Piet Oudolf’s Enhanced Nature

May 13, 2013

...the overall design. The fruit in the fruitcake are what he calls “primary” plants, “high-impact plants chosen for strong color or structure.” Like the fruit in the fruitcake primary plants repeat in clumps throughout the overall design. He suggests a 70% matrix plant to 30% primary plant ratio. Lastly, Oudolf introduces “scatter” plants, sometimes by literally scattering seeds that will pop up seasonally and introduce spontaneity and wildness. Oud...

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Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Mr. Homegrown

July 1, 2009

Herbal Medicine, Herbs

10 Comments

...with the treacherous sorcerer Circe. It’s a useful, striking and beautiful plant. It’s also classified as an invasive. The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA), a consortium of ten federal government agencies and 260 mostly non-profit organizations, has Verbascum thapsus in its cross hairs. How the non-profit “cooperators”, as the PCA terms the many native plant organizations in the PCA consortium, can get behind a program that suggests spraying glyp...

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Get Off Your Ass and Plant a Survival Garden!

Mr. Homegrown

July 14, 2006

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

...e table. In general, remember that winter here is the best time for most crops with the summer reserved for stuff that can take the heat like tomatoes and basil. So get out there and plant your own food and remember our rule here around the Homegrown Evolution homestead: if you gotta water it you gotta be able to eat it....

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A Prickly Situation

Mr. Homegrown

July 17, 2006

Food, Foraging

...e here in Los Angeles. Propagate the plant by cutting off a leaf and sticking it in the ground – it’s simple – no fuss, no pesticides, no watering once established. And note that not all prickly pear varieties produce edible fruit so when you look for cuttings seek out plants that are productive and tasty. It’s the ideal plant for what we call “pirate” gardening, the act of taking over a vacant lot or otherwise abandoned public or semi-public spac...

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Our new front yard: history

Mrs. Homegrown

November 11, 2015

Back to the Garden, front yard series, Garden Design, Gardening

19 Comments

...up on basic vocabulary: terms like root ball and perennial and massing. We planted tough, shrubby plants like lavender and Mexican sage and lantana. We planted these around a couple of young prickly pear cactus (Ficus indica) already establishing on the slope. The workers who dug out our foundation preserved a few pads from a plant torn out during construction, and replanted them when they left. I think they knew the prickly pear is a tasty, usefu...

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