The results of a multitude of research is now showing what gardeners have intrinsically known for generations – that gardening is good for your health. Now more than ever, as our culture becomes more technologically obsessed and increasingly nature deprived, this information is critical to digest and embrace. The reason why? Because our country is in a national health crisis with substantial economic and social implications. Here are some statistics that bear this out: The U.S. public spends more than 90% of their time indoors, leading an extremely sedentary, disconnected, unhealthy, and u ..read more

All of us at GGW want to wish each of you a magnificent and fun holiday season I am also taking this moment to let you know we are closing up shop at GGW. We’ve had an incredible eleven year run as a group gardening blog. For the past two years though, with my interest no longer solely focused on the gardening world but rather on ensuring that all of humanity gains access to real food on pennies a day through my participation in Peter Diamandis’ Abundance 360 group of entrepreneurs, GGW has been able to maintain a presence through Saxon’s and Debra’s postings. At this point though, both Deb ..read more

You’re invited to subscribe to my “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter! You’re invited to subscribe to my “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter—a fast-growing community of several thousand subscribers.  I’m primarily interested in serving a select and savvy group who share my passion for “plants that drink responsibly.”  Recent “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” topics include Succulent Windowsill Pots DIY, How Rain Benefits Succulents, How to Grow Succulents Indoors, and The Secret to Happy Succulents. I also take my subscribers on virtual tou ..read more

Finally!  Hope ! Something we can actually do about climate change.  The Green New Deal is an actual plan.  Read on. Energy old and new – oil well pumpjack and windmill, Oklahoma (I hope our readers at Gardening Gone Wild and gardeners everywhere will recognize this is not a political issue and turn your heads and cringe.  This is positive news, gardeners understand the Earth is not going anywhere  – it is us who need to figure out sustainability. – Saxon Holt) When young activists stormed the Congressional office of Nancy Pelosi last week demanding an environment ..read more

Dr. Camille Newton surveys her garden, the day after the Lilac Fire stopped at its perimeter.   Can landscaping protect a home from wildfire? Camille Newton, M.D., of Bonsall, CA, says yes. Dr. Newton started her six-year-old succulent garden mostly from cuttings. “It’s my go-to place after work,” she says, noting that gardening is a stress-reliever. The land’s nutrient-poor, decomposed-granite soil serves as a coarse, fast-draining substrate that she top-dresses with composted horse manure. (From another hobby: breeding Andalusians.) Irrigation is by overhead sprinklers. The land ..read more

Looking for great succulents for your garden? Plant aloes in well-draining soil and “they’ll soon become your favorite succulents,” says Bill Schnetz, one of Southern CA’s most sought-after landscape designers. Bill uses aloes of all sizes in mild-climate residential gardens. For a natural look, he suggests mixing one or two kinds with tough, drought-tolerant ornamental grasses and flowering perennials. For a contemporary look, he recommends planting similar aloes “in rows and geometric blocks.” Bill’s 14 Favorite Aloes I asked Bill if he’d share which aloes he uses most often in cli ..read more

I first suspected that agave snout-nosed weevil had arrived in my rural community north of San Diego when I noticed a collapsed Agave americana in a friend’s yard. I could barely believe it. She lives atop a rocky hill surrounded by acres and acres of chaparral. Either the weevil had arrived via infested nursery stock (on a different agave most likely, seeing as the dying plant was part of an old colony), or it had walked in. Yes, walked. It’s a flightless beetle. Not long afterwards, I saw telltale signs of snout weevil infestation a block from my home:&nb ..read more

Here in California, a spring garden’s most vivid blooms often are those of succulent ice plants. Aloes, bulbine and numerous arid-climate companions are bright and beautiful from March through mid-May. Increasing temps tend to put the kibosh on delicate spring flowers. If you live near the coast, you’ll enjoy a longer spring, but you may not get the sun and heat that makes many flowers blaze. Spring is the season of flowers, so get outside and enjoy them. Soon enough, come summer, those hot colors will fade and your garden will go back to being mainly shapes and textures—which of course su ..read more

From my YouTube video: “Sedum Chicks at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show” Becky Sell of Sedum Chicks plants cold-hardy succulents in repurposed wood-and-metal containers, hypertufa pots, wreaths and more. She grows the plants, too, where she lives in Turner, Oregon, near the Washington border. Becky’s compositions can overwinter outdoors in northerly climates (Zones 4 to 8), providing the potting medium drains well. Cold-hardy succulents such as stonecrops and hens-and-chicks will also grow in Zones 8 and 9 if protected from heat in excess of 85 degrees and scorching sun. Some varie ..read more