Life Style & Travel

It may not seem like the middle of winter is a good time for much gardening, but now that any unsold Christmas trees have been removed from nurseries, bare roots plants are moving in. They should be available through the rest of winter, until warming spring weather prompts bloom and emergence of new foliage.As the name implies, 'bare root'...

UNITED STATES—Only months after the horrific massacre in a Colorado movie theatre, the unthinkable has happened again with a deranged gunman committing mass murder. This time, the victims include an entire kindergarten class and school personnel in Connecticut. Despite the outpouring of support to survivors and their loved ones from communities throughout the country, there is no way to relieve...

UNITED STATES—The vast orchards of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys are there for a reason. California is one of the best places in the world to grow fruit trees. However, whether they are in vast orchards or compact urban gardens, even the happiest and healthiest of fruit trees need considerable and specialized attention. Most of the classic deciduous fruit...

The vast orchards of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys are there for a reason. California is one of the best place in the world to grow fruit trees. However, whether they are in vast orchards or compact urban gardens, even the happiest and healthiest of fruit trees need considerable and specialized attention. Most of the classic deciduous fruit trees...

LOS ANGELES—Early planning is always important when it comes to major tasks. Whether it’s about buying a car or simply fixing your deck, planning is always essential in order to avoid problems later.  And it’s no different when it comes to buying your dream home or simply your first one. It’s all about planning. Thinking ahead and using common sense...

My rhubarb really has been around a while! My father's father's father and mother grew it quite some time ago, and shared some shoots of it with my father. He then shared it with my maternal grandmother, who shared it with her mother, another of my great grandmothers, who thought it was something really exotic. Along the way, it...

Lily of the Nile is so easy to propagate by division of congested old plants that not many of us bother to grow it from seed. No one wants to leave the prominent but less than appealing seed pods out in the garden long enough to turn brown and ripen after the blue or white flowers are gone anyway....

Most people share a similar vision for the perfect Christmas. Typical ingredients include devoted family members lovingly exchanging gifts, laughs and conversations, while the young children squeal with delight when opening their presents. Unfortunately, divorced parents are usually court ordered to share visitation rights over Christmas. As a result, each parent misses the joy of being with their children...

Hibiscus, bougainvilleas, philodendrons and so many of the tropical and subtropical plants that we can enjoy in our gardens can only survive through winter in greenhouses in most other climates in America. Many of our tropical houseplants though, seem to be the same everywhere. Houseplants are generally grown in our homes not because they can not survive in our...

There are not many Californians of my generation who do not remember growing avocado trees from seeds when we were kids. We simply impaled the big seeds around the middle with three evenly spaced toothpicks to suspend them from the rims of Dixie cups partly full of water. If just the bottoms of these seeds remained properly submerged, they...