Here in California, there have been some rumblings about gardens wasting water. Can we afford water for gardens in an era of limited resources? Isn’t our native habitat beautiful enough? Do we want to have gardens here? Well of course, I am biased. I am a gardener. And yes, we certainly do want to have[...]
To celebrate the recent launch of my Debra Lee Baldwin Facebook author page, for the rest of the month I’m posting garden photos on Facebook that pop with brilliant, searing, over-the-top ORANGE. I’d love it if you’d drop by and “like” the new page, and if you’re so inclined, post a scorching orange shot yourself. Regardless, please enjoy my top 25! Looking for[...]
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[...]
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[...]