with an ox. The word is derived f...

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I’m looking for some kind of bush or shrub or vine that will help to create a security barrier over a 3 foot high chain link fence, that will grow to around 5 or 6 feet or so, will look decent maybe with some nice blooms and if I’m lucky I can get aw...

A Living Fence of Pyracantha

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Red Monkey Flower

Red monkey flower (Diplacus puniceus) is an evergreen perennial that you ignore all year long for the sake of its arresting spring bloom, although it may flower on and off throughout the year. Water it more than once a month — even in fast-dra...