Non-Stop Gardening Tips & Inspiration
If you’re looking for a tree that captures the weeping habit of the infamous weeping willow (Salix babylonica) but without some of the headaches, including invasive roots and high water needs, consider the Mayten tree!
The Mayten tree (Maytenus boaria) is an excellent substitute. Water needs are regular to moderate, plus the tree is evergreen and its roots aren’t invasive requiring sewer pipe fixes. 🙂 [Read more]
Anemone x hybrida ‘Honerine Jobert’
A u t u m n is so SPECIAL.
The light changes drastically from summer, the waning daylight hours, leaves changing color, flowers peaking and fading, leaves under feet. Preparation in nature for winter months is all around us. I don’t like to miss a minute of this season. Truth be told, I tend to do okay with less daylight for a few months. I enjoy early to bed early to rise. Below are photos with plants enjoying the season! [Read more]
A wonderful 2.5 acre garden worth visiting in Palo Alto, CA is The Gamble historic Garden. A free, self guided tour takes about an hour and there are benches and many places to sit and enjoy the day if you have the time. You can also head inside the Gamble house, we found a nice little horticulture library within.
A bonus to the location is that it is in beautiful old Palo Alto. The homes and gardens in the area are unbelievably beautiful, no expense spared!
We have a “Flower Season” series in the works… This one, though, is a topic for you if you love flowers and want to see more color in your garden in winter!
In this winter focused post, I’ve included around 16 winter blooming photos, mostly focusing on flowering shrubs, trees and vines to grow in SF Bay Area gardens or places with a similar Mediterranean climate. If you’ve got the right conditions, take some of these beauties and plant them! If you have a small garden, or little space, enjoy a potted plant. [Read more]
We’re just back from a short trip to Lake Tahoe and wanted to share a tree that is clearly one town along the Lake’s favorite. The town is Incline Village– the tree – Laburnum watereri ‘Vossii’.
No words do justice to the visual impact of the golden-wisteria like flowers. Wow! I’m familiar with the Golden Chain tree, but frankly, I’ve never used it and rarely see it around the SF Bay Area.
So I was completely surprised… So much so, that I rhetorically asked Judy if she wondered why so many home gardens in Incline have, one, or several, Golden Chain trees? Then I said – because once you see them in bloom, if you have a garden here, you’ll want one, too! [Read more]
Architectural plants with interesting texture for your garden? “Restios?” Hmmm. What’s a restio? If you’ve never heard of them, you’re not alone! But like recent posts, if you’re looking for new plants to know for garden/planting design, then these 3 restios are worth knowing! To keep it simple, restios are grass-like or rush-like perennials. [Read more]
I'm crazy about conifers (see link at bottom page for past post on conifers) so today, I want to share with you more info about them -but not really -them - instead, conifer like plants! Now I know what you're thinking... What's this about?! But … [Read more]
New plants are being introduced all the time. If you're getting ready to do some planting, check out these 12 amazing plants that come from DOWN Under. These awesome Australian natives are low maintenance if you plant the right plant in the right … [Read more]
Listen, whether you're a plant/garden geek or not, these Protea family plants are an excellent choices for your dry Mediterranean climate garden. In this short post get ready to view 5 wonderful plants in the Protea family. These 5 are either native … [Read more]
Conifers pull their weight in the garden like no other! This wonderful group of plants defined by having cone bearing seeds and mostly being evergreen can provide you with sizes ranging from the enormous giant redwood to a tiny dwarf. In between - … [Read more]