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In a Vase on Monday: Surprise!
The surprise is that I have only one vase to offer this week. No, there's no shortage of plant material in my garden. Regardless of what the calendar says, it's spring here in coastal Southern...
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Bloom Day - March 2017
Spring may still officially be several days away but it's already arrived here in my area of coastal Southern California. After an extraordinary winter rainy season, warm temperatures arrived and my...
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Plants with Great Foliage and Flowers (Foliage Follow-up)
Many times, spring peaks in March here. As is the case this year, temperatures can take a dramatic upswing, causing everything to bloom seemingly at once. Remarkably, this is when I most appreciate...
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In a Vase on Monday: One simple, one not
I spent a couple of hours working on my back slope on Saturday and, after admiring all the Calla Lilies in bloom there out of view, I felt compelled to use some of them in this week's "In a Vase on...
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Desert Super Bloom (& Wednesday Vignette)
Approximately once every 10 years, the deserts of Southern California experience a "super bloom" when they receive enough rain during the winter months to carpet the normally hard-baked ground in...
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Bloom Day Postscript
One of the glories of spring is that each passing day brings new revelations. While some of the new arrivals may still be around to celebrate April's Bloom Day, others may not so I'm going to go ahead...
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In a Vase on Monday: Spring Bloomfest
My garden is a little overwhelming at the moment - in a good way. True to predictions, our heavier than usual (even by pre-drought standards) winter rainfall has produced an abundance of spring...
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Wednesday Vignette: Dry Days Ahead
Last week, we got a little rain. Although it was a smidge less than a quarter of an inch, it was enough to top off my rain barrels. Of course, I hoped for more. The clouds that greeted me last...
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Too Many Favorites!
It's the final Friday of the month, the date Loree at danger garden hosts favorite plant posts. I really tried to winnow down my list to a reasonable level but every trip through the garden presented...
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In a Vase on Monday: Cool Customers & One Hot Mess
A friend scheduled an open house to show off her newly refurbished condo on Sunday. To celebrate its completion and her return from an extended work assignment in Phoenix, I brought her a fresh...
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Wide Shots - April 2017
It's time to share wide shots of my garden on my current quarterly schedule but, as I'm so excited about how well my garden is coming together in early spring, I probably would have inflicted a series...
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Spring at the South Coast Botanic Garden
I've paid a few visits to the South Coast Botanic Garden of late, most recently at the end of March for the garden's spring plant sale. The garden is undergoing major renovations so I didn't wander...
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In a Vase on Monday: Stuffed to the Gills (Again)
When I walked into the garden to select flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the popular meme hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, I'd already selected 2 plants I wanted to use. The first was...
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Can one have too many succulent plants?
In the last few years, I've greatly expanded my collection of succulent plants. I'd very few in my former, shady garden but the sunnier, drier garden I inherited with the purchase of our current home...
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Bloom Day - April 2017
I thought that my blooms were plentiful in March but April is really ridiculous! It's amazing to see what a difference real winter rain can mean to a garden. I took a ludicrous number of photos in...
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Foliage Follow-up - April 2017
I usually try to link my Foliage Follow-up selections together with some kind of theme but, after the intensity of my Bloom Day post, I'm just too dazzled by the glory of spring at the moment to bother...
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In a Vase on Monday: A tad simpler
I tried to stop my vase stuffing ways this week by being more selective about what I cut during my stroll through the garden in pursuit of plants for "In a Vase on Monday." That's hard to do with...
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Wednesday Vignette: Our rain is cut off
The last couple of rainstorms that hit Northern California didn't quite make it our way. Last week, forecasts showed a 50% chance of light rain Monday night but Monday night the clouds looked like...
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Nasturtiums & Leucospermum
What do common nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) and exotic Leucospermum have to do with one another? Nothing really, other than that they're both plants. However, today I took a short hike through my...
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In a Vase on Monday: An Exercise in Restraint
I had plants in mind when I stepped into the garden on Sunday to select flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden. For a change, I stuck pretty much to my...
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