Jerusalem Roses
There was a time in Jerusalem when, with the notable exception of roses, cultivation of plants was forbidden. 2000 years ago, when the Holy Temple still stood within Jerusalem’s walls, no gardens co...
Category Archives: Stories
Avocado Prices Have Not Changed in 100 years
Over the last hundred years or so, the price of avocadoes has not changed. Back in 1920, the price of avocadoes, which were a newly introduced delicacy in California, was around $1 a piece and, toda...
Gravelscaping & The Emperor’s New Clothes
“To Create a Garden is to search for a better world. In our effort to improve on nature, we are guided by a vision of paradise. Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece or only a modes...
90 Year Old Grows Abundant Tomato Crops
“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away.” These words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the famous author, came to mind durin...
Sing to the Lord a New Song
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...
Grow Ancient Plants at Home
Not long ago, I was in Death Valley at the Furnace Creek Inn, an oasis in the middle of the Great Basin-Mojave Desert region. This area is home to two of the oldest plant species on earth: bristle co...
A Short History of the Hass Avocado
Q: We have saved the seeds of some exceptionally good supermarket tangerines recently whose label says “FLORIDA – Sunburst.” If we were to plant the seeds, would we get trees that w...
Live to 116? Drink Lemon Balm Tea
If you want to live for a hundred years, it might be wise to grow an herb that has the texture of crepe, the fragrance of lemon and the name of a pretty girl. According to Modern Herbal (Dover Public...
Man As Endangered Species
“As we know, we are under increasing pressure to choose caring over not caring. We know that caring will involve us in great effort and discomfort and we dread to choose it, but we know too tha...
Pierce College Farm Diminished
It’s the year 2077, and Angela Brahma, a student at StarWorks Academy (formerly known as Pierce College), is upset. She wanted to take Plant Propagation 101 but, at the last minute, the class w...
