Growing Coffee Indoors for the Ultimate Cup o’ Home Joe

There are coffee drinkers and coffee lovers. Voltaire fell into the latter category, guzzling up to 70 cups per day (and living into his 80s). Beethoven hand-counted precisely 60 beans per cup. Once he perfected the formula, he never strayed. Voltaire and Beethoven...

A Complete Guide to Lime Tree Care in Southern California

Behold the lime — a key ingredient in guacamole, margaritas, and refreshing sparkling water. Where would we be without it? We would live in a world of bland guacamole toast. The lime, most closely associated in the USA with Mexican cuisine, came to the West from...

Lemon Tree Care in Southern California: A Gardener’s How-To

In the 1967 movie The Graduate, Benjamin’s Alfa Romeo Spider breaks down in a citrus grove on the way to the church where Elaine is getting married. That grove bordered Fruit Street, so-called because La Verne, CA (the film location) was a prime area for citrus...

Why Plant Native Plants? Designing Your California Garden 

You can grow almost anything in Southern California, except maybe reindeer lichen. Bird of Paradise comes from South Africa. Bougainvillea hails from Brazil, and pampas grass is native to Argentina. They’re all familiar sights in LA-area landscapes. But while...