Lew Whitney’s Secrets to Growing and Maintaining Dahlias
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Plant Pansies Now by Lew Whitney
Now is the perfect time to plant Pansies and their smaller cousins, Violas. Pansies and I have a long history. My Mother, from whom I inherited my love for gardening, planted a long border of Pansies every year. Back in the 1950s she bought them in strawberry pots, the same container in which the berries [...]
Dahlia Days Begin Now by Lew Whitney
For summer flowers, there is nothing better than the Dahlia family. Even though I am writing this in January, now is the time to start looking for Dahlias from tubers. You can wait until March 1 to plant your tubers, but now is when you will find a best selection on the shelves at Rogers [...]
Anemone Mona Lisa by Lew Whitney
Like many California gardeners, I planted Anemone bulbs for years and enjoyed the cut flowers they provided. At the same time I discovered in florist shops bigger, stronger and better Anemones that my garden could produce. The florist quality Anemones cost about one dollar per stem, so a decent bouquet ran at least $15.00. [...]
Cyclamen: From Fancy to Favorite by Lew Whitney
Cyclamen, which used to be florist specialty plants, have moved to the front of the pack for fall/winter planting, not only in gardens, but especially in containers on patios. Even commercial landscapers are planting masses of Cyclamen. Unlike many fall/wintere color plants, there is no waiting for color to start blooming as Cyclamen arrive with [...]
Arid Tropical Garden with Lew Whitney
The words “arid” and “tropical” and, indeed, the concepts behind them, may seem antithetical. Arid makes one think of dry, brown and prickly, while tropical implies wet, green and lush. But in the world of garden design, an illusion can be created that meets the criteria of low water usage with the beauty of foliage [...]
Hot Summer Color by Lew Whitney
Only a few years ago summer color consisted of marigolds, petunias and impatiens. While there is nothing wrong with these reliable plants, a veritable plethora of introductions has improved the palette. […]
Fame Roses by Lew Whitney
There are as many opinions about roses as there are roses. Everyone who grows roses has and is entitled to their own opinion on what the best roses are and what characteristics in roses are most important. For me, healthy bushes and cut flower value trump scent. Sure, I like to “stop and smell the [...]
April Gardening by Lew Whitney
When the poet T.S. Eliot wrote the line, “April is the cruelest month,” he wasn’t in Southern California. Here, April is the magic month in our gardens. Lengthening days with lots of sunshine, warmer nights and days that aren’t hot combine to make plants grow like no other month of the year. All that fall [...]
Container Gardening My Way by Lew Whitney
There are as many forms of container gardening as there are containers and gardeners, no right way, probably a few wrong ways, and in this story, following Frank Sinatra… My Way. […]