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Is this legal?
A morning glory vine invasion
I have been fighting a morning glory vine invasion in my garden for about 10 years now. Can’t say I wasn’t warned…it took about 3 years for my morning glory to take hold. I had almost forgotten about it. Then whoosh.….I had a monster on my hands. I’ve been cutting back and battling this beast for so long, I’ve lost faith. Then I noticed the hybrid leucadendron/morning glory in my garden today and I’m thinking, why not? Am I so wrong?
On another front, everyone who knows me can see I’m not an obsessive gardener. I’m a low — no maintenance type and my gardener of 19 years is a mow-go-blow kind of guy (although he’s capable of greatness — all I have to do is ask.) One of my new favorites is white lantana. I have a black hole in my garden that has gobbled up plant after plant. It’s an indecipherable area, a little bit of everything: dry, wet, dark, light. That’s where the garden workhorse, white lantana, has rescued me. It“s great in dark corners — day and night it attracts the eye. Problematic in the wrong place (what isn’t ?), lantana is bombproof in the right situation. Not hard to find in SoCal nurseries, once established it can be very drought tolerant. And hummingbirds and butterflies find it delicious.
- Lantana saves the day!
- Oct 23 & 24, 9 am-4 pm, Harvest Festival and Plant Sale, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge
See Botanical gardens, foundations and nonprofits for more information on the above organization
PacHort Symposium Wrap up
The Gamble House in Pasadena
The weekend of September 23 — 26 was a gardener’s dream at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Garden geeks galore gathered to see, learn and do for 4 days at the PacHort symposium: Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies VIII. Everything was beautifully orchestrated under the watchful eye of Susi Torre-Bueno of the Pacific Horticulture Society. On Thursday I enjoyed an all day bus tour in the Pasadena area encompassing architecture and gardens. Highlights included the Gamble House (www.gamblehouse.org), a Lloyd Wright house, a beautifully restored Spanish, a mid-century modern in the hills and a delicious catered lunch under the trees. Friday, Saturday and Sunday included fun and informative lectures in the morning and air conditioned bus tours in the afternoons of 3 gardens ( We were all thankful for the a/c as the temperature hovered in the low 100’s all weekend). Some of the lecture topics: Losing your lawn, Sustainable wildlife gardening and Sustainable gardening. Each participant recieved a handy brochure with notes on the gardens, lectures and lecturers, plant lists and garden designers.
A win — win situation!
Matilija poppy, a California native, is available at the VA native nursery.
There is a new native plant nursery in West Los Angeles. As recently reported in my local newspaper, the Palisadian-Post, it is operated in conjunction with the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. The nursery is on the campus of the Veterans Administration complex in West Los Angeles near the 405 Freeway and Wilshire Blvd. The manager, Katarina Eriksson, will be training the vets in the propogation, care and maintenance of California native plants. The training will offer them the opportunity to continue in this field once they leave the VA. The nursery will initially be stocked with 10,000 plants. They will also be selling roses and cymbidiums left over from a prior program. Palisadian-Post writer Sue Pascoe writes “Adjacent to the program is the first animal therapy program on VA grounds in North America. Rescued exotic birds are cared for by veterans in a mutual therapy program, which involves vets feeding, talking and working with the colorful, noisy avians.” Bottom line: West Los Angeles gardeners don’t have to drive as far to find native plants, while contributing to a very worthwhile program. Who wouldn’t want to do that!
The nursery is located at Constitution Avenue where it intersects with Sepulveda Blvd, just north of Wilshire Blvd and next to the 405 freeway. Hours: opened on weekends, Wednsdays to Sundays 9am to 5pm. The manager, Katarina Eriksson, can be reached by email at keriksson@rsabg.org.
Papaya Tree Nursery reveals its secrets
Alex and his caper berry tree
If you go visit Alex, owner of Papaya Tree Nursery in Granada Hills, plan to be transported into his magical kingdom, aka his back yard! Nothing is as it seems in his realm; there is the mango tree with 7 different varieties grafted onto it, the banana cluster with the dove nest on top…not to be picked until the babies were gone…best bananas I ever had! He has special cherry trees that bear fruit in warm climates (very rare) and and caper berry trees for the purist who must pickle their own! Alex actually does a lot of business with chefs and cooks. He is an expert on grafting and pruning. He can also design a scented garden. All this knowledge and the nursery comes from his father, an engineer who started the enterprise 26 years ago. He is obviously a favorite with the California Rare Fruit Growers — LA chapter. And the SoCal Cherimoya Society. Oh, you never heard of them? What about the East Indian curry leaf tree.….….Oh, and you could have a nice little meal at his nursery, just sampling the fruit.
Best bananas ever — can you see the dove nest on top?
Papaya Tree Nursery (www.papayatreenursery.com) 12422 El Oro Way, Granada Hills, CA 91344 (818) 363‑3680 (always call first), 7 days a week, 8am to 6pm, accepts Visa and Mastercard.
