Recently at his nursery in Fallbrook, CA, succulent expert Don Newcomer showed me a rare columnar, spineless cactus from Mexico. It can be chubby and lumpy, tall and skinny, or columnar and spiral-forming. Here’s the spiral form: Don told me that these monstrose forms of Lophocereus schottii date to The Cactus Ranchito in Tarzana, a [...]
Do you remember the first time you were enchanted by cut flowers in a vase? Although each element was lovely on its own, combined they were amazing. My mother filled jars with nasturtiums, which grew in sunny patches in the avocado orchard. Unfortunately, they last only two days before they start to look tired. Aren’t we always looking for flowers with [...]
With a new book to launch, I accepted numerous speaking engagements this spring. The thing is, though, events are scheduled six to 12 months in advance. You check your calendar, and if there’s a blank date, you blithely scribble it in. But as the date approaches, OMG, there are SO many details to corral: Tailoring the presentation to the group [...]
When I arrived at Louisa’s garden, the first thing I noticed was a mother hippo and her baby, made of metal, in the driveway. Well, if you had a couple of hippos, where would you keep them? Before long, it was like a where’s-Waldo hunt. Where would the next hippo appear? I became attuned to little [...]
California is relatively new, historically speaking, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love antiquities. Designers of restaurants and hotels must know this, because when they do a Spanish colonial-style establishment, they knock stucco off of the walls to make them look old. So where did they get the idea that this lent (at least the suggestion of) authenticity? [...]