This is the gardening tool I use most often. It’s a Nisaku NJP650 Hori hori knife. It’s great for digging out weeds by the roots, digging small planting holes, and hand digging in general.
Author: Jill
Fine detail weeding tool
This is one of my new favorite gardening tool. People were talking about it in the California Native Plant Society Facebook group, so I decided to give it a try. It’s the Kusatori Ichiban Weeder from Hida Tool, and it’s great for getting weeds out of small spaces and cracks. I even got grass roots… Continue reading Fine detail weeding tool
Poppies and an artichoke
California bush sunflower
California bush sunflower (Encelia californica), also known as brittlebush and coastal bush sunflower, is in bloom now at Eaton Canyon. The sunflowers line both sides of the path from the parking lot to the wash crossing on the way to the waterfall. In late summer and fall, without any supplemental water in Eaton Canton, they… Continue reading California bush sunflower
Wildflower bloom information
Looking to go see wildflower blooms? The Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline has weekly information about local blooms recorded every Friday. Call 818-768-1802 x7 or visit the Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline website to listen from now through May. People are sharing photos and locations of wildflower blooms in the Facebook groups California Wildflower Report and California… Continue reading Wildflower bloom information
Half whiskey barrel gardening
I have a black sage (Salvia mellifera) that has been growing in a half whiskey barrel in my back yard for the past three years. To plant it, I used regular back yard soil, and I placed a two gallon olla in the barrel off-center to allow more space for the plant’s roots. I planted… Continue reading Half whiskey barrel gardening
California buckwheat
Waves of rust colored flowers in the landscape say Los Angeles summer and fall to me. These flowers are California buckwheat flowers (Eriogonum fasciculatum), and they are one of the big factors that give the Los Angeles landscape its sense of place. California buckwheat flowers start out pink and white in late winter and early… Continue reading California buckwheat
Chaparral Yucca
There aren’t a lot of straight lines in nature, so chaparral yucca really stands out in the landscape. Its leaves are straight and sharp and it looks like a firework. It looks great against California buckwheat, black sage, or rocks. Chaparral yucca stays green all year long. It lives five to ten years and the… Continue reading Chaparral Yucca