Seeking inspiration

My husband and I recently made a trip to the South and Central coasts of California. While there, I kept my eyes on the plants, to see what I could find that will grow in coastal Southern California, as well as the coasts of Texas.

One thing is certain: It is tough to be a plant in either place. In California, plants must be highly tolerant of drought, in Texas, they must be high ly tolerant of excess water. Snow is not a problem in either place, but the occasional nasty freeze during winter is an issue in both regions.

Fortunately for me, I have a grandfather whose backyard is practically his own private botanical garden, and he was happy to show me around and point out plants that have potential for a region like this one. The pictures in this post are ones that I took in his garden, which he planted entirely on his own steam, and grew over a period of almost 14 years now.


Over the next several days, I'll be posting pictures of some of the plants I saw on my trip, and information about them as well. Some of them will be no surprise to experience gulf-coast gardeners, but for a newbie like myself, this is all still fascinating.



I'll also do the occasional post on differences between the two regions in terms of the natural landscape. Just for the heck of it.