Plant Kingdom
As if San Diego doesn't have enough drought-related problems, here is another: avocados. According to the magazine Mother Jones, avocados, which don't require nearly as much water as almonds, still need a lot. According to …
Kirby Watson has resided in the shade of the eucalyptus trees on Coronado Island’s E Avenue for over 45 years. She said she was devastated when she received a letter from the City of Coronado …
One of the last remaining tall, old, eucalyptus trees along Leucadia’s Coast Highway 101, at Leucadia Boulevard, is scheduled to come down soon. Planted in the 1880s, images on old postcards are all that remain …
The California gold rush didn't only bring myriad fortune-seeking people to the Golden State. It also brought trees. Specifically, an Australian species very familiar to anyone who lives in San Diego: the eucalyptus. However, nearly …
Since the first avocado trees were planted in 1912, Fallbrook’s avocado industry’s been thriving. The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce estimates annual sales near $26 million. However, due to water-access issues, the size of the average …
Almost as surely as avocados grow, thieves steal them and turn the fruit into quick and untraceable cash. Over the past decade, San Diego County law enforcement agencies have stepped up patrols, pursuits, and prosecution …
On the morning after one of those record-breaking cold nights this past January, Mike Rasmusson checked on his charges. Rasmusson supervises the Kate O. Sessions Balboa Park Nursery -- the city facility where many of …
Matt: Why do avocados have such big seeds? Sometimes they're all seed, no guac. -- GuacamoleGirl, South Bay The pit's designed to reproduce the parent tree, not to please you. The wild avocado grows in …
“We’re the number-one nursery county in the nation. The acreage hasn’t gone down. If an acre disappears on the coast, it pops up somewhere else; for instance. It’s now San Marcos, Twin Oaks Valley, Fallbrook, Valley Center.”
“A natural bonsai is a tree that has grown in a very rugged environment and is naturally stunted.” Jackson collected some of his in Jacumba. California junipers; they are 500 or 600 years old.
Only one iris grows wild naturally in San Diego County. Called the Rocky Mountain Iris or Western Blue Flag, these simple wildflowers exist in small clusters here only in the chilly Cuyamaca Mountains
The cultivation of macs in San Diego County goes back to the 1940s. “There are several old individual trees around. The oldest I’m aware of is in Coronado. The first commercial grove in Southern California was planted in Oceanside.”
“When people look at turf, their blood pressure drops and their heart rate decreases.. It’s been found that the rate of recovery from surgery is faster for people who have a view of the landscape.”
The Monterey cypress is one of the worst trees for Southern California. It drips needles and sticky sap, is prone to beetles and fungus, and its roots are so invasive it’s difficult or impossible to garden under.
The rules of gardening and housekeeping are clear on rodents and lilies. Lilies are good, rats are bad. Childhood reading had ill-prepared me to whack off rats’ heads. I was raised on Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry.