We are currently enjoying a balmy 99+ degree day. After the record breaking heat of 114º F on Friday, this is somewhat of an improvement. In this blog post I will 1) suggest practices to help your plants make it through the extreme heat; 2) share temperature data from my garden; and 3) give an
Keeping Plants Alive in Extreme Heat
After the flowers
Wildflower season is “past peak” and I’d like to remind you that the glorious, youthful, bright flowers now enter the very important stage of making and dispersing seed. Though my camera is still drawn to brightly colored flowers, I try to point it at the broken stems, brown seed pods, and graying leaves that are
Lawn-less Sustainable Garden Finale
The work on the front yard patios is completed. I planted some grasses and other perennials but am waiting until next winter to plant a few shrubs. As promised in the previous blog post, here is a slideshow containing pictures from late February, when work started, to early April, after it was completed. I’m loving
Lawn-less Sustainable Garden (continued)
We are making big changes to our yard. As you may remember from earlier posts, I was not happy with the burned out lawn in the front yard. Years of drought left much of the lawn brown. With city water restrictions, I watered for the large deodar cedar – deeply and infrequently – allowing the
Successful Planting Party
Over fifty volunteers planted 209 native plants in the nature park on Saturday, January 27, 2018. This event, in honor of Martin Luther King’s call to service, included students from Occidental College, YMCA’s Youth and Government Program, and Professional Child Development Associates of Pasadena, and volunteers from the Bank of America’s My Environment Program and locals
Planting Party
In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr., students from Occidental College and other local volunteers will be planting native plants in the South Pasadena – Arroyo Seco Woodland and Wildlife Park (South Pas Nature Park, for short) on January 27, 2018. Volunteers are welcome to come anytime during the day. We plan to start at
Lawn-less sustainable garden
I got rid of the last bit of lawn in Wild Suburbia. We are lawn-less, lawn-free, turf-be-gone, but definitely not grassless! Deergrass, California fescue, melic grass, purple needlegrass, and even the non-grasses, blue-eyed grass (in the Lily Family), and rush (sometimes called rush-grass, in the Rush Family) have a place in my garden and in
Labyrinth Garden
I know that I have not written about my wild suburbia home garden in a long time. This is not because nothing is happening; to the contrary, the last piece of lawn has met its end! The small bit of turf grass – woefully out of place – on the east side of the front
South Pas nature park
Have you been down to the South Pasadena nature park recently? Although we are at the end of nearly 10 months with almost no rain at all, the park is looking great. With the cooler temperatures and a sprinkle of rain, quite a few plants – such as penstemons, sagebrush, and bush sunflowers, and others
Native Plant Sale
Late autumn through winter is the best time of year to plant in Southern California, especially if you are adding climate-appropriate and beautiful California native plants. The San Gabriel Mountains Chapter of California Native Plant Society (our local chapter) is holding its annual sale on November 4, 2017 from 9 am – 2pm at Eaton