If the gardening season were a sentence, (like what was learned us in school) Springtime would be the capital-letter that starts the sentence, and winter is the full-stop (period to Americans) at the end. Californian gardens have bad gardening grammar.
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Don’t ditch those post-Christmas Poinsettias
Once upon a time, a poor Mexican girl called Pepita walked with her cousin, Pedro, to the Christmas Eve Services. She was sad and upset that she had no gift for the Baby Jesus. “Don’t be sad,” said Pedro.
The pleasures of pruning
‘Tis a soft day – thank God. You don’t get to say that often here in sunny California, where the sun splits the trees most days – aye, splits them but doesn’t prune them! This morning the hills were
Happy New Year!
When we were kids, my Granny would often babysit us on New Years Eve and let our parents go out to celebrate. I’d think it was extremely witty to kiss my parents farewell and say wistfully, “See ya next year!”
Storms, Solstace, Eclipse and Christmas – all in one week!
What a week it’s been! It all kicked off last weekend with the biggest storm we’ve since moving here two and a half years ago. We had just put up our Nativity scene (or “The God in Box” as its
Read More Storms, Solstace, Eclipse and Christmas – all in one week!
A word on weeds and a little something for those of you with snow covered gardens…
I’m linking in with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day this week at May Dreams Gardens. Many of the blogs posted have gardens under snow. Even the usually milder, wet Irish climate has been delivered a wallop of white so that my
Read More A word on weeds and a little something for those of you with snow covered gardens…
Irish wheaten bread with a Californian twist
It’s that time of year again – the Birds of Paradise flowers are blossoming, capturing the winter sunshine and giving it an extra vibe. The pomegranates are ready to harvest, though this year, we’ve had a disappointing crop. Here
What’s in the inside matters too.
They say that beauty is only skin deep. With plants, that’s true to a certain extent too. Take orchids for example. Without blossoms, an orchid is simply foliage. Boring foliage at that! I’ve been looking at the biggest of these,
Frost and foremost
Honest to God, you’d think it was the end of the world here. The News has carried it every night in their headlines, urgent voices warning of the destruction that is imminent, and whilst it’s not quite the end of
Seeding is believing
When little cotyledons (first leaves) punch through the soil and unfurl to soak up the sun, I get a thrill from knowing that I turned a dormant seed into a living thing. Well, oxygen, water and a little heat did,