container gardening – The Smarter Gardener

Growing Plants in Containers: the Ultimate Challenge

February 4, 2014 no comments

What a wonderful moral education is provided in the growing of container plants. Virtually unique among human activities, container gardening allows little escape from complete personal responsibilit...

Ultimate Responsibility: Container Gardening

December 3, 2013 no comments

The Fine Art of Gardening: Container Planting

November 19, 2013 no comments

Growing plants in containers has long been acknowledged as gardening’s finest art. It therefore comes as no surprise that at the Palace of Versailles – a bastion of French fine arts since...

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A Glimpse of Paradise

Visitng Sherman Gardens is like spending time in a great museum. After an hour or so, you reach a saturation point and sigh, “There are just too many treasures to absorb in a single visit. I’ll just have to come back again to fully appreciat...

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California Native Ground Covers

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Oxalis: Strong as an Ox, Sour as a Lemon

There is a certain plant that has remarkable strength. I always think of an ox when reading about it or hearing its name and for an obvious reason: it’s called oxalis. Yet the etymology of oxalis has nothing to do with an ox. The word is derived f...

A Living Fence of Pyracantha

I’m looking for some kind of bush or shrub or vine that will help to create a security barrier over a 3 foot high chain link fence, that will grow to around 5 or 6 feet or so, will look decent maybe with some nice blooms and if I’m lucky I can get aw...

A Living Fence of Pyracantha

Larkspur/Annual Delphinium

Red Monkey Flower

Red monkey flower (Diplacus puniceus) is an evergreen perennial that you ignore all year long for the sake of its arresting spring bloom, although it may flower on and off throughout the year. Water it more than once a month — even in fast-dra...