I’m enraptured by anything that glistens. I enhance my living spaces, indoors and out, with prisms, rhinestones, crystals, globes, mirrors and more. As the sun shifts during the day, these objects flash and glitter. I become a child again, living entirely in the moment. Sometimes this happens in other gardens, too. Like this Aloe marlothii in[...]
I recognize that this post is not really about gardening. I also realize that you readers who are holed up in cold climates may have no patience with California garden columns. Citrus, succulents, daffodils in December, year ’round lettuces. Well, so be it; this is California winter. This is what I see. Today I see[...]
I was lucky enough to spend time with Denny Schrock a few years ago on a trip to Holland for gardening journalists. I quickly discovered that he is a multi-talented individual filled with curiosity, a plethora of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects, and a gentle and humble soul. Denny has been with Meredith[...]
I’ve been meaning to read ‘Bringing Nature Home’ by Douglas Tallamy for a while. American readers will probably heard of it – the book which makes the case for growing native plants to support biodiversity, and something of a bible for ‘nativists’. Who, I gather are gaining strength in the US. Whenever I visit I[...]
Of hundreds of articles I’ve written for the San Diego Union-Tribune, this one is my all-time favorite. Above: A wild poinsettia. (Photo by Bruce Leander, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.) It was a Quasimodo of a plant. Even so, Franz Fruehwirth was intrigued by the gangly poinsettia he saw growing in a sunny corner of[...]