Let me help you find a nursery in the Southern California & Los Angeles areas.
Take a closer look.…..
Fantastic fresh arrangements graced the lobby of our hotel in Cairo on my recent trip to Egypt. Upon closer inspection I realized the long stemmed roses were interspersed with long stemmed ornamental kale — something I had never seen done before. Really creative, and thought provoking.….I wonder what other ways there are to use kale? I can definitely see using pink or red roses instead of white.
Ornamental kale (Brassica Oleracea) is a fall and winter blooming form of cabbage in which central leaves do not form a head. Closer to wild cabbage than the type in the supermarket, it is edible but mostly used decoratively as the growers use pesticides since ornamental kale is not rated for human consumption. Wondering how to get such long stems, I searched the Internet. Not surprisingly, Sunset Magazine’s wonderful Fresh Dirt blog offered this advice on September 29, 2009: Plant (the ornamental kale) about 6″ apart. After they reach 6″ tall, prune off the lower leaves until each plant gets that long stemmed, flower at the top look.
On the Web:
Saturday, 12⁄4
Gardening in the Shade: From Trade-offs to Pay-offs /1:00 — 3:00 pm /a class with horticulturist Carol Bornstein
Theodore Payne Foundation
10459 Tuxford Street
Sun Valley, CA 91352
818−768−1802
Fee $30.00; pre-registration required
Egypt: Musings on an Ancient Land
On the Nile River at Aswan, Egypt
It’s 4 in the morning on my first night back from my trip to Egypt — can’t sleep so I may as well write. What a splendid, disturbing place Egypt is. It’s indescribably different from the USA — like being on another planet. I was privileged to be there for 2 weeks with my brother, his wife and our family friend. We covered Alexandria to Abu Simbel — that would be Lower Egypt in the North to Upper Egypt in the South (I know it sounds wrong, has to do with the Nile). I’m always looking for the garden angles when I travel but in this arid land they were few and far between — the desert and its dust always looms in the background. May be a portent of things to come in SoCal. I’ve wanted to go to Egypt for as long as I can remember but had no idea what it would be like. Lovers of art, architecture and history will adore it — lovers of human and animal rights will not. I am both, and had some difficulty on the trip. I’m so glad I went, though, and would recommend it to most travelers — the Egyptian people are wonderful. Just be prepared that it is not easy, but the good news is it will be worth it.
For more on the definition of Upper and Lower Egypt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_and_Lower_Egypt
And on the Temple Complex at Karnak: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak
A dog naps at the Great Temple Complex near Luxor
On the web:
Saturday, November 20: 9:00 am-12:00 pm
Eyes on the Harvest: part II : Eat the Yard! Organic Edible Gardening series, with Jonathan Davis, ethnobotanist, gardener, and passionate foodie
1900 Associated Rd.
Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 278‑8347
Fee $25.00; pre-registration required
Saturday, November 20: 10:00 am-12:30 pm
The Harvest Table and Wreath Workshop: featuring a culinary demonstration, sample menu tasting, and wreath construction
Rancho Los Alamitos
6400 Bixby Hill Road
Long Beach, CA 90815
562−431−3541
Fee $55.00; pre-registration required
Saturday, November 20, 2010
City Farmers Nursery/San Diego Founders Day
If you need an extra excuse to visit, swing by this Saturday for Founders Day! Bill started City Farmers Nursery on October 20th, 1972 – making this year our 38th Anniversary!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
WildWingsLA in Sherman Oaks
WildWingsLA is leading a fall morning bird walk @ the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area from 8 am — 10 am. For more info and to RSVP: WildwingsLA@gmail.com.
For SoCal event information: www.pacifichorticulture.org/calendar/SoCal/
Rainbow Eucalyptus
The bark on the Rainbow Eucalyptus
I stumbled on the Rainbow Eucalyptus(Eucalyptus Deglupta) as I was searching for something gardening related on the Internet — I say “something” because I immediately forgot what it was when I saw this beautiful tree. I actually thought I was hallucinating or someone was playing tricks.…but this unforgettable art of Mother Nature does exist. Indigenous to the Phillippines, the Rainbow Eucalyptus is commonly found in New Guinea, New Britain and Sulawesi. The only eucalyptus tree found naturally in North America, its pulpwood is used commercially to make paper. These trees will eventually exceed 100 feet tall!
Each year patches of the bark are shed at different times, exposing bright inner green bark. As the bark matures it slowly turns blue, then orange, purple and maroon. The tree does best in tropical areas in the US such as Florida, although they can thrive in SoCal; it loves a low lying area such as the banks of a lake where its roots can reach the water. They have one at the LA Arboretum.
I located one company that grows and ships this tree: www.eucalyptusdeglupta.com. They are very careful about how they pack and ship it.
The Evolution of a Website
Lily pads at the Getty Villa, March 7, 2010 photo by Susan Hirsch
It occurred to me the other day that some of you might be interested in the evolution of my website. Having enjoyed gardening for many years, I had two frustrations: first with locating nurseries in the sprawling city of Los Angeles, and secondly with seeing nurseries closing. Anyone who has done a search for nurseries will empathize with the former; if you’ve seen a favorite nursery close you will relate to the latter. My primary goal was to build a website to help the public let their fingers do the walking when looking for a new nursery or plant, thereby making it easier to patronize and support them as well.
The hardest thing for the layperson who needs to design a website is finding someone to help. I searched online and when I saw something I liked, I contacted the designer. Prices ranged from 300.00 to 5000.00 and up. Socalnurseryplants.com is somewhat unique in that it combines a permanent database for the nurseries and a blog using the WordPress platform. Many designers would or could not tackle it until I was fortunate enough to find Sketchpad Publications. In talking to the owners, Larry and Norma Holt, I felt I should take the plunge and put down the deposit. That gave me a deadline, forcing me to start assembling my database by visiting nurseries to take notes and photographs; to date I have been to 90% of those on my website and will eventually get to every single one. I used my daughter’s 10 year old Kodak digital camera and got excellent pictures. It was amazing what can be captured on camera when you start really looking.
Next was the process of learning WordPress. It wasn’t hard with Norma and Larry’s help. Oh, and I also got a refurbished Apple laptop, switching from a PC. That has proved to be a great move.
Now I’m having so much fun with this project, I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s constantly evolving since my first post in September, 2009. I have had about half a million viewers, and been profiled in the Los Angeles Times and Sunset Magazine online editions. The best part is learning something new everyday –that part is the fountain of youth!
