Honeysuckle: the Beauty and the Beast
Honeysuckle is a blessing or a curse, depending on why and where you plant it and which type you plant. Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is the species most commonly seen. Japanese honeysuckl...
Category Archives: Vines
Ramble through the Brambles
If you are looking for a safe haven, start spending time in a garden. The word “garden” comes from Old French and Old English words for “enclosure.” Evidently, the garden has ...
Patience Yields Hidden Treasure
At the end of my street, completely covering a low chain link fence that borders a front yard on all three sides, the magnificent violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma callistegioides) has been flowering. ...
George Patton, Seaweed Extract, & Clematis
George Patton, no relation to the general, is part of an army of a few select individuals who do combat on behalf of organic gardening throughout Los Angeles. A resident of Sherman Oaks, Patton’...
Lavender Trumpet Vine
Some of the plants that bring the most pleasure are those that, virtually unnoticed throughout the year, suddenly come into view on account of their spectacular, if brief floral display. Each spring,...
Wisteria Potential & Primrose Jasmine
In all the world, there is no vine like wisteria. From Sierra Madre to Jerusalem, I have seen nothing that can match its seemingly limitless potential for growth. How appropriate that wisteria should...
Shade Tolerant Vines
We want a plant for a terra-cotta pot that will grow fairly wide and not more than 5 feet tall. It could flower, fruit or just produce pretty foliage. It will face north and not get much sun. >Claire...
Trumpet Vines Sound Off in Spring
In the Valley, trumpets of every color herald the news that the sometimes balmy, sometimes stormy, sometimes just plain hot days of spring have arrived in full force. The trumpets I speak of are atta...
Winter and Spring: Descent for the Sake of Ascent
Spring is almost here and so is Passover. There is a principle in Judaism, observable in the garden, too, known as yeridah letzorech aliyah, which means “descent for the purpose of ascent,” that you ...
Bougainvillea: a Love-Hate Relationship
Your relationships with plants, like those with people, may undergo radical changes with time. Plants that you thought were the most beautiful on Earth when you started gardening may look far less at...
