Illustrated Plant Nut picture

The original Illustrated Plant Nut picture was inspired by a sculpture called "De Zee" or "The Sea".  It is commonly known as Dikke Matilde (Thick Matilda) and is near Leopold Park in Ostende, Belgium. The artist is Georges Grard (1901-1984) who was influenced by Aristide Maillol, Charles Despiau, and Pierre Renoir.

The awkward boulevard strip

We have a very small parking strip or "boulevard", as my friend, Debcot, calls it. Just 2 feet wide.

(A very interesting word, "boulevard", from 1700's French meaning an avenue built on a razed rampart. Also very interesting what that strip is called all over the U.S. according to Wikipedia. This strip name even turned up in the New York Times quiz that shows you "How Y'all, Youse and You Guys Talk". Just all around interesting.) 

I rather like the terms devilstrip, furniture zone, and hellstrip and there is even a book written called Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and Curb.

Our old boulevard was filled with Liquidambar trunk and roots, ice plant, and African Iris. The sidewalk was a hazard - tilted concrete - from the roots snaking under to our lawn. It was really bad. Our neighbor chastised us for causing her husband to have to climb over the humps with his walker. The final straw was when the local teens started using it to get airborne on their skateboards. A true accident waiting to happen. The city no longer repairs sidewalks so we decided we needed to take this into our own hands. We removed the two Liquidambars and put in a couple of landing pads and a brand-new flat sidewalk. Heaven!

Plant ID at 60 MPH - What the heck was that?!?

Seen on the median strip travelling north on 680 through Castro Valley - a tree with large light colored flowers and no foliage to speak of. When I saw it whizzing by, I said "What the heck is that?".

Yellow Leaves on the "Bouquets de Fleurs" Citrus Tree

Our "Bouquets de Fleurs" is now forming tiny citrus. I despaired that it would ever form fruit or even flowers, but this year we now have several bunches of fruits.

Ladybug Ladybug, Fly Away Home

We were at a neighbors' house, sitting in their beautiful garden, when the question of lady bugs came up.  Both of our gardens have been visited by aphids on the broccoli and kale. What to do? Do we buy lady bugs? What about what we've heard about lady bugs flying away and going to someone else's garden? Good questions!

Visiting Our East Bay Trees...cheaply

Magnolia from Strybing Arboretum

I like to go to gardens all the time. It can get expensive. I like to be able to pop in frequently for a few mins at a local garden as if it were mine. And when travelling, I like to go to whatever garden or arboretum I find.

I am facing a renewal of my UC Bot Garden membership and am weighing the plusses and minuses of their different levels. This is beginning to hurt my head trying to figure this out. I may have to get out the spreadsheet to help decide what is the best way to visit gardens (and possibly museums) cheaply.

Blooming in December! Chinese plum, Japanese apricot, Prunus mume

The show stopper

The Prunus mume that is blooming now.
I think this one is Matsubara Red.
I will keep looking to make sure.

Last night I found two neighbors looking at the flowers of our street-side Prunus mume and taking pictures. One neighbor said that they are Chinese plums and they are called mei. She said that they are early blooming and in China they sometimes get snowed on. The other neighbor was wondering if she could plant one and what kind of care do they need and what do they look like when not in bloom.