Succulent: Crassula “Gollum”

This lovely plant, Crassula “Gollum” – a nod to Tolkein’s fictional character – is known by so many other names: Crassula argentea “Hobbit,” Crassula argentea “Coral,” Crassula portulacea, Living Coral Plant, Trumpet Jade, Finger Jade, and probably many others. A succulent by any other name…! It has an other-worldly beauty to it, with suction cup-like [...]

More Seeds in My Container Garden!

Earlier this afternoon, I planted more vegetable seeds in my container garden. I planted summer squash (yellow and green) and snow pea seeds. As each season passes, I have a better idea of what vegetables (and fruits) that I enjoy and actually consume and (hopefully) plant enough to meet my needs. If all seeds sprout, within a few months, [...]

Tomatoes From Side Shoot!

I am happy to report that the tomato side shoot or tomato sucker that I was able to propagate into its own independent plant is now fruiting! This is really exciting! The tomatoes and the overall plant look very healthy and getting larger each day. Fresh sun-ripened tomatoes from your own vine are the perfect way to [...]

Christian Dior Rose!

This rose has made its splendid debut in my garden! It was spared from the heat from the past several days out here, and for that, I am grateful. The Christian Dior rose is a hybrid tea rose with a mild sweet fragrance. To me, this flower looks flawless. A true vision of red loveliness!

Update: Dragon Trees from Cuttings!

Last month, I had to make the painful decision to trim a few branches off of my dragon tree (also known as a drago tree and Dracaena draco). As mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to see if I could propagate new drago trees from these cuttings. So far, the cuttings, in pots, appear to [...]

Planting More Fruit and Vegetable Seeds

I’m enjoying the fruits (and vegetables!) of my labor, but I know that my plants will eventually be exhausted and will stop producing the fruits vegetables that I love, probably months from now. In anticipation of that, earlier this evening, I planted more seeds in fresh containers: tri-color bush beans, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and, in a fun [...]

Sunburned Rose Petals

Petals of your rose plants can burn up, or just dry up like potpourri during hot days. These flowers have seen better days! Clockwise, from left to right are City of San Francisco rose, Janice Kellogg rose, and Granada rose. The first and third roses have scorched edges and actually have an interesting artistic value to them, so I’m [...]

Support Your Non-Climber Roses

My pruning calendar or schedule has me doing my heavy rose pruning in January, followed by a lighter pruning in August, to stimulate a longer flowering season. However, with regard to my shrub (non-climber) roses, despite following the advice from experts to prune my rose plants to have a vase shape, inevitably, I find that some [...]

Deadheading Roses

One of the reasons I had stayed away from planting roses in my garden was the upkeep. It’s true that they need to be watered and fed with rose food, but they also need to be deadheaded. What’s deadheading? It simply means to remove dead flowers. By removing dead flowers, with my sharp garden shears, from [...]

Painted Lady Scarlet Runner Bean

Also known as Phaseolus coccineus, this productive bean plant produces attractive deep orange-red flowers, which I hope that hummingbirds will find attractive. The beans are tasty also! On the photo to the left, the tomato cage is actually not in any container. Early in the year, I let it lean against the wall until I needed [...]