Columbine, Convolvulus, and Kalanit
Columbine, a flower meant for every garden, is a study in irony. Let’s start with its name. Columbine is derived from columbo, the Latin word for dove. If you take the flower and turn it ups...
Category Archives: Ground Cover
Parkway Ground Cover
We are looking for a ground cover for our parkway (between the street and the sidewalk) that will be stronger than the grass and weeds that will inevitably try to regain ground there. We know we wil...
Everybody Loves Bellflowers
Everyone loves bellflowers. They belong to the Campanulaceae family, an appropriate appellation since campanulate is the botanical term for bell-shaped flowers. It harkens back to those Italian campa...
Ground Cover to Plant Under Pine Trees
Q: I recently bought a house in Atwater Village (Silver Lake/Los Feliz area). There is a huge pine tree in my parkway strip and the ground below is covered with dead needles. The tree keeps it shady....
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...
From Phenology to ‘Silver Falls’
According to Webster’s dictionary, phenology is the study of recurring biological phenomena as harbingers of seasonal change. For example, if you live in a northern state, phenologists would sa...
Galloping Groundcover
The Mexican primrose is just beginning to be noticed. For years, it was mysteriously absent from local nurseries as if there were a conspiracy against it. It deserves wider recognition, since it is a...
Parkway Plants
I am forever on the lookout for successful parkway plants. Here, parkways refer to those narrow strips of ground in residential neighborhoods between sidewalk and street. Traditionally, parkways have...
What to Plant Under a Pine Tree
Question: We’re trying to design a low-water 2,500-square-foot back yard with a big pine tree overhead. We’ve looked at some designs but they all use crushed rock or gravel or bark, which...
Gazania and Other Water-Wise Selections
There are lessons to be learned from the commercial landscape on the corner of Milbank Street and Sylmar Avenue, just east of Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. This landscape offers a hint of pleas...
