Category Archives: Gardening

Gardening at home with organic practices in my intensively planted fruit orchard, vegetable gardens and California native plants garden.

Pink Peony

Cliche, I know, but it really was love at first sight. Caught in the spell of Paeonia’s delicate beauty, I let down my guard and turned my back on the gardening standards I have strictly adhered to for nearly three years: plant only those specimens that are hardy, drought-tolerant and wildlife friendly (food plants being...

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Garden Blooms, Hummingbirds and Beneficial Insects

Typically, Wednesdays are wordless. But today I just can’t keep my fingers still; they are itching to write about my surprising, amazing and blissful couple of days in the garden. Monday morning began with the typical watering routine. But task time turned to sweet past time when an Anna’s Hummingbird decided to take a mist...

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Wordless Wednesday: Salvia clevelandii after the Rain

Amber GalushaAlways exploring, creating and cultivating, and sharing what I observe along the way. To visit my professional site, click here.More Posts – Website

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Wordless Wednesday: Lovely Flowers

Amber GalushaAlways exploring, creating and cultivating, and sharing what I observe along the way. To visit my professional site, click here.More Posts – Website

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Dutchman’s Pipe: Perfectly Happy in the Home Garden

Dangling from chartreuse vines, the  flowers of Dutchmans’s Pipe, or Aristolochia californica, serve as a reminder of Nature’s unique gifts. As the sun sinks lower toward the horizon, shining its rays through the delicate orchid-like flowers, burgundy veins that look very much like those under our skin, stand out against the antique-yellow petals, creating a lantern-like...

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Lemons, Lemons, Who’s Got Lemons…

“I think Mother Nature hates us,” grumbled my son as he dropped one more lemon into the metal bucket. He had already sustained several fiery pokes from the Meyer lemon tree, and by the thirty-third puncture, he had had enough. It took six hands, three pairs of clippers and three strong wills to brave the...

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Friends, Fun and Live Wall Art

A month or so ago my fellow knitters threw a birthday party for me. Betsy brought a delightful cheese plate, Shannon made a to-die-for vegetarian moussaka, Angie made a fresh garden salad, Lisa provided gourmet bread and Karen baked a decadent Texas sheet cake. As we sat in front of the fireplace, eating and chatting,...

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Citrus Harvest: Mandarins, Buddah’s Hand and a Surprising Birdlike Friend

The sun has been shining and daytime temperatures have been in the low 60s. However, nightly temps have been dropping into the low 20s with last night bringing frost. Taking a risk, I’ve decided to leave the Meyer lemons on the trees in hopes they will ripen (and sweeten) a bit more. I wouldn’t dare...

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Weekend wish: visit with your local praying mantis

While clipping the oleanders this past weekend, I disturbed a baby praying mantis. Startled, he quickly jumped onto my arm and said, “Hello.” He then went on to say how much he appreciated my refraining from spraying chemicals in the garden. Had I sprayed, not only would I have killed the aphids, his food source,...

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Buddha’s Hand, aka Long Duck Dong in my Garden

It may look like the Grinch flipping you the bird or like the spawn of a lemon that did the naughty with a squid, but it is a citron: Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis or Buddha’s Hand. Each lumpy finger segment is a fruit that can be used for jam, candy, or air freshener. If you...

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