A Visit to the Theodore Payne Foundation

Click on the photo for a few pictures from our visit to the Theodore Payne Foundation's Summer Sale, a great source of California native plants here in the Los Angeles Area.

Visit to The Lavender Fields

Click on the photo for some pictures from our visit to The Lavender Fields last Sunday. We had a great time learning about lavender -- how it is grown and harvested, how to cook with it and how to distill its essential oils. I look forward to returning for their next event.

Backyard Game Board

If you like Scrabble®, you'll love an idea from this month's issue of Sunset magazine, Page 101.

Sacramento architect, Kristy McAuliffe, has created a garden-sized Scrabble® board for her garden. The article isn't online, but you can probably find the magazine at your local bookstore or library.

If my wife, Rosanne, sees this article, I am sure to be building one of my own soon. She loves all sorts of word games, and the garden, so combining the 2 would be only natural.

Composting and Ground Covers

There were 2 nice articles in The Los Angeles Times today.

Compose your own compost and Lovely, lush and low-down about good ground cover plants for your garden.

(Requires somewhat obnoxious, but FREE registration)

Sharpening...

Sorry for the long pause between posts here. Life has been quite crazy around the AGN homestead and non-gardening items have stolen the focus for the moment.

One important thing I accomplished today, (at least for me) was finding a place to sharpen my hedge trimmers. My geometric beds of azalea and juniper in the front garden are looking mighty shaggy and could really use a trim. I should have the trimmers back by the end of the week and then it is time to get to work.

We have had enough rain this year that I have weeds sprouting up all over the place. Normally the dry conditions here in the San Fernando Valley keep them to a minimum, but I have thistles popping up everywhere. I think part of the problem, although a good thing overall, is that several property owners in the area have made a great effort to clean up their property recently. The weed seeds have been flying fast and furious, and we had some extreme winds a few weeks ago, so it appears that the weeds have found a place to their liking in my garden.

The problem shouldn't last much longer, as the temperatures have been rising steadily. We are immersed in a bit of "June Gloom" at the moment, though. This is a typical occurrence here in the Valley, where the marine layer of clouds never recedes during the day, as normal. Were I still living in Ohio, I would say it looks like rain, but all we get out of it are some cool temperatures (always welcome) and a bit of light drizzle. I am hoping the gloom will hold out for a few more days so I can use the cover to trim the front garden. That would be just about perfect.
Keep digging!

Book

Serene Gardens: Creating Japanese design and detail in the western garden

Here is a very nice book if you are looking to capture some of the traditional beauty of a Japanese garden in your own backyard.