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A week ago I was leisurely wandering with a friend through his garden when I spied the familiar burnt orange of leaf blotch discoloring what could only be a large horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) near his drive. I was surprised to see the tree in such a dry, rural Californian setting and proclaimed [...]

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Things are moving quickly in the garden once again.  However it is not new growth of which I speak, nor the rustle of birds frantically throwing together nests in the spirea.  We have reaped that particular whirlwind and now stand on the other side of our garden season – watching the rapid decay of [...]

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Polyporus squamosus "Dryad's Saddle"

Most of us have been instructed from an early age to keep our hands and our mouths away from fruiting fungi. We may be happy to nibble on a bit of wild sorrel, or taste the pungent acidity of a dandelion, but the minute we are faced with a large, [...]

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It’s difficult to inspire plants to perform. As a rule, they don’t respond well to sweet nothings, obnoxious shouting is ignored, and begging is right out. At the end of the day it comes down to an adequate supply of water and nutrients, lack of disease and pests….oh and one other trifling detail – [...]

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It is true, as the late Christopher Lloyd once said, that there shouldn’t be too many vested interests in a garden. Invariably, tastes cross, words are exchanged and dirt is thrown. I have rarely seen a couple equally driving the feel and scope of a garden – one gardener always has his or her [...]

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It is not an exaggeration to say that the amateur gardener, if not marveling over vegetable beds, is most often focused on the size, shape, color and duration of flowers. Unless you’ve had a flashy designer come in and introduce you to the wonderful world of foliage over a particularly painful check-writing session, you [...]