Life Style & Travel

UNITED STATES—Roses are not for the meek. They are too demanding, too sensitive, too thorny, and without their flowers, they are not even very attractive. They have no business in a low-maintenance landscape, or in a landscape maintained by mow, blow and go gardeners. Those who want to grow rose plants for their flowers should be ready to give...

UNITED STATES—Five long years without a vacation. Yeah, there were trips to visit the grandparents—famiy trips—but they didn’t count as a real vacation. In Cahuenga Springs, Ben slept on that concrete-sack futon on the floor like he hadn’t slept in five years. No dreams. The dream started Sunday morning when his friend’s mom, who’d insisted they stay overnight, made coffee...

UNITED STATES—Plants have very different priorities from those who enjoy growing them. The colors and fragrances of flowers that we find so appealing are really designed to guide pollinators. The appealingly aromatic foliage of scented geranium and other herbs is actually designed to repel hungry insects and animals. Many tasty fruits are designed for seed dispersion by animals who...

UNITED STATES—“AMGeez that’s a lot of torque” was the first thought that wailed through my mind like an air raid siren as I fishtailed out of the paddock and into pit lane. “I’m going to have to show this thing a lot of respect.” This thing was the C63 S AMG, the latest monster created by the mad scientists...

UNITED STATES—A couple days after my last day at the census bureau, I witnessed my first lock-out at Mr. Wylie’s house on St. Andrews Place. The victim was a tall bald guy with a greasy moustache. He hadn’t paid his rent for months. The lock-out was early, earlier than I would have gotten up normally. The white guy had...

UNITED STATES—Native plants should be the most sensible options for local landscapes and home gardens. It seems natural that they would be the most sustainable, since they survive in the wild without watering, soil amendment or fertilizer. Once established in landscapes, they should be satisfied with the moisture they get from annual rainfall. Plants that are not native are...

UNITED STATES—In April, when I took over the managerial duties for all the Wylie properties, no sooner had I moved out of Estrella Avenue, and every  thing boiled over. Tenant squabbles, empty rooms, drug dealing. The house didn’t go to pot; it went to crack. It was horrid; it was entertaining. Because I didn’t have to live there any...

UNITED STATES—After providing remarkably striking foliage for many years, the biggest and boldest agaves bolt with spectacularly tall floral stalks that support horizontal pads of flowers. These stalks can bloom for months, and stand for months after bloom is finished. Then things get ugly. The foliage around each bloom folds back, desiccates and dies. There is no nice way...

UNITED STATES—That fall and winter at Estrella Avenue I endured penuries that I hoped were behind me for good, such as living on ten dollars a month, and one episode that still provokes a pang of regret. My friends from Nadeau Drive, who I still socialized with even though they had dismissed me from their couch, invited me to hear...

UNITED STATES—If more of us knew how vines compete in the wild, fewer of us would grow them in our home gardens. Understory plants that are satisfied with the sunlight that reaches them through a higher forest canopy are the most passive. Taller trees compete for sunnier exposure above. Vines are the most aggressive as they climb and overwhelm...