It’s that time of year again – the Birds of Paradise flowers are blossoming, capturing the winter sunshine and giving it an extra vibe. The pomegranates are ready to harvest, though this year, we’ve had a disappointing crop. Here
Author: Byddi Lee
What’s in the inside matters too.
They say that beauty is only skin deep. With plants, that’s true to a certain extent too. Take orchids for example. Without blossoms, an orchid is simply foliage. Boring foliage at that! I’ve been looking at the biggest of these,
Frost and foremost
Honest to God, you’d think it was the end of the world here. The News has carried it every night in their headlines, urgent voices warning of the destruction that is imminent, and whilst it’s not quite the end of
Seeding is believing
When little cotyledons (first leaves) punch through the soil and unfurl to soak up the sun, I get a thrill from knowing that I turned a dormant seed into a living thing. Well, oxygen, water and a little heat did,
The Bulb Garden
They’re in all the shops, being blogged about on all the gardening blogs and gardeners are boasting about how many they have. Bulbs. The promise of spring blossoms – or in some cases late winter blooms – is hard for
Yosemite National Park
The first time I ever visited California, I was amongst the ranks of the great unwashed – back-packing, low on funds and at the tail end of a two year long trip that took me around the globe. I headed
The ways of the road
Many tourist hot-spots create such a draw that very often beautiful places near them are largely ignored as people swarm to see the more famous sights. This happens with Yosemite National Park. The surrounding mountains and towns tend to get
Gardening Girl is GO!
This week I got great news – I was accepted to do the 2011 Master Gardeners Program with Santa Clara County. The course is only held every two years and has only 50 places. This year, I was told, there
Exploring on Columbus Day
We were in shock. My husband’s work gave him the day off on Columbus Day. The only appropriate thing to do on such a day is go exploring. Lick Observatory sits on top of Mount Hamilton, and on a clear
Native plant garden at Lake Cunningham
Every Wednesday morning, dedicated volunteers arrive at the Lake Cunningham native plant garden (off Tully Road in San Jose) at 9am to begin watering and weeding. Then I trundle in at about 10.30! Well, every little bit helps, and if