Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
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Flowers of all types, shapes and colors erupt around the earth at their prescribed flowering seasons. It is fantastic how nature has its timetable within the various seasons, and I am constantly watching and learning from her. With the world's weather changing, so are plants adapting to a new climatic lifestyle. Plants adapt to their environments and adjust according to their seasons, weather and unique growing conditions. Fall is when we think of flowers like chrysanthemums;...
The topping and butchering of trees in any community is like a plague from time to time. This destructive pruning practice of cutting back large branches to stubs leaves wounds that invite bugs, decay and disease that can enter a tree. When the general public sees more and more of this indiscriminate cutting of trees, it becomes acceptable, and it definitely is not. Topping can destroy a tree's natural shape, its beauty and grace. It saddens me for I know that people pay top...
Do you have a slope or hillside on your property where rainwater is causing erosion or do you have a landscape drainage problem? With the heavy rains and downpours of the past few weeks, erosion of soil and slopes, as well as property damage, has come to the attention of homeowners in a significant way. Understanding the terrain and lay of the land, soils, and topography, and how it can affect you and your neighbor's property, is essential. Water management is an art and...
As the world turns, so are the global weather patterns, and you should prepare yourself and your gardens and your habits by working with a new wave of horticulture around your homes. It is important how we have practiced working in our gardens over the years, and now that is about to change with our warming climate and the unpredictable weather, we need to be in more harmony with the change. Last winter's rainfall was a much-needed welcome for the parched earth, and the rains...
The paintbrush lily is a prolific flowering bulb in the Amaryllis family that grows and flourishes in my Fallbrook garden. The Haemanthus species originates in the coastal regions of South Africa with a vast array of colorful indigenous bulbs. The Cape Floral Region is a botanical anomaly and is home to more bulbous plants than anywhere else in the world. The Cape region alone has over 9,000 species of different plants in that small region, whereas California has about 6,300...
The bounty from last summer brought you an abundance of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, and now they all would appreciate a little tender loving care for their upcoming winter snooze with a nip and a tuck. With the mild climate of Southern California, perennial plants can benefit by being divided every couple of years to revitalize them for some healthy new growth and to propagate more plants to utilize in your garden or to share with others. Now is the time of year to...
As we drive around California neighborhoods, we see various palm trees in the landscape and say, oh yes, palms are a part of the horticultural fabric of our southland gardens. Palm trees come from many exotic locations around the globe, from the local Anza Borrego desert to the jungles of Borneo, Madagascar, and faraway places like the Canary Islands off the north coast of Africa. With this wide spectrum of palms, many types have found the Mediterranean climate of California...
How about adding a little spice to your garden and grow some exotic bromeliads from the jungles of Mexico, Central and South America and beyond? You most likely have eaten pineapple which falls into the bromeliaceae family, and you can grow your own out in the garden in full sun. This family of plants is huge, and they come in all sizes, shapes and colors. They can either be grown in the ground (terrestrial) or up in the trees (as an epiphyte). They require minimum care, and...
On a recent visit to Arizona, I took a side field trip to the famous homestead of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural foundation, Taliesin West. Just east of Sedona lies Taliesin West, the home, studio, museum, and the land of this organic architect who set completely new standards in the world of architecture at that time and for the future. Born in Wisconsin, June 8, 1867, Wright spent his early years studying architecture and engineering with six years in the prestigious...
Forest bathing is a way to submerge yourself into nature and observe all the natural wonders that abound in a forest or woodland-like setting. When early man came out of the forest to explore his new boundaries, he left the safety of the woodlands that sheltered him, gave him a food supply and a sense of connection to the wonders of his world. Today, we also can find solace, peace, harmony, and a sense of connection to the preciousness of nature's trees and the woodlands....
Wow, that's a heavy beginning to start my conversation with you about the tree world, which has an interconnecting network just below our feet through which trees and plants communicate. The earthy underground world comprises various fungi, known as the mycorrhizal fiber connections, and is known as the wood-wide web network. This incredible root-systems network can share information about possible threats to one another like disease, droughts, or insect attacks. These tiny...
What are variegated plants, where do they come from, and how do they develop and thrive? They are a collection of mottled, checkered, spotted, blotchy, multi-colored, or variegated foliage plants. It's like having a brightly colored plant in flower all year long without the flowers. By definition, "variegated" means to have discrete markings of different colors or white stripes on the plant's leaves. The word more often applies to the foliage of plants that we have in our...
When you drive to work, go to the grocery store, or visit family or friends, do you ever wonder where all these trees came from and how they got here? Just think what your community would be like without trees – only plain asphalt telephone poles and wires, which would not be very pleasing to experience. The trees that have been planted in our Southern California urban forests come from around the world and have been planted by cities, urban foresters, and volunteers. They a...
California's topography ranges from the jagged coastal bluffs along the Pacific, to its valleys and low lying coastal mountains, and then climbs up to the Sierras' high peaks. Its climate is extreme, from the hot Death Valley (below sea level) to the towering Sierra Mountains reaching over 14,000 feet in elevation. The Mediterranean climate of Southern California allows us to grow a broad spectrum of plants from all over the globe while our mountains support vast forests from...
Down the road from Fallbrook, the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in Vista is a real jewel of history to visit and to share with friends, family, and kids of all ages. It is a great Disney e-ticket in my opinion, for those of you who remember them. It is a museum of days gone by, with displays of mechanical ingenuity in crafts associated with the early days of the American farm and rural communities that helped build our great nation. The focus on this period is from the...
Flowers of all kinds, shapes, and colors emerge from the earth in their prescribed flowering seasons in the fantastic way that nature has with its own time-table around the world. Fall is when we think of flowers either in the garden or as cut flowers like chrysanthemums. Christmas is when we enjoy the colorful poinsettia with the many new colors that abound today. Springtime conjures up tulips, ranunculus, freesia, and other flowering plants. The cut flower industry is vast a...
Do you ever wonder where all the fruits, veggies and exotic fruits have been grown that end up in the produce department at your local markets? Produce of all types make up a giant and complex world of agriculture with all its far-reaching tentacles, both local and beyond, that we take for granted when strolling with a shopping cart plucking a little of this and bags of that. Let's take the wild fungus that has been cultivated and collected for thousands of years, with a broad...
Making your home and community safer and surviving a wildfire is a process that will be well worth the effort to be prepared. Some projects can be done in a weekend or two, although it is essential to remember that routine maintenance must be a part of any long-term plan to reduce your home's vulnerability from wildfires. Wildfires can be challenging to control, and what is controllable is how you prepare your home and surroundings before fire threatens. A valuable link...
In my last writings on the art of firescaping, I gave a broad overview of some basic concepts to this vital subject for you and yours to consider around your home, and phase II will expand on that. In years past, we would think of the autumn months as the most important time of year to be aware of fires after a hot and dry summer. This is no longer the case for the fire season has extended throughout the year's calendar due to the unique climate and weather changes occurring...
The American West is ablaze. Wildfires are raging in every state along the West Coast and in almost every state from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains. Land, homes, lives and whole communities are lost. As my pen brings these thoughts together, over 3 1/2 million acres have burned to date, more than any other year, and now millions of people are breathing toxic air from these fires. It is not just that entire weather patterns are changing, but there many other factors that co...
I am in great appreciation for every step I take upon the earth where a world of wonder lives in the soils below my feet. The soils are a miraculous environment of vibrant activity, and soils supply plants the nourishment for the foods that we eat daily. Understanding the organic soil world below your feet might make you a better gardener and a person who understands a little about its complexity down below the crust of the earth. You will come away having a greater respect...
When the hot summer months start to ramp up the thermometer out in the garden, nature decides to bring gardeners some exotic bulbous plants that excite their landscape settings, and I say, "Wow, where did that come from?" Bulbous plants in summer have a specific internal time clock. When the hot months of July, August and September arrive, here they come, and a botanical surprise occurs in the garden when least expected. I am mesmerized by bulbs from South Africa and the...
The trees that anoint our little hamlet called Fallbrook are immigrants from around the world that dot our hillsides, shelter our homes and give us so many benefits. As you drive over the hill from the north or come up Hwy. 76 and enter our verdant hills, Fallbrook is uniquely dotted with avocado, citrus and ornamental trees from every continent of the world. This is what gives such a definite charm to our village and this is why so many of us live here. We have our beloved...
The story behind the victory gardens is over half a century old. They were started during World War II when Americans grew their own veggie gardens to supplement fresh produce for the country. Many farmers and young men went to foreign lands, and farms were depleted of that large labor force. So, women and children stepped up to the plate and started the victory gardens and war gardens of the 1940s. Since all types of foods were rationed during that time, civilians were...
Pollinators are essential for our food supply and the plant diversity we find in nature across our nation is up against some severe threats. There are hundreds of species of native bees that pollinate so many of our food crops, as well as the iconic monarch butterfly. The average backyard is home to thousands of insects. Only about a tenth of them are destructive; most of them are either beneficial or harmless. Yet the chemical industry promotes deadly bug killers, the use of...