Amaranthus is an edible and easy to use superfood for the backyard gardener. Learn how to grow and harvest this delicious edible seeds as well as the stems and leaves packed with vitamins.
Autumn All-Stars, Part 2
The nights are chilly, the bees are still flying and gathering nectar, but definitely slowing down. After some travel this fall, I did a tour of my property to see what is still blooming and available for my bees in mid to late September. I don't want to have to feed the bees their sugar …
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Autumn All-Stars – Part 1
September is one of the hardest months to have beautiful fall bloomers as it is usually bone dry, and your spring and summer bloomers have peaked and shriveled up and are only a memory. This time of year I look for the big bloomers that were putting on lots of green growth all summer, things that you …
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Filoli Knot Gardens
On my recent trip to California with the Garden Blogger's Fling, we visited Filoli, an estate garden that wowed us with all of its formal gardens and big expanses. Composed of 16 acres of formal gardens in a 654 acre estate, Filoli is a California State Historic Landmark Site. I loved wandering the gardens that …
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Black Crepe Myrtles?
Black is the new green. I am convinced of that after seeing a new 'Black Diamond' Crape Myrtle. I have done posts on black plants before, most notably http://thegardendiaries.com/2012/06/30/50-shades-of-black/Â and you could have an entire garden of black flowers and plants if you wanted. But you need to use black judiciously next to bright colors for …
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Pickle Time
Inundated with cucumbers this summer, the cukes in my refrigerator reached critical mass and I had to do something about it, or we would be over run with them. I had at least 100 of them stuffed into every space in my refrigerator and I had already made cucumber salad, cucumber water, and everything else that …
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A Tomato Grower’s Best Friend
As you look for that first tomato this summer, and you find a tomato hornworm with white rice shaped projections emerging from it that look like aliens, leave it alone! This is nature taking care of a pesky caterpillar that you don't want to be eating your tomato plants. The parasitic wasp that does this is …
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Garden Vignettes – Sweet Gardening
On my recent trip to San Francisco for the garden bloggers "fling" when we visited Rebecca Sweet's beautiful garden, what struck me about her design strategy was "garden vignettes", "design spotlights", and "skinny spaces". Rebecca Sweet is an innovative garden designer who lives in northern California and wrote "Garden Up-Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces". …
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Blueberry Bonanza
On a recent trip to the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia, we were traveling the highway when I spotted a sign that said "Pick your own blueberries" and we made an impromptu and screeching halt. We entered the driveway and were confronted with a field of about 25o blueberry bushes that dotted a …
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Grubb Heaven
If your name is Flora Grubb, what better business to own than Flora Grubb Gardens? She couldn't have picked a better name to own a garden/nursery business! Flora Grubb Gardens is a sophisticated garden boutique, nursery and floral/landscape design business located in San Francisco. Something like I would love to own! All the elements unusual plants, design, …
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A Great Combination – Honeysuckle and Hummingbirds
Red flowers are my favorite bloomers in the garden. Just like wearing red clothing, red flowers say, "look at me!" And it sure works for the hummingbirds. I am almost guaranteed to see a hummingbird visit this flower if I wait around for a few minutes. Major Wheeler Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)Â will bloom all summer long …
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Annie’s Annuals: The Ultimate Plant Road Trip
As any serious (and not so serious gardener) knows - Annie's Annuals is the mecca for buying some serious 'plant lust' worthy annuals. On a recent trip to San Francisco on the Garden Bloggers Fling, I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit and actually buy plants from them in person instead of on-line. My …
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