Creating a Native Garden Under Live Oaks
My first big backyard project of 2021 is creating a garden under a canopy of live oaks using only California and San Diego native plant species. This is day 1.
1
03, 2021
12
10, 2020
Keyhole Garden – October 12, 2020
Gardener's Log : Keyhole Garden date 569. Now that we're several weeks into fall, the temperatures are making their annual wobble between hot and cold. The days are still in the 80's with the occasional tip into the low 90's, but the nights are now dipping into the mid-50's and flirting with the upper 40's a couple days a week. For most of the plants here, those big temperature swings and longer nights are a signal to wrap things up [keep reading...]
29
06, 2020
Keyhole Garden Out of Control
It's official. I've completely lost control of the keyhole garden.
23
06, 2020
The Onion Harvest Rule
Grandpa always said "plant onions on the first day of spring, harvest them on the first day of fall." But here in the southwest, the first day of winter and summer are more like it.
22
06, 2020
Aeonium
An aeonium in the new succulent garden I'm creating. The light through the yucca tree hit it in just such a way to bring together the colors and symmetry in an almost hypnotic display.
4
06, 2020
Video: A Mini Jurassic Park
You’d think as a snake that eats rattlesnakes, most of the other members of the reptile kingdom would give a king snake plenty of room. But then again, you're probably not a teenage western fence lizard.
19
05, 2020
A Kiwi Love Story
Common sense would tell you that plants don't have feelings, but I have a true story of a kiwi's love, loss and new life that might change your mind.
8
05, 2020
Unusual Avocado Varieties
The other day a neighbor who's an avocado grower, brought us some rare Don Gillogly avocados from his private grove. It's a dwarf Haas variant with creamy, club-shaped fruit.
29
02, 2020
Bee’s Bliss Sage in Bloom
Late last spring I got a Salvia Bee's Bliss from my friend @linsaycrazyplantlady's nursery. I planted it near the rocks by the fish pond and left it do its thing. Turns out there were a couple of giant white squill bulbs lurking below the surface in that location that I had forgotten. In November the squill erupted from the ground, leafed out, and completely covered the Bee's Bliss. And so I forgot about the little sage. Yesterday while doing some [keep reading...]
4
01, 2020
Pozo Blue Sage in Early Bloom
This is Salvia Pozo Blue (Salvia clevelandii X leucophylla) a hybrid of two So Cal natives, Purple Sage and Cleveland Sage. I picked it up about two years ago from La Pilatas Nursery, a native plant specialist not too far from here. It's leaves resemble the Cleveland Sage's leaves, but they're spaced farther apart on leggy stems like the Purple Sage. The smell is a woodsy must akin to the Cleveland Sage. I like the plant because it makes a [keep reading...]