Okay, maybe not tons, but at least 50 or 60 lbs. of Kiwis, is my best guess at this point. Although in past years, I have grumbled and griped a lot about the lack of pollination on my Kiwi vines, this year we have a bumper crop, and now that we have had a few cold snaps, it is time to begin harvesting. If I had to guess, I would say there are at least 500 kiwis on the female…
The past couple of years I have been received lots of questions via email regarding how to prune Bababerry plants, a variety of everbearing raspberry that grows well in Southern California and other low chill – warm climates. Managing Baba raspberries is much the same as any other everbearing or fall bearing raspberry variety. Most folks are able to pick fruit the first year they buy and plant an everbearing raspberry, including Baba. That is not the case on summer bearing…
Happy New Year! Living in Southern California, we hardly get a break in the growing season, and Mid Winter often brings out some of first of the cool season blooms to my garden. One of my brand new, planted in September, reblooming irises sent up a spike just before Christmas and bloomed today. I was so tickled and surprised to have it bloom already that I had to share my delight. Irises are some of my favorite perennials. This red spotted…
Stapelia gigantea is a bizarre garden surprise every fall. The succulent plant has balloon shaped flower buds that grow and spill all over the porch every year just as October begins. Once the flowers begin to slowly unfurl, hairs appear on the star shaped flower’s petals. The flowers are the size of plate, about 10 inches across and actually pretty cool looking. Right now the first ones are just beginning to open. So what makes Stapelia gigantea so wicked? Its common…
* Iris Virus = A burning desire to learn everything there is about growing and caring for iris plants. A person with an iris virus reads tons of iris publications and surfs all of the known iris society web sites. The person with the virus may have just started growing irises, be an avid collector, or be an established grower/ hybridizer of irises. For me, it all started back in 1995, when a next door neighbor gave me two rhizomes…
I had already planted the backyard gardens before we got our first dog back in 2000. Shortly after getting her, she began to drive me nuts with her incessant digging, trampling of tender plants, laying on others, and eating whatever she could reach off the tomatoes, berry bushes, and fruit trees. We loved that big sweet black Labrador, so of course she wasn’t going anywhere, but I also wanted my garden to thrive. I was at my wits end. Something…
I actually didn’t get as many new edible plants and trees this winter or spring as I have in past years, but I still probably got more than I really have room for. Basically, my small urban backyard is getting too full and the family isn’t ready to give up the front yard lawn yet. Since many of the neighbors on the block are changing over their lawns in the city’s Lawn to Garden program, our front yard has become…
Bantam Cochins are one of the best breeds of chickens for small urban backyards, mainly because they are generally quiet, curious, very friendly, easy to handle, kids like their small size and docile nature, they don’t fly like other bantams do, and they do well with confinement to a small coop or tractor. Some people are reticent to keep them as part of their flock because they are also known for going broody often, just like Silkies. Well, the part…
By Southern California gardening standards, we are already half way through Spring, and as usual, the Hanbury edible landscape and ornamental garden continues to evolve. Every winter and Spring I change out things that under performed or plant new varieties of things I never tried before. For last couple of months I have kept pretty busy with chores in the garden, the kid’s activities, local plant shopping, two landscape designs for others, and with home improvement projects around the house. …
Am I imagining it or are edible plants at the nurseries going way up in price due to the increased popularity of backyard food gardening, sustainability, and homesteading? I was running errands this morning, and one of them took me past a Garden Center; it’s a chain, but I won’t name names. I love browsing at new plant selections and I am in process of helping a friend with a backyard garden design that includes some fruit trees, so…