Anawalt Gardening & Tool Tips
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Among its many virtues, borage is a companion plant that repels garden pests and attracts natural pollinators like bees and butterflies.
This hardy plant is more than a pretty flower — it’s a nutritional powerhouse.
Hydrangea fossils date back 40-65 million years and have been discovered in North America, Europe, and Asia. The plants grew wild in forests and along riverbanks.
Today, hydrangeas are beloved for their stunning blooms and easy care requirements. They thrive in various climates and can enhance any landscape, including your Southern California yard.
Gardening takes time, effort, and patience. It’s the complete opposite of a trip to the store where, in minutes, you can load up on two weeks’ worth of produce, half of which will go bad before it reaches your table.
But the rewards of growing your own food are many.
Southern California offers year-round gardening, especially in the temperate coastal areas.
With our warm, sunny days and mild winters, many flowers flourish here, giving you a nearly endless choice of blooms for your cut flower garden.
Is your balcony as bare as a hospital hallway?
Perhaps it’s time to spruce things up — and what better way than with flowering plants?
A few well-chosen plants can transform your space into a relaxing retreat and a magnet for pollinating critters.
Dirt is the downside of gardening.
A well-designed garden pathway solves the problem. It keeps the mud off your feet while you tend to your plants and adds character to your outdoor space.
Do you love nature but hate pushing a mower? Are you a wannabe artist, geologist, and maybe a bit of a Zen monk?
A rock garden may be the very thing to put your soul at ease and build a stunning, low-maintenance, and eco-friendly outdoor space.
Begonias are native to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, with a significant concentration in Central and South America.
Discovered in the humid forests of Brazil and Mexico, these plants have been cultivated and hybridized to produce the diverse varieties we see today.
Plants have a buddy system. Certain plants help others grow stronger than they could on their own.
Welcome to companion gardening. Farmers and plant enthusiasts have used this technique for centuries.
Xeriscapes save more than water. They save time, effort, and money because they require little maintenance.
Plus, a well-designed xeriscape offers unique beauty and tranquility, as anyone who has cooled in the shade of a native oak can attest.
From its (probable) birthplace in India, eggplant spread to other parts of the world via trade routes.
It wasn’t until the 16th century that eggplant made its way to Europe, where it was grown as an ornamental plant. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it gained popularity as a food crop in Italy and other parts of Europe.
Like human beings, some plants need more support than others.
Sure, they can manage without it, but problems arise with unsupported vines like peas and cantaloupe.
A garden trellis is a structural support for vining plants, promoting better health and increased yields.
Bell peppers originated in the tropical and subtropical Americas. Columbus introduced them to Europe in 1493, marking the beginning of their cultivation in Europe.
Plant diversification occurred primarily in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America, where peppers flavored dishes, preserved food, and treated various ailments, including toothaches.Â
The wild ancestor of the beet grew along the coasts of Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. They were first cultivated for their greens, not their taproots.
Beet plants are easy to grow in Southern California’s balmy conditions, and their hardiness helps them survive even inexperienced gardeners.
The spiral is one of nature’s most beautiful and efficient forms.
Rose petals spiral out from the center of the bud. Seashells, galaxies, and hurricanes follow a spiral pattern.
Spirals maximize space, resources, and distribution. The “perfect” Fibonacci spiral governs the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem and seeds in a pinecone.
In Italy, cantaloupe cultivation rose with the Renaissance and, by the 15th century, had spread to Spain.
Luckily for LA-area gardeners, the delicious “muskmelon” is a warm-season crop that thrives in heat and sun — i.e., Southern California summers.
