Oct 28, 2022
Poinsettias, America’s most popular potted flowering plant, are revered holiday guests. They produce a festive show during their annual visit, then pass on to that Great Heavenly Garden shortly after New Year’s Day.
The descent on nurseries, florist shops, supermarkets and box stores in search of poinsettias begins around Thanksgiving. Poinsettia mania breaks out and so begins the challenge of keeping them alive and beautiful for 4–8 weeks.
About 70 million are sold each year during the holiday season. Why are we infatuated with poinsettias?
Oct 28, 2022
As Marika and Scott Rose planned for their two daughters to move onto college and beyond, the couple anticipated some changes for their empty nest.
The Roses purchased the classic brick and stucco 1937 Tudor-style home in Land Park 25 years ago to start their family.
As the family grew and finances allowed, the couple expanded the home on several occasions, adding a family room off the kitchen, and then a second story with two bedrooms and bathrooms, and an upstairs laundry room. When the girls were teens, they added a beautiful side patio with an outdoor fireplace and generous seating areas for family and guests.
About five years ago, they hired designer Elizabeth Lake to help further remodel and refine the home for their evolving lifestyle. “Elizabeth helped us tie it all together by rearranging, repurposing and adding some new pieces,” Marika says.
Sep 28, 2022
A few months ago, our photographer went to Clarksburg to shoot the home studio of artist Julia Couzens. The place was as fascinating as the woman who occupies it.
The 2-acre property runs along a country road. The house appears to sit up on a throne. Many homes near the Sacramento River have elevated living spaces above levee roads to take advantage of river views and cooling breezes.
The three-story home of Couzens and her husband, attorney Jay-Allen Eisen, consists of the artist studio on the ground floor, main living area on the second, and offices and a guest suite on the third.
Sep 28, 2022
Challenging weather patterns amplified the wailing and woes heard during my UC Master Gardener stints at the California State Fair and Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
Ailing perennials, struggling annuals, disappointing veggie yields and low morale affected many Sacramento gardeners this summer.
Among the most common lament was, “What’s wrong with my tomatoes?”
I can relate. This was the first year my annual planting of the heirloom tomato Cherokee Purple didn’t produce a single tomato. Each morning, I inspected the plant with hopes of discovering a tiny green orb.
Aug 28, 2022
Walking up the garden path to the Curtis Park home of Julie and Stan Perez, one is instantly charmed by the Americana cottage feel of the property, complete with a beautiful U.S. flag waving in the breeze.
The couple purchased the home five years ago when family life made an unexpected turn. After raising two sons in a 3,500-square-foot home in El Dorado Hills, they moved to Pasadena. Stan—a retired CHP officer—became head of security for the Norton Simon Museum. The couple also established a business selling vintage farmhouse goods.
“Our sons remained in Sacramento, and we promised if they ever had grandchildren, we’d move back to help take care of them,” Julie says. Until that happened, they planned to buy an actual country farmhouse.
When Stan retired and their first grandchild was born in 2017, the couple started house shopping in Sacramento.
Aug 28, 2022
Abandoned last fall when its blueberry bush was transplanted into a more spacious container, the pot needed new tenants. Life intervened, I gave it scant thought, and the pot sat empty and forgotten.
After much procrastination, the pot was reborn in spring with one of my favorite plant families: herbs. Tarragon, sage and thyme now thrive in that old pot.
Every gardener should welcome herbs. Lavender and rosemary are not uncommon in Sacramento gardens. I grow four different lavenders and both upright and trailing varieties of rosemary.
