Is it really already that time of year for the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society Winter Show and Sale? What is even more hard for me to believe is that the last time I did a post on the winter show was back in 2014. Three years ago! I guess it is true that time flies when…
A closeup view of a Southern California rainy day garden
A rainy day garden: often a curse in the tropics, but a rare treat in Southern California. I can honestly tell you that I have never said, “Oh, darn. It’s going to rain” while I have had my garden here in Vista, California. If you do not live in a low-rainfall Mediterranean climate, you can not really understand why rain…
Succulent Garden Party at the Rick Bjorklund and Greg Starr residence
Not long ago I decided to join the San Diego Horticultural Society (SDHS). I have been told by a few that it provides a great opportunity to view some amazing gardens and meet some interesting people from the world of plants. The first garden I would tour with the SDHS turned out to be a doozy. Dubbed…
The exceptional garden of Bob De Jong
Welcome to the new year. Welcome to Bob’s garden. Last year I wrote a post about aloes, with a spotlight on hybrids. Those plants were all from the exceptional garden of Bob De Jong. That post received a lot of positive feedback and came with many private requests to see more. Wanting to oblige, I have waited…
Photo 120: Digital photography class final project
A huge part of running a garden blog is the photography. Some of my favorite garden blogs that I frequent feature great photography, and it is a key reason why I visit them so often. Over the last few years of running Married to Plants, I have grown quite a bit as a writer. While my…
A private Johannesburg Encephalartos cycad garden
I have been holding on to this post for over a year now. Figured it was about time that I showed readers the most impressive Encephalartos cycad collection I have seen in a private garden. Of course it had to be in South Africa, the land of Encephalartos. This garden I am about to show is only…
Agave albopilosa, Aloe pearsonii and other sneak-in plantings
“Sneak-in” plantings? That is a term I use for any placement of a small plant into an unusual or random part of your garden. A place where most plants would fail or where one wouldn’t expect to see a plant. It is in these areas I like to place smaller-growing rare plants. I find that these types of plantings…
Agave propagation from bulbils.
There are three ways your average gardener can propagate an agave. It can be grown from seed, removed as a pup or sucker, or it can be done from pulling off bulbils (also called plantlets). Seed takes too long and in some cases you might not even end up with the same plant once grown up. Suckers are…