Non-Stop Gardening Tips & Inspiration
If you live in a climate where Bougainvillea will grow to be a flowering skyscraper vine, don’t hesitate to consider another form: SHRUB BOUGAINVILLEA.
If you’re not sure what that looks like, let me introduce you to a beautiful Berkeley, California garden which delivers 100% curb appeal! Using Bougainvillea in a variety of ways in your garden can reap electrifying rewards…
Bougainvillea is considered to be one of the most beautiful flowering vines of all! Pretty much every home owner asks about the possibility of growing one. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, these tropical thorny plants, native to South America, do great, year round, especially if planted in a sunny, warm spot like a […]
Looking for some flowering trailers for hanging baskets, containers or the garden? It’s hard to get tired of all the blooms! Take a look a these 3 below. This is a short post but timely as it’s a perfect time to get shopping and planting to get the look you want this season. This lead photo is repeated below. Though it shows blooming roses, and Lantana don’t miss the Geranium incanum,
One of the best ways to get privacy from your neighbors, or to screen unwanted views is to plant a hedge. But which shrubs make the best screens? If you have a small garden, I’d like to steer you in a direction that cuts down your overwhelm:
It’s early spring (April 2nd) and one of the beautiful flowering trees in the garden now is Cercis Occidentalis (aka: California redbud or Western redbud). This California native tree, and also a native to South Western states like Utah and Arizona makes life colorful! What’s so striking about this tree is that it bears flowers […]
Some of the most beautiful gardens are shade gardens, or gardens that receive dappled light filtered through the canopy of trees. Urban gardens, like San Francisco home gardens are often surrounded by homes and buildings, creating shadows, and shade, which changes throughout the day and seasons. If this is your experience, and you live in a mild winter climate, the 25 Best in Plants for Shade and Part Shade has a number of goodies for you to consider.
This may be just the vine you’re looking for.
It’s rare, not the easiest to get your hands on, but worth a try.
Canary Bellflower vine (Canarina canariensis) is from the cloud forest of the Canary Islands.
Mild climates serve this vine and let me show you (below) what lovely flowers are served up in winter, when few vines are blooming (yes, Hardenbergia vines are blooming).
If you’re looking for some trailing plant choices to add greenery – maybe even a splash of flower color to your wall -here are 7 excellent options! These evergreen options will give all season coverage, providing interest, character and clothing even on the bleakest winter days.
Of course, there are plenty more trailing options than these…
A plant that should be way more popular in San Francisco Bay Area gardens is the Cymbidium orchid.
Why? Take a look at the flowers… Take a look at the thin strappy, evergreen leaves. (Ok, forget the leaves, just take a look at the flowers!)
Not many plants offer the bloom finesse this regal plant offers. Plus, blooms can last for 2 – 3 months grown either in a pot or the ground (photos below.) Each year, if planted in the right location, these evergreen beauties can send out reliable flower spikes which will have you and
Hello friends. Happy FALL! Hope you’re enjoying this lovely season! We are. Being an east coast gal, growing up with 4-distinct seasons, I always feel that it’s hugely important to tap into FALL; not just from a garden’s view point (which shows seasonality even in our mild Mediterranean SF climate), but, more so, enjoying and gaining inspiration from nature with leaves turning and falling, daylight changing and shortening;
