Add a touch of the exotic in your garden with colorful and surprisingly versatile bromeliads.  Dozens, if not hundreds of kinds of bromeliads are offered in nurseries and at society sales. They range from the tiniest, clumping Tillandsia, the so-called “air plants” whose icy green, te

In other parts of the country, last summer’s garden is a memory and next spring’s garden is a dream. Here in Southern California, however, winter gardening is our best gardening. Really! While the air is cool, the days are short, and – hopefully – we get some rain, this is the time to

Care for Your Garden and Yourself in the Heat It’s hot. Back dripping, forehead wiping, ear perspiringly HOT. This morning’s weather report said temperatures are ten degrees above normal this week, and unusually humid too. So how can you help your garden handle the heat? First, take c

There aren’t many waterwise summer blooming bulbs for Southern California’s hot and dry climate.  Most waterwise bulbs bloom in spring here, then go dormant.  But there are a few that bloom in summer with a very little irrigation, and an extraordinary few that bloom with no irri

Backyard fruit is the talk of the town right now – or maybe talk of the garden. Gardeners are worried about trees that have yet to leaf out or bloom, about grapes that don’t seem to be developing, about leaves that look misshapen, and more. Most of these concerns are a lot to do about

There’s no better way to give your garden a sense of place than by using native plants. Still, it can be challenging to decide what is truly native, and figuring out how to use those plants in a garden setting, rather than a restoration. Restorations essentially recreate the plant com

A number of years ago, I was touring gardens in Shady Canyon, then a brand new development of grand homes in Irvine, California. The homes wound up and down the side of a hill – each property with a gorgeous view. As we stood in the backyard of one home under construction, I looked do

— Nan Sterman Plumeria are fragrant, flowering shrubs that are easy to grow in frost-free, water-wise gardens. Most people associate Plumeria with Hawaii but that’s not their native homeland. Where is their native habitat? Watch our show, Intoxicating Plumeria to find out.

— Nan Sterman Have you noticed your plants wilting in the heat? It’s been so oppressively hot that droopy leaves are everywhere. Here’s what you need to know about plants that wilt: if they look droopy at the end of the day, don’t worry. If they look droopy first thing in the mo

–Nan Sterman In these hot days of summer, we take pleasure in watering vegetable gardens and fruit trees but we don’t often think about watering pines, liquidambar, magnolia, floss silk, and all the other trees that grow so well in our climate. Once tree roots are deep in the ea