7/21/19

A Celebration of Roses.

6/30/19

Tomato update, new happenings around the yard, enjoying petunias.

Look at how this cute frog has similar colors/speckled patterns to the weathered wood of my garden bench!..

6/11/19

Getting back to garden writing, a profusion of blooms around the yard, considering native plants.

It's already nearly summer, and I'm writing only the 7th blog post so far this year...

4/19/19

A tiny garden dweller, successes and trials with new plants, enjoying spring.

While moving pots around on the old bench at the side of our lawn, I discovered a cute creature I'd not seen here before: a California slender salamander..

4/5/19

More than a container gardening focus: a bit about the low-cost and sustainable aspects of GreenWise.

"Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" is a catchy bit of advice that's been around for a while. How do I apply those principles to my gardening efforts?..

3/20/19

Happy Spring! Making preparations for the year's garden, flowers of the coast further south.

It's time to pick up the pace, with both my gardening activity and posting here more often. Most of the planning stage is complete...

2/21/19

Bulbs planted, frosty nights, bright flowers glow on grey days.

I planted bulbs for standard bright red tulips, and purple iris of the variety "Caesar's Brother". I decided to place some in the ground...

2/6/19

A funky mushroom appears, hardy blooms prevail, a pop of yellow around town.

Last week I made a list of what was blooming in my garden at the moment. It seems like a lot for winter...

1/11/19

Outdoor and online projects, reviewing 2018, considering new plant varieties.

Happy 2019! I'm looking forward to some great gardening projects and adventures. I'm impatient for warmer, longer, sunnier days...

12/10/18

Procrastination, lush growth of most things green, cooking with herbs.

I gave myself a break from writing these blog entries for a month, mostly unintentionally. It started with being out of town...

10/23/18

Squirrels in the yard, growing peppers, looking forward to the rainy season.

One of the homeliest photos ever to be featured in this blog is my dug-up "vegetable patch". On Wednesday, while out watering the garden...

10/10/18

Transplanting into new pots, winter's birds return, testing soil fertility and pH.

Happy first days of Fall! Time to collect pretty leaves, study spiders and their webs, and appreciate what's coming into bloom...

9/27/18

Birds and spiders in the garden, indoor plant appreciation.

Happy first days of Fall! Time to collect pretty leaves, study spiders and their webs, and appreciate what's coming into bloom...

9/18/18

Goodbye OSH, watering wisely, planting for microgreens.

The garden store I've been shopping at most often is closing down. The entire Orchard Supply Hardware chain will soon be no more...

9/6/18

Lovely purples, including a new lilac bush; arranging container plants, ripe tomato harvest!

I had a four-day weekend, and it was lovely. I achieved a good balance of relaxing times and hours spent busy with projects...

8/23/18

Renewed effort in caring for the garden, happy surprises.

I took a break from this blog and the related newsletter, since I realized I was heavily involved in writing, taking pictures...

8/1/18

Gettin' philosophical about what's worthy to pursue in Gardening efforts.

The solanum (potato bush) is blooming. It does this rarely. I tend to think of it as just another long-limbed plant that needs to be cut back...

7/24/18

Summer heat and lots of watering, July's new blooms, a cat or two.

7/13/18

Examining tiny flowers, the scents and textures of the garden.

I figured it would be fun to have a theme for this week's blog post: A Celebration of Small Things...

7/5/18

Bright lilies and other bulbs, happy pollinators, vegetable patch progress.

The first of my Asiatic lilies opened at the end of June: a variety called Easy Samba. These blooms are so bright and showy...

6/20/18

Gorgeous flowers and scenery on a recent visit to Hawaii Botanical Tropical Garden.

A departure from my usual focus on home gardening: into the jungle! ...

6/11/18

Snap pea harvest, June blooms abound, first coneflower appears.

Before I went on vacation, my snap peas had been blooming. When I returned, I had pea pods! I picked one, snapped it open...

6/5/18

Foliage and flowers in a tropical paradise, learning about unfamiliar plants.

I'm back home, after spending a week vacationing in Hawaii with Steve and my friend Gretchen. She has a beautiful home near Kailua-Kona...

5/16/18

Conifer identification, blooms on the snap pea plants, unboxing free coneflowers!

A potted live Christmas tree I purchased a few years ago, and set outside in a sunny spot after the holidays, has started producing little pollen cones...

5/8/18

The joy of growing my own tomatoes, aromatic flowers around the yard, germinating seeds.

The first tomato of the year has appeared, on the plant I helped to survive over winter. It's only the size of a shooter marble...

4/26/18

Visiting a new source for plants, roses opening, musing about pruning.

Recently I was walking by a shopping area a short distance from my workplace, and noticed plants outside Tractor Supply...

4/18/18

Happy sunny days, new pepper and tomato plants, a profusion of flowers.

After a few rainy and grey days, it was warm out, with bright blue skies, this past Sunday...

4/10/18

Lists of what's been planted and recent happenings, vegetable patch progress.

I could create flowery prose about the joys of spring gardening, but I'm more in a list-writing mood today...

3/30/18

Fun with photography, new seeds, spring planting fully underway!

While out in the garden, enjoying the sun's brightness and warmth, and discovering the new growth that spring has brought...

3/22/18

Heralding the arrival of spring, celebrating flowers, withstanding storms, being lazy.

Well, we're past the equinox now, but it's been chilly and rainy here this week...

3/12/18

New violas and bulb sprouts, tidying the yard for parties.

Outside of the grocery stores, they've started to set out little starter plants: herbs, flowers, even tomatoes and peppers...

2/27/18

Abundant camellias, winter plant progress, attending a permaculture talk.

It's that time of year when camellia blossoms are opening daily. First the pale pink double variety...

2/16/18

Chilly days in the yard, bold daisies, new rose growth, impatient for Spring!!

The temperature has dropped again. Highs around 63 Fahrenheit, lows in the 30s. I'm once more concerned...

2/9/18

Cool new fertilizers in the mail, aromatic flowers and lively bees at the garden store.

On my Twitter gardening account, a fertilizer was recommended to me by Envii Products: Early Starter...

2/1/18

Bargain finds, season of the buttercup, planting plans revisited.

Last Friday I worked only a half-day, and spent most of the afternoon at home in the garden...

1/24/18

Joys of online gardening, antique collections, moss, squirrels.

My 8 to 5 job is busier now than it was for the past 6 months. I just completed two large design projects...

1/16/18

Winter sprouts, a soggy green world, thriving worm population.

Spring is heralded as the supreme season for new growth, but here in the temperate climate of coastal California...

1/8/18

Rainy season activities, pruning bushes, another mystery plant.

In between rains over the past couple of days, I managed a decent amount of yardwork...

1/3/18

Plants in a city park, vertical planting, wood/stone project ideas.

I'm looking forward to getting out in the yard after the rain. I've been imagining different...

12/28/17

Chilly weekend in the yard, the end of 2017's annuals, planning 2018 planting.

It was great to have extra days off, a "long weekend" for the Christmas holiday...

12/19/17

Windy day gardening, rooftop views, hot sauce from homegrown peppers.

It's been quite cold out, which has the benefit of my cat wanting to stay inside more, being warm and cuddly...

12/12/17

Indoor plant success and planning, wrapping up the year, growing an etsy shop.

As usual in the dark wintery months, my houseplants get more attention than when I'm busy outdoors...

12/5/17

Container gardening challenges, what's in bloom for early winter.

A few weekends ago, one of our neighbor Karl's visitors knocked over and shattered two of my flowerpots near the porch...

11/28/17

Mushrooms, begonias, zinnias, cats, squirrels.

Hard to believe it's November already, even more odd to think that the month's almost over. It's ridiculously Fall out here...

11/20/17

Preparing for winter as days get colder, my whimsical way of gardening.

The bougainvillea and white dipladenia (mandevilla, rocktrumpet) that we planted in July are still blooming wonderfully...

11/15/17

Raindrops on flower petals, rhubarb and nightshade, garden crafts to sell.

We got a bit of rain this week, on 3 different days, so plants that were looking a little wilted...

11/6/17

Post-rain gardening, new vines, cactus blooming.

We experienced a long-awaited series of rainshowers on Friday night and Saturday morning...

10/31/17

Bright flowers in the fog, autumn activities.

I've been busy getting costumes together, then attending a Halloween party on Saturday, then recovering from it, so I haven't spent time in the garden...