Ideally, Trees Should Never Be Pruned
Whenever I hear a complaint about trees, I am reminded of our precarious relationship with them. As part of our immediate environment, we demand that trees should be as close to us as is physically p...
How to successfully plant lemon verbena
It often happens that successful planting combinations happen entirely by chance. For years I marveled at my lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) that thrived in the company of some ‘Judy Garland&...
A parkway turned edible garden could help change the world a little
It might well happen that, some time in the not too distant future, Los Angeles parkways, those woebegone pieces of earth between sidewalk and street, will be transformed into vegetable gardens. For ...
Gardens provide oasis for reflection in trying times
This column is dedicated to the memory of the innocents murdered in Newtown, Conn. Last Sunday was drizzling and cold. It had been many years since I had visited the South Coast Botanic Garden on t...
Hedging your bets for low-maintenance foilage
If you are pondering low-maintenance hedge possibilities, think about lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia) before making your final decision. Lemonade berry has undulating, leathery sea green foliage a...
UCLA’s Mathias Garden a plant lover’s paradise
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 ...
TreePeople want close encounters with nature to be an everyday experie...
You might think of TreePeople as an organization whose sole mission is to plant more trees in Los Angeles. While that may have been true when the organization was founded four decades ago, and TreePe...
From bitter to soft, smooth to spiky, a host of aloes are good for the...
It may be the most visible flowering perennial of the winter season and, as a bonus, is one of the easiest to grow. Its species name means “fierce,” a testament to its spiny foliage, yet ...
Captivating manzanita is botanical perfection
There are some plants that you only need to encounter once and, instantly, you feel a connection to them that goes straight into your soul. They are like those rare people whom you meet by chance and...
How plants can grow in the least hospitable places
Plants can grow just about anywhere, including on steep embankments and precipitous slopes. I have even seen them growing out of cracks in walls, whether naturally rocky cliffsides or man-made fortre...
