How could such a wonderful succulent with such gorgeous flowers have a name like Navel Wort? And its alternate name, which I won't mention here as it includes the name of a very non-kosher animal, isn't any better! That said, I just wanted to share with you my blooming succulent, as with all the trendy succulent gardening which seems to be going on, I haven't seen much mention of flowering succulents, when in fact many do! And even more interesting, one often can't even identify a mystery succulent until it flowers, showing its true self. This year this pot only produced one stalk of flowers for some reason, and as…

  This morning I stepped outside and was welcomed by this stunning Red Canna flower, wow, right? I had planned to write something about creativity and the connection to gardening and appreciating the natural beauty in the world around us, but my time is running out. What I really want to say is my life just wouldn't be the same if I weren't surrounded by pots of living, breathing and sometimes blooming plants, and it somehow compensates for the fact that I'm not living on that huge plot of land with endless fields and pastures……truthfully where would I find the time for that in any case? Red Canna, as well…

I'll admit, before I became a busy mom with a huge container garden much of which lines a public staircase and courtyard next to our hillside home, I wasn't exactly a fan of geraniums. I'm not sure why exactly but it may go back to a childhood memory of smelling some geraniums on the walk to school and discovering their pungent smell, or it may stem from some idea I picked up somewhere that geraniums are just way too commonplace for the true garden lover. Today I'm happy to say that I have changed my stance altogether, and I highly recommend geraniums for the beginner or seasoned gardener. So using…

If you have a container garden and live anywhere where you see Bougainvilleas growing (sorry New Yorkers, not you, but Californians yes!) then you absolutely must add this gorgeous plant to your garden! Bougainvillieas do well in containers, not nearly as well as in the ground of course, but well enough to give you gorgeous blooms that you see here, all summer long. And another tip that is good to know, if you live in a zone that gets frost and an occassional snow (like where I live) there are some strains of Bougainvillea that are hardier than others. Namely the color you see here is the one that is…

Aren't these petunias spilling over this window box just gorgeous? There is nothing quite as lovely as beautiful flowers spilling out of window box type containers, and this little wall top container garden always looks amazing, so I just had to share it with you once again. Of course the location on the balcony of an old stone home is stunning in itself, but truthfully a great little container garden full of a variety of plants and flowers looks amazing anywhere. So don't be tempted to say "my house will never look like that!" And just by the way, yesterday I spotted the secret to this little garden's success: a…