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What's up at South Coast Botanic Garden?
Curious to determine the status of the new rose garden at South Coast Botanic Garden and finding nothing on the garden's webpage or in its weekly newsletters, I decided to drop by and check things out...
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In a Vase on Monday: Caught between seasons
Is it winter or spring in Southern California? The calendar says it's winter but it's feeling more and more like spring. Unlike gardeners in many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, we don't like...
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Wednesday Vignette: Bloom Day Postscript
Isn't it always the case that, as soon as you post your photos for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, a wonderful something or other pops into bloom? For today's Wednesday Vignette, I have photos of 2 plants...
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Tree Trimming Trauma
I had our trees trimmed this week. Not all of them but 9 of the largest specimens plus 5 shrubs that make up what's supposed to be a hedge along the property line on the southwest side. As the...
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In a Vase on Monday: That summer feeling
Many of my recent In a Vase on Monday posts have led commentators to remark that my flowers conjure images of summer. Well, this week it feels like summer here. Our temperatures have veered into the...
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Top 10 January Blooms (& a Blood Moon Wednesday Vignette)
I'm joining Chloris of The Blooming Garden with a top 10 list of January blooms. There's admittedly overlap with my Bloom Day report but in this case I've whittled down what's blooming in my garden to...
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January is not the time to shop for plants
While much of the country is dealing with cold temperatures, snow and ice, it feels like early summer here in coastal Southern California. We've had next to no rain and there's none on the immediate...
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In a Vase on Monday: The no rain blues
Southern California is officially back in a drought status. We've had a trivial amount of rain during what is normally our one and only rainy season and there's very little chance of more showing in...
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The garden center's shelves are restocked
We may be woefully short of rain but at last the garden centers are busy restocking their shelves with plants. I've wasted no time getting busy. Although our daytime temperatures remain unseasonably...
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Visit to Madrona Marsh Preserve
Did you know that much of Southern California's coastal area used to be marshland? I didn't. My husband and I visited the Madrona Marsh Preserve in nearby Torrance for the first time this week....
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In a Vase on Monday: Valentine's Day Pinks
I don't have many red flowers in the garden but I have quite a lot of pink so, thinking ahead to Valentine's Day, I fixated on the pink flowers, starting out with the flowers of Grevillea sericea (aka...
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What's blooming during SoCal's drought? (Bloom Day, February 2017)
Last year's drought recovery was short-lived. Southern California is considered back in a drought status and the situation in Northern California isn't much better. According to weather-watchers,...
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Foliage Follow-up: The return of the ring of fire
Last February, in a Wednesday Vignette, I featured the "ring of fire" that periodically appears to surround my backyard borders. It's back, shining brighter than any of the nearby flowers, so I...
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In a Vase on Monday: Simply honest
I almost skipped In a Vase on Monday this week. Since I started participating in late March 2014, I think I've missed just one posting, and that because I was out of town. I wasn't out of town or too...
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Wednesday Vignette: Hail!
Believe it or not, late Monday afternoon we got a touch of hail here on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Our temperatures plummeted on Monday (by our standards) and everywhere I went all day people...
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Winter Visit to The Huntington Gardens
I was lucky to win a one-year membership to The Huntington Library & Gardens in a drawing conducted by Denise at A Growing Obsession back in December but I didn't have an opportunity to activate...
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In a Vase on Monday: Soft color
The cutting garden is finally yielding a few blooms suitable for use in my Monday vases. The first foxglove flower stalk provided the starting point for this week's other flower and foliage...
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Wednesday Vignette: Delightful Discoveries
We've been riding a weather roller-coaster of late. Our rainy season, which generally begins in October and ends in April, has failed to deliver much in the way of precipitation thus far. January's...
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Late February in Santa Barbara County
A friend and I made a trip up to Santa Barbara County last weekend to visit some of our favorite nurseries. It was a beautiful day, cool but comfortable with sunny skies. Our first stop was Seaside...
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In a Vase on Monday: Feeling the blues
Scilla peruviana, which I've found to be a finicky bulb, has bloomed in my back garden for the second year in a row despite this season's stingy rain. The bees love it and so so I.I cut one Scilla...
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