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Tongva Park
My husband and I recently visited a new park in Santa Monica, California, a place we called home for several years while making our respective sojourns through graduate school. I still have fond...
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Fragile Fall Bouquet
Senna (Cassia) bicapularis 'Worley's Butter Cream' is still putting on a flower show in my garden. When I wrote about the plant at the end of October, most of the flowers were still buds but now...
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Favorite plant of the week: Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum'
I'm once again joining Loree of danger garden in sharing my favorite plant of the week. This one isn't remotely exotic or unusual. However, it is a good, reliable performer in my garden. It's...
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Botanical Doppelgängers
I've heard it said that everyone has a doppelgänger, a virtual double who may be mistaken for the original. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, as I was flying through the supermarket, a guy I didn't...
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Succulents Galore!
A friend and I made a trip to OC Succulents in Irvine, California this weekend. We'd been there once before, about a year ago. It's a schlep but worth the effort as the variety and price of the...
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The Beginning of Winter in Southern California
For me, the winter season starts with Thanksgiving. This is probably because year-end holiday preparations crank up in earnest at this time. It certainly has little to do with the weather here in...
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Wide Shots - December 2013
A few months ago, Heather of Xericstyle launched a new meme to capture wide views of her garden and the gardens of other contributors. Like many gardeners, I tend to focus on individual plants or...
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My favorite plant this week: Grevillea 'Superb'
There aren't too many plants in bloom in my garden right now. The one with the most impressive blooms is a relatively new introduction, Grevillea 'Superb.' I fell in love with it on a nursery tour...
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Walking with Ming
Ming is the older of my 2 cats and, for some time now, he's been in ill health. He's got a host of long-term medical issues but, within the last few months, I've had to confront the possibility that,...
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Neighborhood Stroll II
Last March, just as spring was getting its start in southern California, I took a picture-taking stroll around our neighborhood, which is essentially a large circle comprised of 50+ homes. Because of...
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My favorite plant this week: Melaleuca thymifolia
I wasn't sure I had any standouts in my garden this week but, on my walk with my cat this morning, I found 3 good prospects and narrowed my choice down to Melaleuca thymifolia, commonly known as...
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Bloom Day - December 2013
With much of the nation hunkered down under sheets of ice and snow, I can't whine about the limited supply of blooms here in my part of southern California. In September, following a heat wave, I...
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Foliage Follow-up - December 2013
My garden isn't blanketed by snow or ice like the those of many garden bloggers right now. In fact, our daytime temperatures are currently downright balmy. Today's forecast is a high of 83 degrees....
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Favorite plant of the week: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'
Last week, in seeking a plant deserving of the title of my "favorite of the week," I came up with 3 possibilities. Last week I chose Melaleuca thymifolia but this week I want to highlight Acacia...
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Holiday Shopping
With the exception of plant nursery trips, I've come to hate shopping. I especially hate holiday shopping - the crowds, the parking hassles, the ever-changing "special" offers that leave you wondering...
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Walking with Ming II
As I covered in an earlier post, I've been taking regular walks with Ming, the elder of my 2 cats. He's come to expect these daily jaunts and cries (as only a cat bred from Siamese stock can) when I'm...
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Boundary Lines
Houzz, the on-line home and garden design resource, recently featured an article on property lines. The author took pictures of homes in the Sacramento area showing how adjacent properties sometimes...
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My first blogversary
Unbelievable as it seems to me, I started this blog a year ago today. On that date, we'd been in our current house for two years. I'd been reflecting on the changes I'd made to the garden within that...
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Time for Reflection
Happy new year! Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope you're enjoying the holiday. I also hope that, once those of you in frozen zones thaw out, this will be the start of a glorious year...
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My favorite plant this week: Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze'
I've got a belated new year's lunch with friends to get to but I didn't want to miss posting my favorite plant this week. It's the grass-like evergreen Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' (aka dwarf mat...
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