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In a Vase on Monday: Casualties of wind and rain
It had appeared that our rainy season was over. Even the UCLA climate scientist I depend on for a clear picture of what's happening with California's weather had said that the southern part of our...
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The bright spots in my daily walks
Spring isn't just wonderful in my garden. My entire neighborhood is full of color, even though there are relatively few committed gardeners to be found. I thought I'd share some of the highlights...
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Foliage Friday
I noticed a post on Instagram last week referencing (hashtag) "Foliage Friday" - or maybe it was "Friday Foliage."Â As I have a fondness for alliteration and as Pam Penick of Digging retired her...
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In a Vase on Monday: Excess Flora
Although temperatures remain on the cool side thanks to our morning marine layer, I can already see signs of the shift toward summer. The first Agapanthus flowers have already opened, lily flower...
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As spring creeps closer to summer (Bloom Day - May 2024)
I took a LOT of photos for one of my usual Bloom Day posts but frankly felt both overwhelmed by the sheer volume of photos and underwhelmed by the prospect of throwing all of them at readers in one...
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Side gardens can be colorful
I focused on my back garden for this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post, published on Wednesday, but other areas of the garden are showing their colors this month too. Today's post spotlights the...
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In a Vase on Monday: Jam packed
I still have more flowers than I know what to do with. On Saturday, I received more in the form of an early birthday gift. My friend scored tickets for The Huntington Gardens and treated me to a...
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A visit to The Huntington Gardens (Part 1)
A close friend scored tickets to The Huntington Gardens and made an entrance reservation for our visit last Saturday. We met at her house rather than traveling in separate vehicles as parking (which...
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A visit to Huntington Gardens (Part 2, the Desert Garden)
My friend and I had only about three hours for our visit to the the Huntington Gardens last weekend so we focused on three areas, the Japanese and Chinese Gardens, which were covered in my last post,...
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In a Vase on Monday: Rescues from a pit of chaos
With the extra rain we've had for two years in a row, my garden exploded this spring. I spent a good part of last week just pulling weeds and clearing paths covered by excessively exuberant plants -...
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Things are getting out of hand - pruning required!
Can plants be too exuberant? It isn't just the bulbs, annuals and perennials that reacted gleefully to our heavier-than-usual rainy season this year. Numerous shrubs responded with their own effusive...
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Some of my favorite plant combinations
It's been a busy week, both in the garden and outside of it, but I managed to take a variety of photos of plant combinations I especially like to close out this week's blog posts. Here they are in no...
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In a Vase on Monday: Summer Skies
I started tearing my cool season cutting garden apart this weekend. I'm only halfway through the process, partly because I took the time to package a lot of the floral material to give away to...
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Wild & Weedy Wednesday: Wanna-be weeds
I'm dealing with more weeds in my garden this year than I can ever remember. I haven't made a dent in what's out there. Summer's heat may fry some of them once our marine layer lets go of the coastal...
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Summer preparations
We've been lucky to avoid the worst that the so-called "heat dome" delivered to areas of California this week as we were insulated by our persistent morning marine layer. With temperatures no higher...
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In a Vase on Monday: An Homage
It's hard to believe that the loss of a seven-pound, seventeen-year-old cat can turn your life upside down but that's what happened last Friday. On Thursday evening my cat, Pipig, suddenly starting...
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June Gloom
The title of this post isn't a commentary on my current mood (although it's somewhat descriptive). "June Gloom" is a common term for the marine layer that's characteristic of the weather along...
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Bloom Day - June 2024 (Early Edition)
I got a new camera earlier this month and started taking photos to test it out. Many of those photos ended up in this post for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, a monthly event hosted by Carol of May Dreams...
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In a Vase on Monday: Purplish
One of my favorite plants is Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga lily), native to New Zealand. It has strappy evergreen leaves, tolerates dry shade, and produces sprays of beautiful flowers in early...
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Late Arrivals
Given the name of my blog, it seems entirely appropriate for me to follow up Friday's Bloom Day post with another one featuring stragglers that appeared following last week's deadline and those I...
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