3 days agoMY LIFE WITH PLANTS: The Ruin Garden at ChanticleerBy Jim Bishop, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2022. This spring Scott and I visited gardens near Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, New Jersey...
May 1MY LIFE WITH PLANTS - Portuguese WildflowersBy Jim Bishop, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2022. In mid-April, Scott and I traveled to Portugal for a bike tour. Getting older, we opted...
Mar 1MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Makin' More MosaicsBy Jim Bishop, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2022. Back in February 2018 and April 2018 I wrote two articles for the newsletter about...
Jan 1MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Yahoo, OahuBy Jim Bishop, for Let's Talk Plants! January 2022. Oahu A Variegated Pandanus utilis, AKA Screw pine, overlooking Turtle Bay on the...
Nov 1, 2021MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: California DatesBy Jim Bishop for Let's Talk Plants! November 2021. In a previous article in 2018, Road to Marrakech, I told the story of how dates are...
Sep 1, 2021MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: UC Santa Cruz ArboretumBy Jim Bishop for Let's Talk Plants! September 2021. This past April, I was fortunate to do a long-awaited return visit to the UC Santa...
Jul 1, 2021MY LIFE IN PLANTS: California Adventure Part 5California Adventure Part Five - I can hear you say, "What happened to parts one through four?" Well, I'll tell you what happened ... In...
May 1, 2021MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Costa Rica Riches - Talari Mountain LodgeBy Jim Bishop. This is a continuation of our trip to Costa Rica in November 2019. Read about the beginning of the trip here. Read about...
Mar 1, 2021MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Home Alone 2020One good thing that happened in 2020 was that I turned 65, which qualified me for the vaccine when it became available. I’m happy to report
Nov 1, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Costa Rica Riches - Las Cruces Botanical StationAfter several days in around San José we boarded small planes and flew to the Pacific side of Costa Rica to Golfito, near the Panama border.
Aug 14, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Costa Rican Riches - Around San JoséOur trip started in the capital city, San José. From there we did several day long trips. On a walking tour of San José we found that unlike
Jul 1, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Chocolate Cake and a Vase of YarrowWell, I’ve made it to 65. The original plan was to be at Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierras and sit atop the rock where the famous ph
May 1, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Malvern Spring Festival & Chelsea Garden Show 2019Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Chelsea Garden Show has been cancelled. How tired we all are of reading those words about our favori
Mar 1, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Machu PicchuAs I mentioned in my January article, this past September I joined a plant expedition tour to Peru. It was a different type of tour for me.
Jan 1, 2020MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Peruvian Puya Pursuit. This past September I joined a plant expedition tour to Peru. It was a different type of tour for me. The focus was mostly on seeing cacti
Oct 1, 2019MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Powis Castle GardenThis past May I attended the Pacific Horticulture tour of Wales. It featured many gardens, towns, historical sites and two garden shows tha
Aug 23, 2019Adelaide, AustraliaMy Life with Plants This is part five of a series about a Sept 2016 trip to view the wildflowers and scenery of Australia. From Stirling...
Aug 1, 2019MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Off to KeukenhofBy Jim Bishop. This May, Scott and I finally decided it was time to visit the tulip fields at Keukenhof in the Netherlands – described as...
Jun 1, 2019MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Borrego Bonanza, Part IIBy Jim Bishop. We made a visit to Borrego in February and another in March to check out this year’s super-bloom. Part I, which appeared...
Apr 1, 2019MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Borrego Bonanza, Part IBy Jim Bishop. As I’m sure you’ve heard this year’s bloom in the Anza Borrego Desert is spectacular. Who knew after the ‘super bloom’ in...
Feb 1, 2019MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Kasbah Tamadot, MoroccoBy Jim Bishop. In my previous article I wrote about the agriculture in Morocco as we had observed it on a trip there last November....
Dec 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: The Road to MarrakechBy Jim Bishop. Last month we traveled with a group of friends to tour Morocco. It had been on our travel wish list for a while. Morocco...
Oct 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Wyoming's Wonderful WildflowersBy Jim Bishop. In July, Scott and I visited western South Dakota and Wyoming. We were in search of alpine wildflowers in the mountains to...
Aug 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Crete's Unusual Plants and WildflowersBy Jim Bishop. This is the second of a series about Jim's three-week wildflower tour of Greece and Crete. You can read the first article...
Jun 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: The Other Grecian FormulaThis is the first of a series about Jim's three-week tour of Greece and Crete. By Jim Bishop. This past March, I was able to join a tour...
Apr 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Makin' Mosaics: Part IIBy Jim Bishop. This is the second of a two-part series about Jim's evolving interest and skills in making garden mosaic pavings. Part I...
Feb 1, 2018MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Makin’ Mosaics: Part IBy Jim Bishop. This is the first of a two-part series about Jim's evolving interest and skills in making garden mosaic pavings. I’m not...
Dec 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Jardin Exotique d'ÈzeBy Jim Bishop. I first became aware of the Jardin Exotique from the 1990s TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, hosted by Robin...
Oct 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Lan Su Garden in Portland OregonBy Jim Bishop. In May of this year, I was fortunate to be able to attend the Pacific Horticulture Society tour of the gardens in the...
Aug 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Climbing Cuyamaca: Part 2By Jim Bishop. This is the second of two articles about the recovery and revival of plant life at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park following...
Jul 2, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Climbing Cuyamaca: Part 1By: Jim Bishop. This is the first of two articles about the recovery and revival of plant life at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park following...
Mar 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Strine Outback Bush Walk – Part 4Trek through the Tingle Trees By Jim Bishop. This is part four of a series about a Sept 2016 trip to view the wildflowers and scenery of...
Feb 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Strine Outback Bush Walk – Part 3Fabulous Fitzgerald, Heavenly Hakea, and the Best Banksia By Jim Bishop. This is part three of a series about a Sept 2016 trip to view...
Jan 1, 2017MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Strine Outback Bush Walk – Part 2By Jim Bishop. This is part two of a series about a September 2016 trip to view the wildflowers and scenery of Southwestern Australia....
Dec 1, 2016MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Strine Outback Bush Walk – Part 1By Jim Bishop. This is part one of series about a September 2016 trip to view the wildflowers and scenery of Southwestern Australia. At...
Nov 2, 2016MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Agavaceae Part 2 – the AggravationBy: Jim Bishop. This is a continuation of last month’s article “The Adoration”, Part 1 about growing agaves. Agaves are great garden...
Oct 2, 2016MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Agavaceae Part 1 – the AdorationBy Jim Bishop. We have a lot of agaves in our garden. However, it took me a while to warm up to agaves. One of the first ones I grew was...
Sep 2, 2016MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: More Plants go in!By Jim Bishop. This is a continuation of columns from May and July 2016 about planting the casita gardens back in 2003. You may recall...
Jul 2, 2016MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: O Canada! RevisitedBy Jim Bishop. I wrote in my November 2013 column that a 1984 family trip to several gardens in British Columbia, Canada, was the...
Apr 1, 2014MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Branching OutBy Jim Bishop. The second year at my garden in Encinitas, I continued to remove grass and iceplant and expand the flower beds. I added a...