Did you know rosemary is drought tolerant? I’ve just added a new rosemary page to my So Cal gardening site where I try to focus on low water plants. Here are a few excerpts for my gardening blog pals: Fragrant rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis) is a perennial, evergreen shrub. Not only are they wonderful cooking herbs, Read More…
Category: drought tolerant
Pomegranate Trees and Pests
Pomegranates are good choices for drought tolerant gardens. They can take regular garden watering, but will grow in drought conditions once established. These deciduous trees can grow up to 20 feet tall and across, forming a large round shrub. They can also be trimmed and formed into multi-trunk trees. But sometimes there can be trouble Read More…
Heat Wave Takes Toll On Southern California Gardens With Sunburned Plants
My plants are frying! OK, so it’s been over 100 degrees here in sunny so Cal for the past few days. That’s OK, it’s called summer, we learned about this in school. And the state of California has declared a drought, and the city of Los Angeles is asking us to reduce our water consumption. Read More…
Plant Profile: Crassula Capitella Another Color Change Plant
Here’s another succulent plant in my collection that changes color. This is Crassula capitella, sometimes called Crassula erosula. This succulent has also been called Red Flames or Campfire Plant. It has bright, lime green leaves with flaming orange red tips. It gets tiny white flowers on upright stalks in early spring. When grown in shade, Read More…
Plant Profile: Crassula Portulacea or Spoon Jade or ET Fingers or Gollum Jade
Any more names for this jade species? I’ve always appreciated it for the way it looks like coral, sea grass or some exotic undersea plant you’d find waving with the currents in Ariel’s Secret Grotto. Horseshoe or Spoon Jade is also called Gollum Fingers or ET fingers. These plants can take full sun to light Read More…
Window Plant Haworthia Blooms
My haworthia is blooming. It sends up these sci-fi looking stalks that open into tiny white flowers. It took so long for my first plants to bloom that now I get excited to see them in the early spring. I just love these succulent little gems and this plant seems to have developed a cult Read More…
Crassula Plant Rescue Update
As you may recall, I rescued a crassula succulent plant from the store. Unfortunately he suffered a cruel attack by a weed-whacker. I decided I needed to continue his saga, for good or bad. I was pretty sure since it was a succulent he’d recover. Also, I still have the roots in the container, which Read More…
Yellow Flowering Cactus Pear Blooming
My cactus pear is flowering! I can’t wait for the pears. Here’s a little piece I wrote for my main garden website: Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) are useful in the landscape for dramatic impact, adding a southwestern feel to any landscape. Opuntia cactus also have edible pads and provide the red cactus pears of Read More…
Color Change Aeonium Plant Update 3
Here’s the latest on the aeonium plant on my patio that has been changing colors. Now you can really see the red around the leaf edges. The small inside leaves are all creamy instead of cream and green stripes. Very cool! None of the other aeoniums in my garden are changing like this. I’ve got Read More…
Plant Rescue Update: Crassula Plant Setback
A few weeks ago I rescued this little succulent plant from the store. It was very abused, beaten up, had broken parts and gave me a very sad look when I walked by. So, I took it home, gave him some water and tucked the broken leafs back into the pot. I put him in Read More…