Watch, Read, Listen

Sweet alyssum is a common flowering plant, easily available in seed or in pony packs at your local nursery. It is usually planted in the fall in Southern California. This is what it looks like today

Forget shamrocks. The best plant at The Huntington on St. Patrick's Day is a bromeliad. At the bottomof the Desert Garden is the giant Puya berteroniana, which amazes us each year at this time with green flowers.

With this posting, I'm beginning an on-going commentary in which I hope to explain the potential mysteries of why change happens (or doesn't) in the gardens, giving fair warning as to what plans and projects are in the offing, and making suggestions as to what corner of the grounds you might wish to explore at the moment.

For months now, we have been looking forward to an unusual exhibition—a display of works created by the Southern California sculptor John Frame. For the better part of five years, Frame has been assembling a body of work that features, at its core, an eclectic cast of fully articulated characters.

Carl Stucky and Julie Frink know a thing or two about avocados. Stucky has been around avocados for more than 40 years and is now an agricultural consultant and farm manager of six commercial orchards in and around Carpinteria. He is a member of the board of directors of the California Avocado Society, and he also is a past president of the organization.

What does it take to win "Best in Show?" The flower judges will have the answer this weekend when the North American Clivia Society presents its 8th annual Clivia Show and Sale at The Huntington.

Today we mark the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address. In a way, the commemoration kicks off the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. For the next four years, historians will note the 150th anniversaries of everything from the attack on Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861) to Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox (April 9, 1865).

After a bit of a break to finish planting fruit trees in the food forest and work on Ranch programming for the next year, we are back to blogging and look forward to posting much more regularly about all things Ranch related.