tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546Wed, 15 May 2013 01:29:08 +0000Monthly Bloomgarden choresparkwaynative gardensCNPSweb resourceshorticulturecontainer gardeninghikescity ordinanceweddingNatureParkweedswoodland gardenMiloRSA Bot. GardenPlant Saleinsectsbackyard designparkscompostlawn-reductionseedswaterwildflowersnative grassesfirefoodgarden photostreescoastal sage scrubsustainabledesignhabitat gardenflowersirrigationmulchlazy gardeningIndiabooks and toolswater conservationArcadiaWoodlandgarden calendarThis blog is about gardening with native plants in my southern California yard. New attempts and the resulting successes and failures are posted. Gardening articles about the horticultural use of native plants are posted.http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)Blogger319125blogspot/UWEChttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-7589429041710444984Fri, 10 May 2013 14:08:00 +00002013-05-14T03:43:57.458-07:00sustainableinsectsmulchcompostwaterhabitat garden Good habitat requires more than a group of native plants. To understand what makes good habitat it is important to look at the garden from the perspective of the wildlife you wish to attract. Habitat provides conditions in which animals can live, reproduce, and raise their young. These include: 1) food, for both adult and young, 2) water, 3) suitable places for mating, reproduction, and raisinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/_2wqSMe8Dbo/habitat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/_2wqSMe8Dbo" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/05/habitat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-785026701110164935Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:27:00 +00002013-04-30T23:33:12.728-07:00parksIndiatrees Within the bustling city of Bangalore is the venerable Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Founded in 1909, the guest house we are staying in, Centenary Visitors House, was built and named for the institution's one hundredth anniversary. IISc is a research and higher education facility located on nearly 400 acres donated by the Maharaja of Mysore in 1907. The institute was conceived of by JN http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/jepo7gRkYgA/indian-institute-of-science.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/jepo7gRkYgA" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/04/indian-institute-of-science.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-695263148858434856Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:18:00 +00002013-04-21T05:29:32.657-07:00India After yesterday's lengthy plant-centric post, it is nice to turn my attention to our temporary home here in Bangalore. We have been living in the Centenary Visitors House (guest house) of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) since March 30, with a return date of May 28. Homesick has new meaning to me! Bangalore - renamed Bengaluru, though no one seems to like or use that name - is often http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/ZrPLyOQXVLk/bringing-homesick-to-new-level.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/ZrPLyOQXVLk" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/04/bringing-homesick-to-new-level.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-3730434056345247476Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:48:00 +00002013-04-19T04:48:15.545-07:00water conservationsustainablegarden photoshorticulturenative gardenshabitat garden Early explorers and settlers were awed by the variety and profusion of wildflowers throughout what would become the state of California.  Hillsides in spring were painted gold, red, yellow, blue and white.  Flowering shrubs added frosty blue and snowy white to the landscape. In the heat of summer, the wonderful smells of soft gray sages and sagebrush spiced the air. The landscape was abuzz with http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/FeffLUti4hE/why-garden-with-natives.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/FeffLUti4hE" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-garden-with-natives.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-7630548408331364921Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:14:00 +00002013-04-10T09:14:58.932-07:00Indiaweb resources Change is in the air! Although I am still in India, Wild Suburbia is not being ignored. The Weeding Wild Suburbia website is undergoing massive changes, and I must ask your forbearance as we work to get the links and content updated. It is coming. As a consequence of these changes some of the links on the blog have been broken. I have re-established the links and am adding new content. On the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/WBfxlMi-oZ0/bear-with-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/WBfxlMi-oZ0" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/04/bear-with-me.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-2102402485967500231Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:21:00 +00002013-02-03T05:21:03.175-08:00Indiatrees I am rushing to get this posted because we leave Mumbai early tomorrow morning for two months of travel. The itinerary is more complicated than you can imagine and I am not sure how much time or energy I will have for blogging. So for my last Bombay tree, a quick post about tropical almond, Terminalia catappa. Another really cool tree, tropical almond, unrelated to our edible almonds, is http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/WFshORj1WKs/tropical-almond.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/WFshORj1WKs" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/02/tropical-almond.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-774533849932478808Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:48:00 +00002013-01-31T05:48:45.166-08:00Indiatrees India is a wild and dangerous place: Man-eating tigers and leopards (not to mention bears), pythons, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, insane traffic, canon ball trees, and now fish poison trees. Yesterday I narrowly averted getting killed by one of these canon balls (not really) only to learn that the cool looking fruit I found while jogging later in the day is toxic. Curious about what was inside http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/E6LI6uTz3xg/fish-poison-tree.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/E6LI6uTz3xg" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/fish-poison-tree.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-2315092410552563967Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:40:00 +00002013-01-30T03:42:32.071-08:00Indiatreesflowers The trees on the campus of the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) are truly amazing. I have not done nearly enough looking and photographing so this will be my project for our remaining two days here. To start off, check out the flowers and fruits of this tree. It is called the canon ball tree (Couroupita guianensis) because of its fruits. In fact, I learned that there is often a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/EZ3Hnao8G6c/trees-at-tifr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/EZ3Hnao8G6c" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/trees-at-tifr.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-2204377168769552447Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:39:00 +00002013-01-31T08:59:10.322-08:00water conservationIndiahorticultureirrigationwater When working at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden on the "Garden Hotline" one of the questions that I found most vexing was: How often and for how long should I water my native plant garden? The problem, you see, is that there are so many questions that need to be answered before a satisfactory reply can be made. Which plants? How old are they? Where do you live? What are the soil conditions? Andhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/O0Dkx-epUac/when-and-how-much-should-i-water.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/O0Dkx-epUac" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/when-and-how-much-should-i-water.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-2316383194629512428Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:36:00 +00002013-01-26T08:36:21.214-08:00India Happened upon this wonderful market in Colaba today. The produce looked amazing, though the surroundings were not up to American standards. I bought tiny bananas, oranges and a pomegranate. Have tasted the bananas which were delicious. Colaba Market Modern and less modern people shop and work here. A goat wanders around as women stock up on beautiful cloves of garlic. Many differenthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/im_qibBW9vE/colaba-market.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/im_qibBW9vE" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/colaba-market.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-4950181760956271722Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:16:00 +00002013-01-21T02:16:31.790-08:00horticultureweb resources As you can see I am working hard to pull together the many articles I have written on gardening with California native plants. Realizing that it is sometimes difficult even for me to find some older posts - without scrolling and scrolling and scrolling - I put together a table of blog posts and am in the process of adding the links. Now one can scroll through a manageable list, and with the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/uBSZEu4RSPM/pulling-it-together.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/uBSZEu4RSPM" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/pulling-it-together.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-2103481022371430138Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:04:00 +00002013-01-18T20:04:35.005-08:00Indiasustainablehorticulturefood I did not realize how much I missed gardening until I had the opportunity to get dirt under my fingernails. Yesterday I worked with volunteers from SPROUTS at St. Catherine’s Home. SPROUTS, an environmental outreach NGO, recently started a kitchen garden at this home for orphaned and at-risk girls. We spent about two hours weeding, mulching, cultivating, and tending the vegetables. There were http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/3Z4IRbovJ48/happiness-is-vegetable-garden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/3Z4IRbovJ48" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/happiness-is-vegetable-garden.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-3838213329484485006Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:23:00 +00002013-01-14T06:52:25.268-08:00India Staying in Mumbai has afforded us the opportunity to get cultured in a way that is more difficult in the US. For one thing, the tickets for a two-night musical performance of Hindustani classical percussion and raga sangeet, cost 500 Rupees for the best seats in the house. That’s $4.57 per night. Not only that, we went to the concert hall, Tata Theatre at the National Center for Performing Arts http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/UUGVH17iIUA/hindustani-raga-sangeet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/UUGVH17iIUA" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/hindustani-raga-sangeet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-4163629503583577149Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:59:00 +00002013-01-12T01:59:19.760-08:00garden choresIndiagarden calendarhorticulture It is a special time of year for gardeners in coastal California, it is gardening season. The weather report tells me it has been cold and wet, perfect for planting. Here in Mumbai , where I am living, it is hot and humid, though it has not rained since before we arrived a month and a half ago. For Mumbaikars almost all of their rain (averaging 95 inches per year) comes during the monsoon from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/IBBku2lOJKM/planting-tips.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/IBBku2lOJKM" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/planting-tips.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-1269235243615458409Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:11:00 +00002013-01-12T22:55:27.121-08:00Indiahorticulturetrees To all of my arborist friends: check this out. I was leaving the Institute (TIFR), here in Mumbai when someone instructs me to go around a different way to get to the exit. I notice there is a group of men looking up in a tree and I can hear the sound of an ax.There is a man way up in a pine tree. He has no hardhat or anything, just a heavy rope tied around his waist. He is chopping at a large http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/rGKmjZXwfJg/tree-work-india-style.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/rGKmjZXwfJg" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/tree-work-india-style.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-8031905388261852753Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:42:00 +00002013-01-07T03:42:29.509-08:00Indiacontainer gardening I have spent enough time on this. Does anyone know how to use a flickr slideshow, as I have done here, but include the description (and not the title) of each slide at the bottom? Anyway, the descriptions and titles show on the upper, right. You may have to click on the slide. I think you can see them on my flickr page as well. The city is gritty and apparently quite park-poor, but people http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/lNjLahqrlBo/container-plants-in-mumbai.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/lNjLahqrlBo" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/container-plants-in-mumbai.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-1493205203854355031Sun, 06 Jan 2013 11:18:00 +00002013-01-06T03:39:29.299-08:00India Mumbai is about as urban a place as one can imagine. Cars, bicycles, trucks, carts, cows, people, dogs, cats, horses, motorcycles, scooters, and autorickshaws dart around in a frenetic dance that can only leave one amazed that there aren't more - many more - collisions. The air is thick and the streets full of litter. My pictures cannot convey the whirlwind of activity, the noise, the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/tc0pThc1CLo/a-typical-city.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/tc0pThc1CLo" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-typical-city.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-3763823251985764611Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:20:00 +00002013-01-05T04:00:59.948-08:00garden choresgarden calendarsustainablelazy gardeninghorticulturelawn-reduction One of my biggest goals at Wild Suburbia is to hone my lazy-gardening skills. I know that my family laughs when I talk about how little time I spend in the garden. Yes, it is true that sometimes a quick fifteen minutes in the garden is two hours by the clock. After all, I am a gardener; gardening is a passion, not a chore. Nevertheless, I recognize that you may not share my passion for outdoor, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/MhEIRx3mwc8/how-much-time-does-it-take.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/MhEIRx3mwc8" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-much-time-does-it-take.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-1587004666099032161Tue, 25 Dec 2012 12:10:00 +00002012-12-25T04:48:48.697-08:00India It is hard to feel at home in a new place. We are going to be in India for another five months, not long enough to become home, but too long to be vacation. TIFR (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai) will be our temporary home for another month, followed by two months of travel, and a final two month stay at Indian Institute of Science (IIS) in Bangalore. Woman in blue sari http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/ZK3QSqCx_gc/home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/ZK3QSqCx_gc" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/12/home.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-7970463067248370632Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:11:00 +00002012-12-21T05:11:38.675-08:00parksIndia Can't say I fell in love with either Bangalore or Lalbagh Botanical Gardens on this first visit. The pictures are pretty enough but it did not touch my soul. I am hoping that when we return to Bangalore to spend April and May here I will learn more about it and enjoy it more. I think that part of my lack of enthusiasm for the garden was due to the trip there from our hotel. We took an auto http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/nH1skYv6L9k/lalbagh-botanical-garden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/nH1skYv6L9k" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/12/lalbagh-botanical-garden.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-1861100421518827258Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:17:00 +00002012-12-20T05:17:28.102-08:00India Has it been three weeks already since we arrived in India? And not one real post about our adventures? Sorry, we are just getting ourselves oriented, and India, Mumbai especially, takes some orienting. In spite of being somewhat discombobulated, we managed to take a weekend trip - anxious to get away from the noise and tumult of Mumbai. We flew to Aurangabad to see the caves of Ellora and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/Zp6gRBhJ0xM/three-things.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/Zp6gRBhJ0xM" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/12/three-things.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-5988595600321337978Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:37:00 +00002012-12-03T17:37:45.660-08:00India We tumbled into our new apartment after hours and hours of waiting and travel. I sit here trying to figure out how long it actually was but am stumped by a time change so great that it crosses days. All I know is that we left our house in California at 5:30 am on Friday and arrived in Bombay at around 1 am on Sunday. You do the math. The non-stop flight from Newark Airport to Mumbai was not badhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/_R8TVWx-yCo/travel-to-india.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/_R8TVWx-yCo" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/12/travel-to-india.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-116560738839689318Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:30:00 +00002013-01-12T23:33:25.916-08:00woodland gardenIndiagarden photos At LAX waiting to board first flight to India. We will spend about 20 hours in the air! Hard to separate from home and family but looking forward to a big adventure. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/S4wKUtKmNO4/bye.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/S4wKUtKmNO4" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/11/bye.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-527563184404356982Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:49:00 +00002012-11-14T11:51:54.049-08:00Indiaweeds As my attention turns from the New World to the very old world (India), I reluctantly shift my eyes from deergrass, monkeyflower, and coast live oak to the native plants of India. This, however, begs the question: What are the native plants of India? In fact, in an area with evidence of ancient cities, thousands rather than hundreds of years old, and mass migrations of people, how can anyone http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/u7Gv22BBHJI/on-other-side-of-globe.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/u7Gv22BBHJI" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/11/on-other-side-of-globe.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570826587213357546.post-6080552448620533230Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:39:00 +00002012-11-09T09:05:44.365-08:00garden choresPlant Salehorticulturelawn-reduction As the record heat of a couple of days ago becomes a distant memory and we see highs dropping into the 60s, it is time to  think about  .... P L A N T   S A L E ! ! ! I'm still busy printing out new signs and a plant catalog for the sale. About 100 different plants in this sale of 1450 plants, seeds, advice, and socializing. Well, I should say that I should be busy doing these things but http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~3/2s6IDsI8WSY/plant-sale-this-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barbara E)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/UWEC/~4/2s6IDsI8WSY" height="1" width="1"/>http://wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/11/plant-sale-this-weekend.html