Horse Teeth

I love the way this picture of these old horse teeth turned out.  It's amazing how something like a skull or rotten teeth can photograph so well.  I call this Ansel Adams teeth for the up close style photography.

Texas Lavender

Check out this dreamy picture of Lavendula provance lavender on a West Texas ranch.  I left my camera setting on 'close up' which made an interesting fade effect.

Caterpillar on Lemon tree

Check out this huge white saddleback caterpillar on my Lemon tree!  I honestly don't know what kind of caterpillar it is, but it is awesome.  Does anyone know what kind of caterpillar it is?

Plumeria blooming in fall

I never knew Plumeria could bloom in late October but this little pink Plumeria is blooming away!

Califonia racer snake

Today there was a 3' long California Racer snake curled up near my back patio. I wonder if it's chasing down some lizards, crickets or rodents. Hopefully this doesn't mean we have mice!

baby sugar watermelon

Finally, something in my veggie garden is growing this year! I've been getting veggie molested by squirrels or something all year that is eating everything I plant, but this little baby Sugar Watermelon showing up is all I needed to feel like it's all worth while! The little melon is only 1/2" wide in this photo. I'll be sure to add some progress, as long as the squirrel leaves it alone that is!

rabbit foot print?

My herb and vegetable garden have been getting eaten to the ground constantly this year. I cannot figure out what in the world is eating them though. The garden is completely surrounded by a wood fence, but one small stretch is chain-link. I assume baby rabbits or moles could crawl through the chain-link, but I don't see any worn spots on the ground at the bottom of the chain-link that indicates that something is running through.
Today is the first time I've found any sign, other than the eaten plants, of an animal being in the garden. This footprint is 1" long, has four toes and claws. Can anyone identify the animal by this footprint? I would love to know what I've been feeding all year! My guess is it's a rabbit print, but I really have no idea.

Do you know what this plant is?

Do u know what this plant is? Small pink blossoms, light grey foliage, almost like a sage. (The plant behind it is sage) It grows wild in the Southern California hills - so it's a California native.
Please let me know.

A locust that looks like a leaf

Can you find the locust in this photo? This was crawling on our Mandarin Orange tree this morn. I love how its tail or wings look just like a leaf. They even have leaf veins on their wings!

Pollinators Attack!

Check out this video of Hummingbirds, bees and larger birds eating the bees feast on the freshly opened blooms of a 30' tall, Century Plant Agave! The miracle of winged pollination.

Salvia clevelandii Blooms

I've only recently discovered this wonderful, low water use plant, the Cleveland Sage. It has a dark red stem, grey leaves and amazing merry-go-round blooming head. Salvia clevelandii pairs well with a dark contrasting background like Ceanothus which is a drought tolerant plant as well.

deer grazing in california poppy

This is a beautiful site near the Pepperdine campus in Malibu, CA. A family of deer grazing in a bed of wild California Poppy blooms. There were two fawns with the little white spots there too, but they were more skittish than the parent doe.

espalier fig tree

I love watching the new green leaves form on our two espalier fig trees. We have two fig trees in pots; Ficus 'Black Mission' and Ficus 'Brown Turkey'. More photos of the differences of these two fig varieties and taste tests to come.

fragrant Mandarin orange blossoms

Did you know that orange blossoms are very fragrant? I had no idea until our front yard Mandarin Orange tree went into a crazy bloom this Spring. I walked by the nicely shaped orange tree to be hit with a huge sniff of what smells like honeysuckle. It's really wonderful.

Spanish Lavender

I love Lavender. One of my favorites is Spanish Lavender. Each blooming spike has an extended double petal at the end that looks like a purple butterfly. God's creation really is amazing!

baby peaches

I'm guessing at this point that the fruit tree I showed you before is a peach tree just based off of the fruit appearance. I could be wrong though.. These still could be apricots!

Wisteria 'Cooke's Purple'

Wisteria 'Cooke's Purple' has a great purple color flower with a light white base. It has a much longer blooming season than most Wisteria which is a huge plus.

Buxus sempervirens 'Egg'

Large green masses and simple green forms like these unique, Buxus sempervirens 'Egg's in landscape beds help anchor all the plants together and give instant maturity to a landscape design.

Pieris 'Purity'

Pieris 'Purity' is hard to find, especially in any size other than tiny 1 gallon, but they have a unique show of snow flurry type white flowers.

Camellia japonica 'Nuccios Gem'

The white bloom of the Nuccios Gem Camellia is probably the most perfectly structured flower bloom I have ever witnessed. Nuccios Gem has many more petal layers than other varieties of Camellia and the petals are so perfectly distributed that this camellia truly is unique and beautiful.

baby apricots or peaches

We have a fruit tree in the back that I honestly thought was an ornamental pear, like a kawakamii, until I noticed a little pink in the blossoms. Sure enough, there are loads of small fruit growing on the limbs now. I can't tell if it's an Apricot or Peach yet though... Any bets??

orange harvest

Somehow, even with all the rain lately, our orange tree ripened up and we had a one tree harvest today. We have 3 different kinds of oranges, and I believe this orange tree is a bit of a speciosa in that the oranges are small, the seeds are big, and it doesn't seem to be a hybrid or tampered with too much. If you're an orange expert, please chime in!

Pittosporum crassifolium hedge

You usually think of Pittosporum as an ornamental stand alone shrub, but it actually makes an amazing, loose hedge. I love the grey green leaves of the Pittosporum crassifolium.

Red Trunk Manzanilla

I don't know if you can really see the color well in this photo, but the trunk of this Manzanilla really was showing off it's brilliant red colors in contrast to the fresh fallen white snow.

Guava Sapling

I bought a pack of Guava tree seeds while I was in Hawaii. I know, I know, it would be way cheaper to just eat a Guava and save the seeds, but for the agriculture control and safety, I decided to play it safe and buy them. Anyway, I started the seeds in a pot indoors, then slowly moved the young Guava seedlings outdoors, but not in direct sunlight.

The young Guava saplings are now about 14" tall, so I picked a corner of the yard that gets filtered sunlight and planted them. I'll keep you posted on how they mature.

pear flowers in the pool

Here are the pear flowers falling in the pool, just like I said...

pots and flowers

Sometimes the right arrangement of pots and flowers can really transform a spot in the garden. Try and choose unique pieces that match but don't duplicate each other; as if they were collected through a lifetime of searching but with the same flavor. The plants can be simple and shouldn't try to overpower the pots.

black and brown caterpillar

I need one of those insect identifying guides. I run into unique little crawly creatures like this rust and black colored caterpillar and I wish I knew its real name and what type of moth or butterfly it will turn into. If you know, please do share the wealth!

peacock seed pod

I wish I knew what type of plant this was created by. I think it's from a type of vine here in South TX, but it had dropped to the ground and no plant was directly claiming it. It opens up to an amazing white fuzzy spread of seeds. Beautiful!

Pyrus kawakamii in bloom

It's that time of year again; when the ornamental pears, especially the Evergreen Pear, or Pyrus kawakamii, start pushing out tons of beautiful sterile blooms. They may fill your pool when the wind blows, but you have to enjoy the white bloom tree lined drives in a false Spring push.