Do you remember exploring your backyard as a child? I do. I loved smelling my dad’s roses, digging into the soil for worms and hoping to find some interesting bugs (not spiders). My mother would give me a little margarine tub to put in any insects that I found along with some torn grass and […]
10 Drought-Tolerant Shrubs That Thrive in Full Sun and Reflected Heat in the Southwest One of the most challenging situations in landscaping involves cultivating plants in areas exposed to both full sun and the unforgiving embrace of reflected heat. Reflected heat is the result of surfaces like sidewalks, walls, and patio decks absorbing daytime warmth […]
Did you ever garden when you were a child? I did. My dad gave my siblings and me, each a small raised bed in the backyard. We would spend hours leafing through the latest Burpee catalog, deciding what seeds we would buy to plant in our little gardens. I never forgot my introduction to gardening […]
Beautiful Hop Bush Shrub (Dodonaea viscosa) I am always on the lookout for great examples of plants in the desert landscape. In my work as a landscape consultant, I drive through countless neighborhoods, which allows me to see lots of ideas. A few years ago, I drove by a house that had a beautiful Hop […]
Do you enjoy reading magazines about home and gardening? I do. Often with the busyness of life, I don’t have as much time to read magazines as I used to. But, always make time for my favorite subscription, which is Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine. I enjoy thumbing through the pages that are filled with […]
One of the many things that I enjoy about my job is when I am asked to visit school gardens. You can read about a previous school garden visit here. Yesterday, I was asked to come to my daughter, Gracie’s, class to talk about what I do as a horticulturist. As I’ve shared before, […]
Last weekend, my husband and I went away to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We’d been looking forward to leaving kids and work behind and spending time alone eating great food, sleeping in and long walks enjoying beautiful surroundings. 30 years ago Now with past anniversary milestones, my husband would give me a piece […]
Drive through any Southwest neighborhood and you are highly likely to see cacti growing alongside shrubs and groundcovers. I must admit that I don’t have a lot of cactus in my own landscape – there are three to be exact. But, the few that I have, I find myself particularly attached to. This is […]
Well, another road trip is drawing to a close, but not before two more fun-filled days. California Road Trip After leaving San Francisco, we headed up toward Napa Valley. Despite it being a rainy day, we were determined that getting a little wet wouldn’t hinder us from exploring this area. Our first stop was (not surprisingly) […]
San Francisco has been a popular destination for me and my family. While I was born and grew up in Southern California, both my parents are from the northern part of the state. As a result, trips to the San Francisco area were frequent events in my childhood as well early in my marriage when […]
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