Garden Surroundings

Dec 1

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Storybook Land Inspires Miniature Gardens

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! December 2024. https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disneyland/storybook-land-canal-b...

Oct 31

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Mexican Sage And Japanese Anemones In The Garden

Words, artwork and photos by Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! November 2024. Mexican Sage and Japanese Anemones in the Garden...

Sep 30

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Fig Trees And Passion Fruit In The Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2024. Fig Trees and Passion Fruit in the Garden We are full into autumn. October is...

Aug 31

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Butterflies In The Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2024. Butterflies in the Garden This time of year the garden is a flutter with...

Aug 1

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Apple Pies, Gardenias And Passion Flowers

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! August 2024. Apple Pies, Gardenias and Passion Flowers Apple Pies Summer months in the garden...

Jun 30

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Beauty In Nature Can Help Us Accept Change

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2024. Beauty In Nature Can Help Us Accept Change My daughter Erica and her husband Jared...

May 31

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Plein Air Artists In The Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! June 2024. Plein Air Artists in the Garden What is Plein Air Painting? | According to Artists...

Apr 30

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Incorporating Paths In Your Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2024. Incorporating Paths in Your Garden Have you ever noticed the way it makes you feel...

Mar 31

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Spring Has Sprung In Our Gardens!

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! April 2024. Spring has Sprung in our Gardens! Being that we live in a Mediterranean climate,...

Mar 1

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Growing Lavender In Your Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2024. WiX stock photo. French lavender, Lavandula dentata, is one of the author's...

Feb 1

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Living And Gardening In A Mediterranean Climate

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2024. Living and Gardening in a Mediterranean Climate We are lucky and unique that...

Jan 1

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: New Year, Fresh Start

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! January 2024. New Year, Fresh Start Gosh, already it is January 2024! How time flies. The new...

Dec 1, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Planting A Madrone

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! December 2023. Planting a Madrone, Arbutus menziesii This autumn I had the outside of my...

Nov 1, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Enjoy The Process

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! November 2023. Enjoy the Process Last month the painting posted in this article was brand-new...

Aug 31, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Cherry Plum Tree And Fig Tree

Words and pictures by Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2023. Cherry Plum and Fig Trees I hope everyone had a fabulous...

Jul 31, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Saving Frogs Lives And Making Apple Pie From Home-Grown Apples

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! August 2023. Here is an addendum to July’s Garden Surroundings article about frogs. The other...

Jun 30, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Fun Surprises in the Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2023. Fun Surprises in the Garden Here and there, I loved hearing frogs in the garden as...

May 31, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDNGS: Living Walls

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! June 2023. Editor’s note: How timely is this article for those of us lucky attendees of the...

Apr 30, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: April Showers Bring May Flowers

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2023. April Showers Bring May Flowers Living in the time of climate change our climate...

Apr 3, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Wisteria Brings Joy Every Spring

By Francesca Filanc for Let’s Talk Plants! April 2023. Wisteria brings pure joy every spring. I write about wisteria every April because...

Mar 1, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Creating Your Own Flower Arrangements

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2023. Creating your own Flower Arrangements A friend passed away recently, and I wanted...

Feb 1, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Spain - Basque And American Traditions

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2023. Spain - Basque and American Traditions The holidays this past year 2022, as...

Jan 1, 2023

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Meyer Lemons For Your Home Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! January 2023. Meyer Lemons For Your Home Garden January is the month when many of us make New...

Dec 1, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Dazzling Amaryllis

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! December 2022. Dazzling Amaryllis Editor's note: Francesca wrote about amaryllis earlier this...

Oct 31, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Are spider mites taking over the world?

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! November 2022. Are Spider Mites Taking Over The World? The other night as I was putting my...

Sep 30, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Fall Into Fall

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2022. We fall into fall and look forward to cooler weather with leaves changing...

Aug 31, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Easy to Create Butterfly Sanctuary

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! September 2022. A Butterfly Sanctuary is Easy to Create in Your Garden Think of the joy you...

Jul 31, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Magnolias

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! August 2022. “A tree or shrub with large, typically creamy-pink, waxy flowers. Magnolias are...

Jun 30, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Amaryllis

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! July 2022. Amaryllis "Amaryllis is a bulbous plant with white, pink, or red flowers and...

May 31, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Using Garden Structures Makes Exciting Gardens

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! June 2022. Using Garden Structures Makes Exciting Gardens Adding arbors, pergolas, and...

Apr 30, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Lady Banks Roses

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2022. Lady Banks Rose has been grown for 2,000 years in gardens in China. It has no...

Apr 1, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: The Joy Of Growing Wisteria

By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! April 2022. ‘April Showers Bring May Flowers’ The expression originates from a line in an...

Mar 1, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: March Is A Work Horse Month In Our Gardens

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2022. Traditionally March is a work horse month in our gardens. My mum, Pat Welsh,...

Feb 1, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: ‘A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose’

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! February 2022. ‘Rose is a rose is a rose’ was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913...

Jan 1, 2022

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: The Joy Of Gardening With Succulents

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! January 2022. Succulents have long been good plants for San Diego County. Although many...

Dec 1, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Joy in the Garden

By Francesca Filanc, for Let's Talk Plants! December 2021. Cassia splendida. As this year draws to a close I am reminded once again of...

Oct 31, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Worm Castings For A Vibrant Healthy Landscape

By Francesca Filanc for Let's Talk Plants! November 2021. Several years ago, a landscape designer friend of mine in the Olivenhain Garden...

Sep 30, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Butterflies & Host Plants In The Garden

By Francesca Filanc for Let's Talk Plants! October 2021. I receive so much joy by planting flowers, plants and vines that attract...

Aug 31, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Tussie-Mussies

By Francesca Filanc for Let's Talk Plants! September 2021. The first time I was taught how to make tussie-mussies, also spelled tussy...

Jul 31, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Gardenias; My "First Love"

By Francesca Filanc. First Love® Gardenia, Gardenia jasminoides 'Aimee'. A strong memory from my childhood is of being beautifully...

Jul 1, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Mom and Apple Pie!

By Francesca Filanc. “Saturday in the Park, I think it was the Fourth of July ..." - song written by Robert Lamm and recorded by the...

May 31, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Happy June!

By Francesca Filanc. We, who love gardening and gardens never cease to appreciate and enjoy the beauty inspiration, knowledge, love and...

Apr 30, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: April Showers Bring May Flowers

By Francesca Filanc. In the time of climate change, at present, we are back in a drought and having a La Niña year. The last couple of...

Apr 1, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Wisteria In All My Gardens

All my life I have had a “love affair” with wisteria, passed down from Mum, Pat Welsh, who has written numerous books and articles and also

Mar 1, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Find Me In The Garden

We are having a La Niña this year according to the weather bureau. La Niña usually means less rain in Southern California. But we have had s

Feb 1, 2021

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: In The Garden

When I first moved to this property five plus years ago, I knew I wanted to make large changes in the garden. I started right away building

Dec 1, 2020

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: How Our Collective Gardening Passion Helps Us

Today is November 29, 2020. This has been a difficult year for all of us in one way or another, and yet, we are all so lucky to have the pas

Sep 30, 2020

GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Sunflowers, the Funflowers!

Sunflowers are so much FUN to Grow! If you have a place where you can put them every year they give so much joy. I smile every time I walk o