Summer

Alpine Strawberries – Nature’s SweetTarts

October 20, 2011 4 comments
Thumbnail image for Alpine Strawberries – Nature’s SweetTarts

Pictured: a normal strawberry, ‘Rugen Improved’ alpine, ‘Yellow Alpine’, and ‘Golden Alexandria’ berries Alpine strawberries. Seriously, have you guys tried these things? They’re like little red garden crackberries. They’re definitely one of my favorite things to grow at home, not the least because you can’t actually buy them in stores. Mine start going downhill as [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Mediterranean Plants to Rock Your Waterwise Landscape

September 28, 2011 1 comment
Thumbnail image for Mediterranean Plants to Rock Your Waterwise Landscape

Recently I wrote about how to design a Mediterranean garden, but I left out one major component – which plants to choose! I just did a follow-up article over at the Christian Science Monitor which discusses just that. And yes, there are more photos of that lovely, lovely garden.  Head on over to read more.

Click here to continue reading →

The Envelope Please! The Winner is-

September 22, 2011 1 comment
Thumbnail image for The Envelope Please! The Winner is-

Guest post from Stephanie Cohen, plant maven and co-author of the deliciously readable The Nonstop Garden: Every year new perennials tempt us to buy them. Some become instant successes, others never achieve notoriety, and some really bad plants hang around forever. It gets more and more difficult to pick the winners and losers. I am [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Mediterranean Garden Design: How to Create a Tuscan Garden

September 4, 2011 10 comments
Thumbnail image for Mediterranean Garden Design: How to Create a Tuscan Garden

Recently, I was lucky enough to visit the Mediterranean garden of Lynda and Jack Pozel in Eureka, CA. Lynda’s a writer and artist, and until five years ago, owned a gorgeous cottage-style garden that was on our local garden tour multiple times. So when they moved and Lynda had a whole new garden to create, [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Ditch the Sunhat: Sun Protection Tips You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

August 5, 2011 10 comments
Thumbnail image for Ditch the Sunhat: Sun Protection Tips You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Hold up, don’t report me to the Melanoma Society just yet. You probably shouldn’t actually ditch your sun hat. But if you’re like me and have never been able to get into wearing hats while gardening, here are two odd things I do to get a bit more protection than the average “slather self in [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Amy and Gen Tropicanna the Garden: a Giveaway!

March 10, 2011 30 comments
Thumbnail image for Amy and Gen Tropicanna the Garden: a Giveaway!

***Giveaway below*** Outside of the garden, I’m attracted to cool, subdued colors, like purples, blues, blacks and greys. But lately, in the garden? Give me some color! Wild, exuberant color, that shocks the eyes and cheers the soul. So when the kind folks out at Tesselaar Plants offered to send Amy Stewart and I some [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Do Now: Pruning Suckers off Tomatoes

July 14, 2010 0 comments

Just found this excellent tutorial from Mr. Brown Thumb about how to prune the suckers off your tomatoes to contribute to a good form for your plant and better production. Here on the north coast, we can start doing this right now! You can follow Mr. Brown Thumb on Twitter for some funny gardening insights [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Summer-Prune a Floppy Miscanthus Grass (Video Tutorial)

September 26, 2009 9 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Summer-Prune a Floppy Miscanthus Grass (Video Tutorial)

I’m a big fan of ornamental grasses because they add so much motion and life to a garden. If you use multiples, they’re an easy way of bringing a sense of continuity to a busy or scattered-feeling garden, because the effect of their foliage is so soothing. Miscanthus is a favorite because it grows so [...]

Click here to continue reading →

How to Deadhead Mexican Bush Sage or Salvia leucantha (Video Tutorial)

September 1, 2009 2 comments
Thumbnail image for How to Deadhead Mexican Bush Sage or Salvia leucantha (Video Tutorial)

I shot this video in December, when this Salvia was at the end of its blooming season and just starting to think about going dormant, but the advice for how to deadhead and prune it is still great for summer. Right now, many of the Mexican Bush Sages in the gardens that I maintain are [...]

Click here to continue reading →