The deciduous magnolia trees have started their bloom here in California. The calendar says it is winter, so I suppose we must call them winter flowering trees, but for those of us who garden in California, the season most of the world calls winter, we call spring. This is a summer-dry climate which means winter-wet, and[...]
You’re probably aware of flapjack plant (Kalanchoe luciae), a succulent that’s popular because of the color of its leaves. (Shown above at Waterwise Botanicals nursery, perfectly timed for Valentine’s Day.) Like other succulents with overlapping leaves along a single stem, when Kalanchoe luciae blooms, the entire plant elongates. This is how those in my window box looked in[...]
Kale, the hottest health trend in veggies for some time now, has been usurped by what the media is calling the new ‘it’ vegetable. And you know what that vegetable is? Cauliflower! Yep, it’s true. What was once a boring, even denigrated vegetable, has become extraordinarily popular within the last year. If you think cauliflower[...]
No doubt if you are reading this you know that gardening is an art. And, as is often true with art, one form inspires another. A recent stroll in the University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden brought so much of this together. Art appreciation is something we do every time we visit a museum, go to[...]
Megan Boone of Nature Containers Vintage Garden Art designs in three dimensions, using cast-off objects to showcase succulents and vice-versa. As exemplified by the pick above, Megan brings elegance and whimsy to her artistry by reinterpreting the forms and lines of utilitarian objects. I love how the aloe perfectly repeats the shape and color of the rusty metal, and also emphasizes its[...]