Follow our progress as we convert a thirsty front yard lawn into a vibrant, beautiful habitat garden. We are doing all of the work ourselves, keeping the project as affordable […]
horticulture
Volunteer Day, Saturday, June 18, 9 – noon
Volunteer at the So. Pasadena Nature Park, 6/18/22, 9-12
Oaks grow fast – pretty fast, that is
I am sitting at my desk working on a presentation for a class called “What Should I Plant?” to be given on October 16th at the Theodore Payne Foundation. It […]
Wild Suburbia – native plant gardening
After many years, lots of writing and rewriting, and tons of rejections, it is finally out! In August, Heyday Books released my book, Wild Suburbia – Learning to Garden with […]
Native plants in summer
People new to native plants often express concern about the dreaded dormancy period they are reputed to exhibit in summer. Many tell me that they like native plants but want […]
Starting a new garden
Starting a new garden is big. It fills me with enthusiasm, excitement, and joy. However, this act of optimism has another side. In a time when Facebook highlights only the […]
Garden care while you travel (Part 2)
The garden prep for our summer absence has been paying off. Yesterday my daughter took me on a virtual garden tour on Facetime. Things are looking good! The native sunflowers […]
Garden care while you travel (Part 1)
One of the reasons that I wanted to change my traditional landscape to one with native plants was the hope that a natural garden would require less water and maintenance, […]
Planting native plants
There is so much information on the web and some of it is contradictory. How can one know what to believe? This is a truly difficult question – whether we […]
New beginnings
Missed this week’s brutal heatwave. Instead, my husband and I are spending our first days and nights on Orcas Island in our new vacation home. We took possession last Wednesday and […]