Garden Art

Garden Art means different things to different people. In the vegetable garden it can take the form of a screen to mask the compost bin, or a painting on the side of the tool shed. Some of us – and by us I mean gardeners – take care to lay out our herb gardens to create patterns that please the eye. Then we add decorative

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Birds and their Trees

As many of you may realize by now, while David and I are avid gardeners, our passion is the gateway to nature that the garden provides. As we arrive in New Mexico, so does spring, with all its chaotic and unpredictable weather. Red buds bloom along with plums, lilacs, and cottonwood. And then it snows, and gardeners and farmers worry about their incipient apricots, cherries,

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Peacocks and Permaculture

We’re at the Los Angeles Arboretum in Arcadia, California, giving a presentation to the “Compulsive Gardeners”, a wonderful group of knowledgeable and dedicated gardeners whose enthusiasm is boundless.  It’s interesting to be back. I (David) used to work here, in the Research Division, just after finishing my PhD. It was my first professional position and I loved all the exotic plants from Mediterranean climates around the

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We’re in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California – a gardener’s paradise. While it may have heavy, clay soil, and little water, it has perfect temperatures for growing plants from all the “Mediterranean” climates of the world. The flora of South Africa, the west coasts of North and South America, Australia, and, of course, the Med itself make appearances here. The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden displays the amazing diversity of

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