Category: Tips

Plums are in bloom, forsythia are covered in yellow flowers, and my fragrant rosemary is in glorious flower. Spring is so early this year that we decided to ship the first rose crop into the nursery, a full two weeks…

A raised bed is a bottomless frame set into a shallow trench. The sides can be made of almost any durable building material: rock, brick, concrete, and interlocking blocks. Retired watering troughs or claw foot bathtubs are the easiest raised…

January has been so nice that gardens are starting to show color. Some forsythia a winter blooming jasmine are showing their yellow flowers, lilac buds are huge, and fruit trees are starting to show the ‘popcorn’ stage in their bud…

Air plants don’t require soil, need only moderate light, and a good soak every once in a while. Beautiful as modern home décor, in terrariums, or as a very affordable gift for any occasion, these little guys have so much…

Using living trees over fresh-cut trees to decorate the holidays has increased in popularity. A quarter of my local Christmas tree sales are for living trees that will be planted in January. Because of their waxy needles and high internal…

In their inimitable states of seasonal freshness, cut garlands, wreaths, swags, and Christmas trees, have arrived at our greenhouse. A tree’s freshness is determined by its weight, which comes from its water content, so the heavier the tree and other…

Thanksgiving is just days away, family and friends are ready to gather, and landscapes are dormant, bare, and almost ugly. But they don’t have to be that way if we keep in mind that the eye naturally is drawn to…

Hummingbird moth flying over Autumn Sage in Bloom [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYa-mKrL2_Y&list=UUnMVYDvOo82j7XF0Hv1A_iA[/youtube] An outstanding small evergreen shrub for hot, sunny, low water gardens! Prolific, magenta-red flowers attract hummingbirds over along season. Open, airy habit blends well with western natives and xeriscape plants. Low,…

This week’s photo is for the outdoorsmen who read this column. Imagine nine men on Lake Powell fishing, and you’ll have the setting for our experience. The seven pound twins pictured were only the beginning to a successful catch. By…

Traditionally, by the end of September we slip out of the monsoonal pattern and back to our normal, “spotty” rain cycles. However, this year’s overabundant rains have made the next four weeks critical for gardeners. This is the season plants…