Savillum
For my birthday, my bestie got me a potted mum plant. It had flowers on it and it was cute. The store that potted it used really bad soil that did not keep moisture well at all (dried out very quickly) and between the time my friend bought the mum and gave it to me […]
This is the first time I have ever planted marigolds. In the past, I put all my focus into vegetables. However, this year I changed my tune and I have loved putting marigolds in most of our raised beds. Marigolds are great companions to vegetables because they bring bees and other goodness. I am glad […]
African Spear is the common name for Sansevieria Cylindrica. It is also known as the snake plant (its leaves look like snakes). This is a succulent plant that requires little water and also less sunlight than other succulents do. I bought it in a tiny little pot. Today, I pulled it out after it had […]
We planted a tree in our back yard that is four varieties of cherry grafted as one tree. This allows the tree to be pollinated more successfully. It is blooming now. The fruit comes in green and often hidden among the leaves. Then, it will gain its color. How I Keep Bugs and Birds Away […]
When it rains a lot in one week or when a plant some decay, mushrooms appear in our garden. Mushrooms often appear in our day lilies because day lilies have a natural cycle of a part of the plant dying and a new part of the plant coming up the next season. This season, however, […]
One day I was weeding our path from the front gate to the back gate. We made this path with crushed sand. It’s finer than decomposed granite. I’ve noticed that it’s similar enough to a litter box that all the neighborhood cats use it as their luxury bathroom. But I digress. Weeds also grow in […]
Bergenia flowers are some of my favorites when it comes to flowers. The color is a vibrant magenta. The leaves of an Bergenia plant are much greater in size than the flowering stem that emerges. Bergenia leaves are large all year round. In the winter, they turn a dark reddish brown. The lower leaves die […]
Once it had started raining, and the holiday season had started, I ignored my succulents for several weeks. I don’t have to worry about them drying up in the hot summer sun, and they don’t get overwatered by the rain, being under the eaves. Water and humidity blow their way and they do well by […]
One of my favorite plants to incorporate into landscaping is Dragon’s Blood. My sister-in-law taught me about this plant and she helped plant several in our landscaping. It works as a ground cover, but you can’t walk on it. It’s decorative. Dragon’s Blood is the common name for sedum spurium, which is misleading because it’s […]
I have a pot that hosts a low-profile succulent called SunSparkler Sedum, specifically the Lime Zinger. The SunSparkler is a variety in the Sedum genus, which is part of the Crassulaceae family. It is hardy and meant to be planted outside where it can spread. I live in Zone 9, so the winters here are […]
I first learned about the Baby Toes succulent at Trader Joe’s! I just hadn’t seen this variety of succulent at any nurseries nearby. Baby Toes is a succulent that looks like little toes. Baby Toes is the common name for Fenestraria Rhopalophylla. Succulents and Sunshine teaches, “This ‘window-leaf’ succulent grows tubes instead of rosettes, with […]
Guest post by Alecca Jackson We have a drey outside our bedroom window. It housed a small mother and her new baby squirrel when we first moved in. Each year more dreys appear (and the coir and hay in our hanging plants mysteriously disappear). What started as just “Mr. Squirrel” became “Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel” […]
A few years ago, I acquired a deltoid-leaved dewplant, the common name for oscularia deltoides. It is so named because of the triangular, or really pyramidal, leaves that it has (deltoid being the name of that pyramidal shape). This succulent grows best outside and can weather low and high temperatures if cared for appropriately. It […]
“Little Pickles” is the common name for Othonna capensis. It is a succulent in the Asteraceae family (genus Othonna). The leaves (which are fleshy) look like tiny pickles and it ranges in color (green to pink to purple) based on the environment. I grow this outside in a pot right against my house so the […]
Last year, I grew a bean pole variety called Trionfo Violetto, or “purple triumph.” It is a variety whose bean is solid purple and very long (some as long as a typical new #2 pencil, which is 7 inches). The plant looks lovely with its contrasting purple and green elements, such as the purple beans […]
I’ve had this lemongrass plant for over a year. It has been through one winter in the garage and I am surprised it survived. Lemongrass love warm weather. Recently, I decided to cut the lemongrass to enjoy its beautiful smell in the house. I have smelled the plant and it smells great. So I cut […]
I got some fresh figs from family recently. They keep their figs in egg cartons to keep them from getting squished. I used gluten-free Bisquick and the biscuit recipe on the box to make fig biscuits. I scraped the insides of a dozen figs and mixed in a few tablespoons of brown sugar and then […]
This summer, someone in my family got poison oak on his clothes and without knowing it, he transferred some of the oil from the plant to his body and developed a rash. We tried cheaper alternatives that just weren’t working well, and when you have that sort of itch and pain, you need something that […]
One thing I am adamant about is not being active outside while the air quality is unhealthy. Lately in Northern California we have had some bad air quality across all tiers, yes even hazardous (the distinctions are excellent, good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous). The Dixie Fire is north of […]
Our neighbor started New Zealand tomatoes from seeds and gave me one seedling just a few inches tall. I had tried to grow tomatoes from seed this year, but they got too hot in the sun one day and didn’t survive. I still have a lot to learn about starting tomatoes. All other plants seem […]
Savillum