I was sorting through photos and came across this gem from March 31, 2022. Much of our garden is now over 25 years old, soI consider the area at the bottom of the hill, 100 feet lower than the house,
On New Year’s Eve 2026, heavy rain caused a 15-foot aloe tree in the author’s garden to topple. Despite attempts to save it, the decision was made to remove the plant. A silver torch cactus was relocated to fill the gap, leading to a refreshed front garden that now thrives.
Kristin Law, a long-time friend on Facebook, sent me a message. Kristin specializes in landscape design and maintenance and owns “Law of Nature Garden Design.” Although we had never met in person, I was familiar with her through her numerous
In 1998, when we moved into our 1939 Spanish Colonial Revival house in Mission Hills, we found that despite having an acre of land, there was little space available for landscaping and planting. The only area suitable for this purpose
In April, Scott and I embarked on an unforgettable botanical expedition that took us on a 1000-mile journey from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas to view the rare plant life in Baja, Mexico. Our group was composed of seven guests,
With over 130 acres, sixteen themed gardens and 83,000 living plants there are many reasons to visit the The Huntington Botanical Gardens. But for me it has always been for the stunning Desert Garden. I first visited the Huntington in
We were originally scheduled to visit the California Channel Islands on a National Geographic / Lindblad Expedition in the spring 2020, but the trip was cancelled due to COVID. We were finally able to take the trip this April and
Visit to June Wash After hearing and seeing photos online of the Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa, we decided to make a trip to June Wash in the southern part of Anza-Borrego State Park on Sunday, February 18, 2023, to check
Oahu In mid-December 2021, we took a brief trip to Oahu, aiming to avoid potential travel restrictions as the Omicron COVID variant began to spread more widely. Initially, we intended to visit Costa Rica, but complications with canceled flights and
Just a year ago on this date life looked very different. This was to be the year to do my take on the California motto: “Eureka, I have found it”. I turned 65 in the middle of 2020 and also
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Chelsea Garden Show has been cancelled. How tired we all are of reading those words about our favorite garden tour, events and meetings. However, as I mentioned in my October 2019 column about
The spring 2019, bloom in the Anza Borrego Desert was spectacular. Who knew after the super bloom in 2017 that just 2 years later there would be an even better bloom? The desert received frequent rains beginning October through February.
I first became aware of the Jardin Exotique from the 1990s TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, hosted by Robin Leach. Perhaps you recall the show that gave a voyeuristic look at extravagant lifestyles. It was a bit over
Agaves are great garden plants since most are low water, need little maintenance and can add a strong accent to gardens. However, there are also problems.The obvious problem with growing agaves is that many of them have sharp leaves. Some
We have a lot of agaves in our garden. However, it took me a while to warm up to agaves. One of the first ones I grew was Agave victoriae-reginae. It looks like a giant artichoke with stiff leaves that
This is the start of the 5th year I’ve been writing the series “My Life with Plants”. For anyone that knows me or has visited my garden, what they may find amazing is that in all those articles I’ve only
By late winter of 2003, we were ready to begin planting. Since purchasing the house in 1998, I had been contemplating what to plant. I observed the sun and shadow patterns carefully over several seasons and decided on the following
In keeping with the themes of our garden exhibit at this year’s San Diego County Fair and the influence Spanish architecture and gardens had on the 1915 Panama-California exposition, it seemed appropriate to recap part of a cycling tour of
Last month I wrote about finding and buying our current home in Mission Hills. However before we could move, we had to sell each of our houses. The spring of 1998 was the start of a housing boom and above
In August of 1979, I loaded up my lime green Ford Galaxy 500 with my few worldly possessions and potted jade plant and set out from Austin Texas for San Jose California. My mother joined me on the drive. We
