Happy Vernal Equinox!

Fingers crossed for more rain, too...

Baby's First Haircut

Like all new parents, good garden tenders / proprietors have the utmost concern for their new baby plants.  They watch their gardens like hawks; noting and analyzing each change.  While this can be fun for some, it is agonizing for most (and rightfully so).  However, like with children, the proper establishment of a garden (spacing plants for maturity) is crucial to its longevity and success.  Once it is understood that plants take time to fill out to their mature size, the tender of the garden will be able to enjoy this growth process.  And before they know it, it will already be time for their baby's first haircut.

December: 10 month old garden.  First winter clean-up.
UC Verde is going dormant for the season.
Fruit trees are losing their leaves.  Muhlenbergia rigens' tawny inflorescence dapple the garden.  

See the progress after the jump...

Virtual Bouquet

Forget the red roses!  These are just a few plants that ignite passion around our office (and are a little less thirsty).  They are great alternatives to the traditional red and pink flowering garden plants of February (Cammelias, Bergenia, Purple leaf plums and Indian Hawthorne - you know who you are).

1. Malus 'Dorsett Golden' - a low-chill Apple
2. Ribes 'Barrie Coate' , Chaparral Currant - happy in sun or full shade
3. Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon - the reason the hills above LA are called Hollywood.
4. Grevillea 'Canberra' (aka 'Pink Pearl') - beautiful bank cover
5. Cercis occidentalis, Western Redbud - great deciduous small-scale tree
6. Ribes glutinosum 'Claremont' - Yes, another Currant.  6't x 6'w, Summer deciduous.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Checking in with Our Gardens

When I was running errands in West Los Angeles this morning, I happened upon a garden we installed last spring - it looked particularly stunning.

custom garden gate

Calandrinia grandiflora, Thymus citridora, Agave attenuata &
Westringia 'Morning light'

Summer Vacation Highlights: Boston & Cambridge, part I

Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History

Created between the years of 1887 and 1936 in Dresden, Germany made entirely from glass, wire and metal oxide, this is one of the most stunning displays of botanical knowledge in existence.  The 847 species collection was created as a teaching aide for the Botanical Museum.  The craftsmen were  Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, a father and son team of glass artisans who came from a long line of jewelry makers.  This exhibit has been available to the public since 1893.

Not surprisingly, California natives make a good showing in the exhibit - off hand, there were at least 50-60 different species in display, including cacti.  Here are a few favorites (shown with an example of a living plant for comparison)...

Encelia californica, California Sunflower

Keep it Interesting

Here are some photos of one of our Pacific Palisades gardens taken last year...it's fun to see how dramatic a garden can be in such a short amount of time.

March

What was blooming?  Penstemon 'Margarita BOP', Heuchera 'Canyon Belle', Escholzia californica, Carex pansa  (all CA Natives) & Erigeron karvniskianus (native to Mexico).

May

What was blooming?  Achillea 'Terracotta' & 'Moonshine', Stachys byzanitna, Lavandula detnata & Penstemon (still) 

August

What was blooming?  Achillea 'Terra Cotta', Bulbinella 'Hallmark', Stachys byzantina & Lavandula dentata.

February, before

What was blooming?  Not much.

MWD Spring Green Expo

Today, in Downtown LA, the Metropolitan Water District had its Spring Green Expo.  The event dealt with the joys and challenges of gardening in Southern California given our current water restrictions and climate.  Exhibits showed the latest in water conservation technology and speakers included Pamela Bearstler of G3LA (http://www.greengardensgroup.com/), Bart O'Brien of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd.com.  We absolutely love these people and what they stand for.  It would be wonderful if this event had been on a weekend so professionals and homeowners alike would have been able to attend! 

Checking in with Our Gardens

Springtime is in full swing in here in Southern California.  Last week we had wonderful overcast weather - perfect for some garden photography!  This Topanga garden was planted in the fall of 2008 and is growing in quite nicely (if we do say so ourselves).  

Iris PCH hybrid 'Lavender'

Muhlenbergia rigens & Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor'

Santolina chamaecyparis, Phlomis, Lavendula x heterophylla, Agave shawii & Phlomis purpurea

Permeable Pool Deck planted with Dymondia margaratae

Leucospermum 'Veldfire'