12 Tips on How To Use Color Effectively In The Garden

The results of a multitude of research is now showing what gardeners have intrinsically known for generations – that gardening is good for your health.

This past spring I witnessed the superbloom in the California deserts. It was a sensation. The superbloom began in late winter in the southern most deserts and progressed northward, a result of ample rain after five years of drought. I was particularly intrigued, and made two separate visits to the Sonoran Desert east of San[...]

As I sit and write this post, I marvel at how the winter garden is a perfect metaphor for life. Regardless of what you feel about the results of the U.S. Presidential election, the country has been through a difficult time. Millions of us are still reeling from the rancor and divisiveness that took place[...]

You’re invited to subscribe to my “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter—a fast-growing community of several thousand subscribers.  I’m primarily interested in serving a select and savvy group who share my passion for “plants that drink responsibly.”  Recent “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” topics include Succulent Windowsill Pots DIY, How Rain Benefits Succulents, How to Grow Succulents Indoors,[...]

  Can landscaping protect a home from wildfire? Camille Newton, M.D., of Bonsall, CA, says yes. Dr. Newton started her six-year-old succulent garden mostly from cuttings. “It’s my go-to place after work,” she says, noting that gardening is a stress-reliever. The land’s nutrient-poor, decomposed-granite soil serves as a coarse, fast-draining substrate that she top-dresses with[...]

Here in California, a spring garden’s most vivid blooms often are those of succulent ice plants. Aloes, bulbine and numerous arid-climate companions are bright and beautiful from March through mid-May. Increasing temps tend to put the kibosh on delicate spring flowers. If you live near the coast, you’ll enjoy a longer spring, but you may[...]