Here are some garden sayings I found in gardens that I visited: Here are some garden sayings I found in a book entitled “How Does Your Garden Grow?”

Osmanthus are evergreen shrubs used for barriers or hedges in the garden. They have small white or yellowish flowers and are fragrant. They tolerate clipping and can become dense hedges. Osmanthus burkwoodii Osmanthus delavayi – fragrant Osmanthus fragrans has tiny flowers but a strong, fruity fragrance. Note that the leaves are not serrated like the…

I started teaching in the Horticulture Department at Merritt College in Oakland in 1976. I was the youngest teacher at the college at the time (30). The administration came up with $2 million to build a new horticulture facility to replace the portable buildings and they told me to work with the architects in the…

A good principle of landscape design is to plant in drifts. The idea is if you plant in drifts or masses you are imitating nature making the landscape more natural looking. Instead of planting just one plant of a type, plant 5 or 10. Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’) and Japanese Maple. Joe…

Dawn Gardens is surrounded by an 8′ tall fence and deer cannot get in unless someone leaves the gate open. One day that happened and 4 deer got in and thought they were in heaven. They helped themselves to everything especially the vegetables and roses. It took us 4 days to get them out and…

If you want to create rooms in a garden, hedges are a good way to do it. Hedges can also provide screening, sculpture and a barrier as well as a windbreak and sun protection. ROOMS Rooms, windows and doors can be created with plants in the garden. SCULPTURE Italian Cypress, boxwood and Cotoneaster make good…

Peonies are perennials that bloom in April and May and generally have large flowers. They like full sun and in hot climates, part shade. Paeonia ‘Cora Louise’ Paeonia ‘Bartzella’ Paeonia tenuifolia is an expensive plant that I am trying to get to bloom. It is 4 years old; I paid $50 for it 4 years…

Perennials are plants that live from season to season in contrast to annuals that live one year or season and then die. Technically trees and shrubs are perennials but usually the term usually refers to herbaceous plants. EVERGREEN PERENNIALS Evergreen perennials usually bloom during one season and keep their green leaves all year. Primrose (Primula…

Photos of evergreen and deciduous perennials at Dawn Gardens