It has been hard to post because I have not been doing a lot of gardening. Of course this is part of my plan, my New Year’s resolution, my goal … to become a lazy gardener (use the newly installed search feature to find other posts on lazy gardening by typing in “lazy.”) That said, […]
woodland garden
It Feels Like Spring…
While members of my family living “back east” are reporting dire conditions – snow, sleet, hail, thunder, and more snow – we have experienced a sudden burst of spring. (Darl, Lou, Linda, Ellen, Lizzie, Jacob, and all significant others, please don’t be mad at me for this post – if you see it – I’m […]
Hot Colors in November
There is not a lot in bloom in my garden right now. A few remaining California fuchsias, some coastal buckwheat, grasses, and a few non-natives. Still, I couldn’t resist Carol’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, so once again I’m posting both blooms and non-blooms. My theme for this month, though, is hot colors. So all of […]
Backyard Progress
Picking colors for the wall of our neighbors’ garage that has become a design element of our yard. It looks like we are going to go with the same colors as our house, only reversed. We have a gallon of paint from the house and it seems a shame to waste it. So the garage […]
Late Autumn in the Garden
It was a cool day today but for me this is southern California at its best. The toyon berries are bright red, Roger’s Red grape has autumn foliage that competes with New England (yes, I said it! – well, on a smallish scale anyway), the grasses are tawny, the sky cloudy, and Milo happy. Milo […]
It must be fall
The days are getting shorter and cooler. The toyon berries are blushing and the fuchsia-flowering gooseberry’s buds are swelling! I miss the east coast fall but revel in our own. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) berries are beginning to blush. Fuchsia-flowering gooseberry (Ribes speciosum) went dormant and is now loaded with leaf buds.
And the good news is….
…my son is getting married. He and his fiancee would like to have a simple backyard wedding… in our backyard. And the deck that I have mentioned in previous posts has not improved over time. Now when I walk out on it I wonder which plank will be the next one to go. If the […]
I Used to Have a Lawn But Now I Have Less
This post is in response to the new Lawn Reform blog and the “I Used to Have a Lawn But Now I Have…” competition. What a great idea. There is so much to share. My gardening journey is one that moves away from the old-fashioned, and to me, boring grass-dominated yard. There are so many […]
Plant Selection for a Native Plant Garden
The following slide show was created for the Plant Selection and Maintenance of California Native Plants class at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden today. Unfortunately we ran out of time so I couldn’t show it. There were good questions and discussions during the class, so hopefully people got the info they need. Below are garden […]
Native Grasses, Sedges and Rush for the Garden, Part VI
And finally, the last of this series on native grasses and grass-like plants for the garden. I am hoping to add more in the future, including blue-eyed grass, bulbs, and other true grasses such as melic grass (Melica imperfecta), giant needlegrass (Achnatherum coronatum, and cane bluestem (Bothriochloa barbinodis). Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis ) is […]