Pruning is one of the big tasks in January in California, but its now May and the first fruits of all the cutting back can be enjoyed. I have 72 roses in my garden and when I started I was very timid in pruning back at the end of the year – scared I would harm the plants. I have come to realize that its the opposite. When you don’t prune properly and you think you are being kind by not cutting the dead growth back then the plants do not grow. You do more harm. In January I cut all the roses back to about a foot high and thinned out the rose branches where they were crowded. This gives new grow ..read more

First bloom of roses have just begun in the garden. Abraham Darby RoseMorning lightDon Juan ..read more

January and February are the slowest months in Southern California for gardening. It’s lots of cutting back growth mulching and pruning the roses. Each week for the last three I have gone through 6-8 trash cans of green waste. Anyway nearly done. This year I have done a lot more mulching. I realized that while everything grows with water in socal it does need soil. So with a mix of kellogg mulch and my own I have hopefully been strengthening the soil. I had planted in December some freesias in a few pots to see how they would grow and these have started to spout. First, they emerged from the s ..read more

Dahlia’s are one of my favorite flowers. I plant mine all as roots (mainly in pots) and for a while nothing happens and then they grow really fast (with some fertilizer) and will do this each year. Dahlias come in all sizes shapes and colours. The following show the variety. colourintricate patternsThis pot has around 20 of these yellow flowering stemsThese are 7 inches wide and such a colour Some actual morning mist Spikey For those of you interested. Dahlias come from Mexico, Guatemala (National flower of Mexico) and are called Acoctili, but were named Dahlias after a Swedish botanist Anders ..read more

Pruning is one of the big tasks in January in California, but its now May and the first fruits of all the cutting back can be enjoyed. I have 72 roses in my garden and when I started I was very timid in pruning back at the end of the year – scared I would harm the plants. I have come to realize that its the opposite. When you don’t prune properly and you think you are being kind by not cutting the dead growth back then the plants do not grow. You do more harm. In January I cut all the roses back to about a foot high and thinned out the rose branches where they were crowded. This gives new grow ..read more

First bloom of roses have just begun in the garden. Abraham Darby RoseMorning lightDon Juan ..read more

Ceanothus, or California lilac are native plants of the west coast. Funnily they are very common in English gardens and less common in Californian gardens. This is the time of the year when they are at their best when they bloom in various blues and purples. This is my favorite and is covered in this dark blue/purple colour and has swarms of bees in it. I have 5 planted in the garden, three in the back and two in the front. In the front I have a Yankee point which is now about 6 foot high and 15 foot wide. It has a nice blue colour bloom and comes out last. Yankee point close up I also have a ..read more

The beginning of the year is always the busy time when things need to be prepared. At the end of this month I had a few small garden projects that I decided to complete. Firstly removing a four Abelia bush roots and extending my rose terrace. Secondly creating a small area to try and grow wildflowers and third to experiment with cuttings and seed planting. Digging out old bushes and then preparing the terrace I simply laid out a few rows of cement blocks (3 on the bottom and 5 on the top) either side of the bed. I then added a lot of compost that I have been collecting along with some bags of ..read more

When we moved to California and started planting roses the first rose came around St Patricks day (17th March). Well on Sunday (27th Feb) I had my first rose. Crazy! This week some interesting flowers come out. This bulb (above) appeared and has just started to flower. I have no idea what it is. Next week will try in the Glendora Nursery (a great place) whether they have any ideas. Will keep you posted. Crocus These little flowers also appeared and each night close up, before coming out in the day. Bearded Iris How about the color on these flowers. Iris seem to spread fairly easily and ar ..read more

Bulbs are one of my favorite parts of the garden, particularly in the first few months of the year. Planted under the surface of the soil you have no idea whether they are growing or not and then they are forgotten, particularly if planted in prior years. Until like a nice surprise they appear as if from no where and you remember you planted them. I often think of them in my work since each year they almost die and everything that is messy on the surface is cut away and then they come back in the new year refreshed and clean. Sometimes in organizations we need to do that sort of clean cut. I ..read more