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In a Vase on Monday: Bright spots within a smokey haze
California is on fire again. The current estimate is 560 active wildfires. Over one million acres have burned, which is already roughly four times the number of acres burned last year. Two large...
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Wednesday Vignette: Rare Sightings
Although our temperatures have fallen a few degrees this week, it's still been very warm here and humidity has been unusually high, which continues to make working outside uncomfortable. California is...
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Another perspective on the garden
In July, Tamara of Chickadee Gardens published a post by her "facilities manager" featuring his favorite flowers. Earlier this week, Loree of danger garden provided a list of her husband's favorite...
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In a Vase on Monday: Sunny Blooms
The heat "on" switch here has blessedly been turned off, at least for a time. We had beautiful weather this past weekend and it's expected to hang on through Thursday, after which another heatwave is...
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Wednesday Vignette: I got slimed
I abandoned my "no summer planting rule" this year. Working in the garden is just about the only thing that's kept me sane during this pandemic. But, as foolish as planting is when it's hot and dry...
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Sherman Gardens: Sculptura Botanica
I've been planning to visit Sherman Gardens for months now. Under normal circumstances, I visit this small 2.5 acre botanic garden in Corona del Mar three or four times a year. It's just about an...
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In a Vase on Monday: Escapees from the brutal heat
Unfortunately, the weather forecasters were right last week when they predicted a miserable record-breaking heatwave. For two days prior to the heatwave's arrival I spent early mornings and early...
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Sherman Gardens (part 2): Focusing on the plants
Last Friday, I published a post on a recent visit to Sherman Gardens, a small botanic garden in Corona del Mar. That post focused on the Sculptura Botanica exhibit, created by landscaper and ceramic...
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Stand-out Succulents: Agaves and Aloes
Before I put together my last foliage post in August, I assembled a range of photos but, feeling the post would be too long, I held some of those back. Today I'm trotting out some of the succulent...
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In a Vase on Monday: Dahlias, dahlias, and more dahlias
As the title indicates, this week's "In a Vase on Monday" post is all about dahlias. They put a positive spin on what has otherwise been a dismal week. We're luckier than many people in California...
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Bloom Day - September 2020
As if the pandemic and the awful political state of affairs in the US weren't bad enough, Mother Nature threw us a couple of new challenges in September: a truly nasty heatwave and a boatload of...
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Shade Plant Successes
I began stocking my lath (shade) house shortly after my husband completed its construction in late December 2017. I moved my small orchid collection there immediately but other additions were...
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In a Vase on Monday: In remembrance of the Notorious RBG
We received yet another blow to the gut last week when news came that the Notorious RBG, the esteemed US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, passed away on Friday. As the news was reported, I...
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Wednesday Vignette: Accept joy where you find it
It's been really difficult to feel happy about much of anything of late. But even the darkest days have their moments. I thought I'd share two of those from the past week.Late last week, when it was...
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Putting a positive spin on my late summer garden
Okay, I know that, technically speaking, it's now fall in the Northern Hemisphere; however, summer probably won't really come to an end for another 5-6 weeks in my area of Southern California. In...
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In a Vase on Monday: Vivid Color
We're facing another heatwave this week so I cut a lot of what was blooming in my cutting garden on Sunday morning. Dare I hope that this will be our last heatwave of the year? There are no...
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Wednesday Vignette: "They" say it tastes like chicken
I was wandering through my garden camera in hand yesterday and came across something unexpected.This stump came with the gardenDo you see it? Take a closer look at the base of the stump.The growths...
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Wide Shots - October 2020
I've been conducting a quarterly big-picture overview of my garden for some time now but taking photos during a heatwave when the garden is dry and tired wasn't easy to get excited about. Still, as...
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In a Vase on Monday: Heatwave holdouts
While the heatwave that started last week hasn't been as bad as the prior one, it's held on longer than originally forecast and it's not over yet. Temperatures have come down from our 102F (38.9C)...
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Wednesday Vignette: This week's bright spots
At present, the only way to maintain my sanity is to shut out some of the daily news barrage and concentrate on what's right in front of me. Here are the bright spots that boosted my spirits over the...
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