Bread and Roses

...rose to smell like in a pleasant dream. The Don Juan rose was introduced in 1958 by Italian rose breeder Michele Malandrone. It requires 6 to 8 hours of sunlight and grows to the manageable size of 10 to 12 feet. We’ve been more diligent in pruning in the past year to keep it tidy on the arbor. The main problem with roses, in my opinion, is that at some times of the year the leaves are just frankly, uninteresting. As I noted I’m no rose expert, so...

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The Great Water Conservation Grift

...rationing in cities. Here in Los Angeles we’ve all been asked to restrict watering to two days a week. There’s no doubt that we’d all benefit from ditching lawns in favor of native and low-water landscapes. However, I believe these calls for household water conservation are a kind of misdirection from what’s really going on. In short, we as individuals are being blamed for a water shortage that would be better attributed to a class of Central Val...

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Weekend Linkages: Towards a DIY Spring

...When public transportation took you to the mountains in SoCal. Image: Library of Congress. Jumping the Gap: Where Green Transphobia Leads DIY smart watering system Easy Way to Clean Gutters AI pizza ad Kim Gordon Denies Getting Bit By A Coyote At Whole Foods H.P. Lovecraft’s Completely Normal Obsession with Cats...

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Reader Favorite California Native: Ceanothus

...But getting it established can be tricky. The most common mistake is over-watering during the summer months and planting in overly fertile soil. We didn’t over-water, so how we manged to kill three of them is a Root Simple gardening mystery. That said, many of our neighbors have had no problems with Ceanothus. If you have a well drained sunny spot, it’s a good bet. I’m particularly fond of the short sprawling varieties such as Ceanothus thyrsiflo...

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