My fascination with succulents and cacti initially arose out of necessity—they are the natural denizens of semi-arid areas such as where we live—but has developed into a true fascination with these quirky and frequently beautiful plants.This aloe grows in a pot in our back terrace.They come in thousands of contorted and bizarre shapes and most …
Tag: semi-desert gardening
You call that a garden?
Midlife crises evoke dreams of a new career and in my case, about fifteen years ago, of becoming a landscape designer. After a few night courses at the Chicago Botanic Garden, a tentative verdict about my abilities came back from the teachers: I had a good eye for plant combinations but needed to double down …
Sherwood Forest delayed
In the beginning--as when the Spaniards arrived in this area during the 16th Century--the hills around San Miguel supposedly were densely wooded, including oaks, ash, walnuts, mesquites and other hard woods. But then, between the Spaniards cutting down trees to use as fuel in silver mines and Mexicans collecting wood to make charcoal, the hills …
El Rancho Santa Clara 