theGardenPages Gardening Blog

Cranberry-Pear Or Apple Dessert For Abundant Autumn Gardens

If you are lucky enough to be harvesting lots of pears or apples this fall, or just looking for a new dessert dish, here are two simple and tempting recipes using fresh fruit from the garden.  One combines cranberries and pears, the other uses blackberries and apples.  Feel free to mix and match berries depending Read More…

Newest addition to the family a variegated portulacaria succulent plant

Here’s my new baby, a variegated portulacaria, also called baby jade, or elephant food. Normally these succulent plants are lime green with brown stems.  This little cutie has has white edges with a little red here and there. I’m working on a new portulacaria succulent plant page for main website so I just HAD to Read More…

Awesome Aechmea Bromeliad Flower Performance Continues!

Just in time for #FloralFriday on theGardenPages; the flowers on my Aechmea (Urn Plant) just keep getting better.  I showed you the prickly pink flowers when they first emerged from my Urn Plant. Now they have continued flowering with added features! The blooms develop what look like extra flowers consisting of deep blue petals deep Read More…

FloralFriday Hot Pink Silk Floss Trees Bring More Fall Color to LA

The silk floss trees are blooming in Los Angeles right now.   I’ve seen them blooming along the 101 Freeway, in front of office buildings and this one, which is blooming in front of a DWP station with a drought tolerant theme.   Chorisia speciosa trees are native to south America.  They grow up to 60 feet tall Read More…

Growing Kalanchoe for Drought Tolerant Gardens or as House Plants

You may not think of kalanchoes as succulent plants, but they are. Kalanchoes are another member of the Crassulaceae or Stonecrop family. They are reliable dry garden bloomers known for their bright flowers. Most varieties are perennial and evergreen, making them perfect candidates for my hot, dry landscape. Their flowers bloom in small bouquets of Read More…

Hopseed Bush Or Dodonaea Viscosa, Fast Growing Drought Tolerant Screen Plants for So. California

I have been profiling a number of drought tolerant, fast growing screen plants lately and Dodonaea belongs on the list too.  These lacy shrubs are also called Hop Bush or Hopseed Bush after their seed pods that resemble hops.  Hop Seed bushes come with leaves in either bright, lime green or dark purple.  Both versions Read More…