Growing Great Ranunculus Blooms in a Frog-Free SoCal Landscape

What do frogs and ranunculus have in common? Probably more than you realize. The name Ranunculus comes from the Latin “rana,” or frog, because many species grow in moist areas where frogs live. Can this showy flower flourish in Southern California’s...

Growing Winter Flowers for a Cool-Weather California Garden

It’s another “bleak” winter day in Los Angeles. Daytime temperatures will peak at 70 °F, with a bone-chilling nighttime low of 45 °F. Brrr! Or you could be in Chicago. While Chicago struggles with freezing temperatures and piercing winds, Los...

12 Gorgeous Flowering Vines for Southern California Gardens

Flowering vines can sense vibrations from nearby supports and grow toward them — a remarkable adaptation that makes them peerless problem-solvers in the garden. While trees and shrubs demand extensive root systems and thick trunks, vines invest their energy in...

Growing Juniper from Cuttings for an Evergreen Landscape

What’s a Juniper, exactly? It’s the evergreen plant that comes after Mayiper and just before Julyiper. Dad jokes aside, this popular and versatile ornamental takes many forms — ground covers, shrubs, and trees. The foliage can be shades of green,...

A Gardener’s Guide to Growing Cherimoya in SoCal

Mark Twain called it “the most delicious fruit known to men.” He was referring to the cherimoya, a living fossil from the highland valleys of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Ripe cherimoya spoils quickly and is hard to ship, so it’s considered a luxury...