The November Garden: Foliage and Fruit

Looking at the garden in November may dampen enthusiasm for creating bouquets, since many flowering plants have shut down for now and will continue to be bereft of blooms for the next several months....
Coreopsis grandiflora 'Sun Ray'

Blooming Plants for the Fall Garden

  Autumn is the ideal time to start a garden. This is perfect proof that the gardener’s claim to fame is in manipulating nature, rather than in slavishly following its dictates. The popula...

How to Select and Plant a Tree

Since trees should be planted in the fall, and since fall coincides with Halloween, I thought it might be appropriate to mention some of the horrors brought on by incorrect tree planting decisions an...

Oleander Alternatives and Fig Propagation

Q: We are horse owners and ride on the Chatsworth equestrian trails maintained by the city. Several years ago, the city planted oleander bushes along the bridle path. Oleander leaves are highly toxic...

New Plants Are a Revelation

Plants you have never seen before are always a revelation. You experience a sense of reverence and renewal in their presence. Just when you thought you had seen everything, suddenly there is a leaf s...
blue periwinkle (Vinca Major)

Genesis of Spring Garden is in the Fall

“Getting ready for fall” is the mantra that every gardener repeats over and over again at this time of year.   In the fall, there is a special aroma of renewal in the air. It is the ...

Fall Color in Shrubs, Too

For good horticultural reasons, orange, gold and burgundy are fixed prominently in the mind as the colors of fall.   These are the colors of Indian corn and the colors assumed by leaves of certa...