Palo Alto Online : Good enough to eat
Color all year ’round, a play area for small kids, plenty of edibles, as well as the protection of the towering oaks — these were the challenges of landscape designer Betty Lee of Topiary Design, Palo Alto. Lee’s solutions for the pie-shaped, corner lot in Crescent Park — dubbed “Cape Cod Corner” — can be [...]
Inland Empire gardeners are gearing up
All major pruning chores need to be done by mid-February. do not prune spring flowering trees until after they have bloomed. Tropicals and frost-tipped plants should be left until mid-March or after the last freeze. Crape myrtles will flower more profusely this summer after a light shearing this month. Fuchsias and hydrangeas that were not [...]
Gardeners go guerrilla for public beauty
Guerrilla gardeners are a subculture of ordinary individual gardeners or groups of gardeners who go out under the cover of darkness, but increasingly often in broad daylight, and improve the grounds in public spaces. Key to guerrilla gardening is that you don’t ask permission. you just garden where you see eyesores, such as in vacant [...]
It’s October and it can be a scary busy time
Gardeners who have migrated to California often wonder if it ever rains. they have difficulty adjusting to the year-round planting schedule of a warmer climate. Almost any tree/shrub put in the ground in October makes root growth all through winter even if the top is unchanged. By spring, it has enjoyed three to four months [...]
Penstemon Sour Grapes Perennial
A large-leaved perennial with large tubular-shaped, pretty greyish blue flowers, suffused purple and green. Max Height 60cm. Max Spread 45cm. Flowers July to September. Full sun/partial shade. Protect from frost. Water thoroughly before planting. Supplied in a 2-3 litre pot. Out of season herbaceous plants like these may not look more than a pot full [...]
MASTER GARDENER: Southland gardeners don’t goof off in February
how much you can accomplish in the garden in February will depend on how cool or rainy the weather is during the next few weeks. the last two weeks of February are a prelude to spring. A mild February should allow you to turn under winter mulches, throw in fertilizer, and prepare the garden beds [...]