Practical advice & moral support for the small-scale gardener
Mid-May is a great time to stand back and admire the progress our gardens have made since the start of spring, even if it hasn’t felt like spring. The month kicked off with a week of rain and highs in the 50s! On my balcony and around the region, many plants are behind schedule due…
I haven’t found growing food on my balcony terribly rewarding. Sometimes the yield is so teensy that I have to laugh, like when I harvested six single olives. I’ve already waxed poetic on how our time in Puglia last summer compelled us to get an olive tree for the balcony as soon as we got back. We chose…
We arrived in Mexico City before dawn, well before our guesthouse was ready for us. Wandering the empty streets and plazas of Coyoacán, I could sense lushness even in the dark. When the sun rose and our room was ready, we went to bed, exhausted from the journey. Around midday, I rose to open the…
Of the 6,000+ native plants of California, I have six growing on my balcony. I should have more, but too often I succumb to a selfish desire to transform my garden into an Italian villa. However, I am resolved to fill future open container space with native species, for the health and biodiversity of my…
It’s California Native Plant Week! This event, organized by the California Native Plant Society, celebrates the 6,000+ types of plants indigenous to my state. These are the species that occur naturally in this region, not introduced by humans. Although there are loads of benefits to growing native plants, keeping them in containers comes with challenges. But it’s worth…