Every winter, we are the lucky recipients of a bounty of citrus from both family and neighbors. My fruit bowls and pantry are full of blood oranges, grapefruit, and lemons. Citrus generally ripens during the winter and the cold snap that we had last week had many people picking the citrus fruit from their trees […]
The temperatures outside are not just chilly – they are COLD (21 degrees outside yesterday morning in my garden). You may recall that I wrote about picking the green tomatoes off my vines a few weeks before the first frost appeared. I had quite a few. Well, I decided to let them ripen […]
The cold weather has arrived in my neck of the woods with even colder temperatures on their way later this week. When temperatures dip below 32 degrees, you will find me wearing warm socks, slippers, a sweater, and cardigan when I’m indoors. But, besides me – frost-tender plants are also affected by the cold […]
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! I just finished watching the Rose Parade with my mother. It’s a tradition in our family and reminds me of when my grandparents took me when I was a child. We didn’t have tickets to the parade, so my grandfather carried a ladder from their house (which was close […]
The gifts are wrapped and the house is decorated for Christmas. I do still have to clean my house and start baking goodies for Christmas Eve dinner. My mother-in-law is bringing her famous lasagna, so I only have to focus on side dishes and dessert – yum! I am fairly prepared for the holidays at […]
This morning, I spent some time outside in one of my vegetable gardens with my granddaughter, Lily. While I worked, she had fun with the plants in my containers. cool-season containers My cool-season containers are in full bloom. Leaf lettuce, petunias, garlic, parsley and nasturtiums are growing very well. My 1-year old tomato plants […]
The other day, my son Kai asked me what mistletoe was. I explained that it was a little plant that grew on trees that people hung over doorways during the holidays. At this point, he looked a little puzzled at why people would want to hang a plant over the door. But as I went […]
You’ll never guess what I made this Christmas tree out of… A tomato cage, mini-white Christmas lights and a hair band is all that it took to create this festive Christmas tree. I brought out my tomato cages and grabbed some Christmas lights and took the hair band out of my hair 😉 I used […]
Most of my job as a horticulturist and garden writer is fun. But sometimes, I have to be the bearer of bad news. Last week, I was called to a home where the homeowners were worried about one of their citrus trees. Although I am a horticulturist, I am also a Certified Arborist, which can […]
One of my favorite memories as a child was visiting antique stores with my mother. We usually did this whenever we went on vacation. My dad would stop the car whenever she saw a store that looked promising. Now that I am an adult, my mother and I have fun visiting antique stores when we […]
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