It’s summertime. It’s hot. Time to shed a little bit of clothing. In California, some of our finest native trees and shrubs strip down and shed their bark. It’s called exfoliation, and I swear it seems to happen overnight. I have friends who say they have heard it. I wonder if it’s like the sound[...]
Aloe vera is not the only medicinal aloe, but not all aloes have medicinal properties. In fact, some are poisonous. Duke Benadom of the Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society and author of Superb Succulents researched and compiled this list of medicinal aloes (in blue) and poisonous aloes (in red) ~ Benadom notes, “It’s important for the[...]
When I arrived at Roger’s Gardens (the largest independently owned garden center on the West Coast) at 8 a.m., I hit the ground running. Roger’s is a 75-minute drive from my home, and I was scheduled to go on at 9 a.m. Did I mention I’m not a morning person? Or that I had only[...]
You’ve visited my website, read my books and articles, follow me on social media, subscribe to my newsletter, attend my presentations…and recently helped my YouTube channel pass 2,600,000 views…Thank You! If you’d like to give the artwork or photo above to a special teacher, mentor, relative or friend, you’re welcome to download it from my site. Simply print it out, include the person’s name,[...]
When I need a quick hostess gift, thank-you present, or an arrangement for a special friend, I create a bouquet of succulent rosettes. I select a glass container (jar, thrift-store vase, or clear bottle), which determines the size of the arrangement. Then I head into the garden with clippers. I cut a dozen or so succulent rosettes,[...]