Santa Barbara Edhat : Look, Up In The Sky!

When I think of October I think of Halloween, which gets me thinking about bats. Naturally, bats conjure thoughts of belfries, which invariably lead to the topic of beavers.

Confused? There's a cure. Read the rest of this sumptuous tour of Santa Barbara's architecture and "roof toppings" at my recent Edhat.com blog.

Read Look, Up In The Sky!

Planting Design Lessons from Raleigh NC - Fine Gardening

Blessing or curse, I find it difficult to look at a garden without immediately activating the design teacher in my brain. I imagine it's no different for a film critic trying to watch their brother-in-law's home videos.

Tune in and see me apologize to a cactus on my hands and knees. Really!

Planting Design Lesson from Raleigh, North Carolina

Win a copy of Designer Plant Combinations! - Fine Gardening

What a fun read this was! Scott Calhoun's book is now the first thing I reach for when I need a bit of inspiration on a planted design job. You gotta have this book!

You can win your own copy by visiting my blog at Fine Gardening Magazine and leaving a comment. Do it NOW!

Win a copy of Scott's book. Click over to my Cool Green Gardens blog.



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One Pill Made Me Larger: Tripping on Bonsai

Does the current economic downturn have you contemplating a career change? Have you considered taking a hallucinogenic drug? No? Let me tell you, it worked for me.

Wait! Hold it! I’m not talking about my recent departure from my gig with the Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department. I’m talking about the early 70s when I began extricating myself from the music business and entering the world of horticulture.

The rest of this sordid tale is posted at my most recent Edhat.com blog, Santa Barbara's finest on-line news and entertainment site.

Santa Barbara Edhat : Tripping on Bonsai

Can Coyote Pee Repel Zombies In The Garden?

Once again, my inner 3rd grader was on the loose, interviewing a rep for an unusual product at the Garden Writers Association symposium in Raleigh, NC a few weeks ago. The full article and video are at my Fine Gardening blog. Here's a teaser...

"I stifled a giggle as I approached Ronald Boyce, an actual scientist who works for Shake-Away Animal Repellant, developed as the humane and environmentally safe way to repel deer, woodchucks, armadillos, skunks and other unwanted garden visitors. They use coyote and wolf urine to keep four-legged pests out of the pea patch...

I couldn’t contain myself. Tapping into my hard-hitting Kathy Lee Crosby journalistic instincts, I peppered him with probing questions. "How do you get them to pee on demand? Do they prefer Miller Lite or Stella Artois? Who follows them around with the specimen cup? Would Shake-Away prevent zombie invasions?"

Video blog link!

Bovine Biscuits Get A New Lease On Life

Here's an excerpt from my latest blog post at Cool Green Gardens...

"How often does a garden writer get to use the words pee-pee, poopy and worms at the website of a respected on-line publication? Once. I promise. This will be my sole channeling of my inner third-grader, at least for a while."

I’ve just returned home from the Garden Writers Association (GWA) Symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina, were more than 650 garden communicators gathered for educational sessions, garden tours, networking, product displays and sweating in 90-degree, 4356% humidity. (Good thing I brought my 55-gallon drum of baby powder.)"

Here's the rest of the blog...