Plant Care

You walk out to check your pomegranate tree and spot a fruit split wide open, red seeds showing.…

By John Miller CA · Oct 27

Walk past a persimmon tree in November and you may see bare branches hung with bright orange fruit.…

By John Miller CA · Oct 27

Walk into a native plant nursery in California this season and you may find empty tables where the…

By John Miller CA · Oct 27

You walk out to your tree and find a few persimmons on the ground, still yellow-orange and not…

By John Miller CA · Oct 27

Anna’s hummingbirds stay in California all winter, and many of them start nesting as early as December. A…

By John Miller CA · Oct 27

A glossy green vine covered in sweet-smelling white flowers is a favorite along California fences. Many people smell…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

Your citrus tree does not read the calendar. It responds to what is happening in the soil around…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

You step outside after a soaking rain and see hundreds of winged insects rising from the soil. It…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

A hummingbird visits up to a thousand flowers a day, and in California many of them never touch…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

Roof rats and Norway rats love California yards, and the strip of plants hugging your house is often…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

The west side of a California house takes a beating every summer afternoon, when the sun bounces off…

By John Miller CA · Oct 26

Ever pick a fig that looked perfect outside, then found it sour and mushy inside? Tiny beetles are…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

That hole in your yard might look like a plain ground squirrel burrow. In some open California spaces,…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

Fall is the secret planting season in California, even though most people wait until spring. When you put…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

Fall is the secret planting season in California, and many homeowners miss it by waiting until spring. When…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

That small gray lizard doing push-ups on your garden wall has a surprising link to Lyme disease. Scientists…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

Many California homeowners plant thick ground cover to stop weeds, then wake up to shredded seedlings and silver…

By John Miller CA · Oct 25

A coyote trotting across your lawn at dusk can make anyone stop and stare. Most of the time,…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

A heaved driveway slab or a sewer backup with roots in the pipe can leave you staring at…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

Your plumeria leaves are turning yellow, and the pruning shears are calling your name. Before you cut, it…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

You step onto the patio after a stormy night and spot a snake near the planter. It is…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

Some of the most popular plants in California yards can turn into fuel when a wildfire ember lands…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

Lantana hedges and lily of the Nile borders are everywhere in California, and they look tidy for most…

By John Miller CA · Oct 24

Your tomatoes are done, the bed looks a little sunken, and you wonder if the soil is worn…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

Most side yards in California are a strip of dirt, a trash bin, and a path you squeeze…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

Planting a tree near your house in fire country can feel risky, but the right tree can actually…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

A toad hopping across your patio at dusk is a good sign that your yard has a bit…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

You walk out to your Meyer lemon tree, and the fruit is full and plump, but the peel…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

Some of the best spring flowers in California are already waiting underground, tucked inside small bulbs and corms.…

By John Miller CA · Oct 23

You planted flowers, skipped the sprays, and still the butterflies seem to be somewhere else. It is tempting…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

The strip of soil along your house might be the toughest spot in your whole yard. In much…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

Come December, the sun sits low and your tomato bed may be stuck in the shadow of a…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

Some evergreen shrubs get passed over at the nursery, even when they fit a California yard well. California…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

Every fall, thousands of orange and black monarch butterflies fly to the California coast to wait out the…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

Nothing ruins a sunny California afternoon faster than fishing soggy leaves out of the pool before you can…

By John Miller CA · Oct 22

Many people think spring is the time to plant, but California natives often follow a different calendar. Our…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

A small California yard can feel like a fishbowl when the neighbor’s kitchen window looks right at your…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

California is writing new fire rules for the strip of ground closest to your house, and many HOA…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

Walk into most garden centers in California and you will find plenty of thirsty petunias, but almost no…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

You spread the compost, you did the work, and the bed still feels like a sponge after a…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

Your tropical hibiscus was covered in fat buds last month, and now they are dropping onto the patio.…

By John Miller CA · Oct 21

Walking out to find pomegranates on the ground can feel like a small garden disaster. It is easy…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

You walk out to water the tomatoes and find a wheel-shaped web strung across the path, with a…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

You are winding down for the night when a strange sound floats through the dark, like a ping-pong…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

Bermuda grass keeps creeping into lawns and flower beds, and every fall many California homeowners wonder if it…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

Those skinny green shoots crowding the bottom of your crape myrtle can look like a sign that something…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

Agapanthus, also called lily of the Nile, has lined California driveways and medians for decades. It looks tidy,…

By John Miller CA · Oct 20

California is writing new fire rules for the first five feet around your house, and that strip is…

By John Miller CA · Oct 19

You flip on the porch light and there it is again: a masked face, small hands, and a…

By John Miller CA · Oct 19