Japanese Garden in Los Angeles

You can learn basic elements of garden design by visiting the Japanese garden in Woodley Park in Van Nuys, starting with the entrance gates.  There are three contiguous gates, but only one is open.  ...

Tactile Plants

Everyone loves petting zoos, especially kids, and I was just wondering if, maybe alongside them, petting gardens would be appropriate. A petting garden would feature leaves with furry, fuzzy, bumpy, ...

Favorite Red Flowers

Red is the most powerful color.  If you put it near your front door, you will quickly tire of it.   A red hedge of roses or poinsettias looks good when you are moving, whether down a path or down a r...

Variegation is the Garden Spice of Life

Coprosma ‘Tequila Sunrise’ I have known gardeners who were obsessed with variegated plants.  Their gardens were devoted exclusively to these schizophrenic beauties.  Variegated refers to ...

Every Plant Has Its Place

“I hate that plant” is a statement no experienced gardener will ever make. Just when you think there is no rhyme or reason for the existence of a certain plant, you see it growing in a sp...

Fast Growers

In Los Angeles, plants grow faster in May than in any other month. In May, the lengthening days and warming nights push plants to grow at a rapid pace that continues through most of June. Then, the s...