All things plants: Tips on how to start a container garden, deadhead roses, make herbal teas from garden harvests, and more.
My love for plants hasn’t waned over the years, but I have become more mindful of what I bring into my home these days. To put it plainly, I don’t want to overspend on things that could, you know, wither away with enough neglect. Unfortunately, novice plant enthusiasts can unwittingly drop a lot of money … Read more
The Central Valley is so spellbinding this time of year. Just outside my window, pinkish white flowers envelope treetops and lightly carpet the concrete roads like tufts of snow. Actually, I recently learned that people in my area refer to the almond blossoms as the Valley’s snow. Isn’t that so beautiful to think about? To … Read more
I remember the good old days when I’d buy a plant and just let it sit in its garish, shiny plastic nursery pot on a cheap plastic saucer. After collecting plants for 5 years, I’ve been more keen on treating plant pots as an integral part of my home decor. Of course, with me being … Read more
Let’s take a break from the thrifting blogs this week. Today, I want to talk about my dad’s kumquat tree, and how I’ve been trying to use up our surplus of kumquat fruits this winter. While this post won’t be about secondhand shopping, I feel like some intersection exists between thrifters and people who want … Read more
When I worked in downtown Oakland in college, I’d occasionally return to my quaint Berkeley studio with a huge plastic bag of jujubes from Chinatown. I never really ate jujubes growing up (we were really more of a longan family), but I decided to pick some up while buying banh cuốn rice roll sheets during … Read more
I am fond of the idea of being a chic rose girl, but unfortunately, I’m seldom a rose girl in practice, especially when it comes to fragrance. In my mind, a rose girl effortlessly spritzes on a rose perfume and a rosewater facial spray before she slips into a crisp poplin wrap dress to grace … Read more
Now that I’m 29, one hard truth that I’ve come to accept about myself is that I’m a fairweather outdoor gardener. Unless I’m cleaning up our already established rose bushes, I water and attend to my outdoor plants based on whim. And when you live in the sweltering and bone-dry heat of the Central Valley, … Read more
I am a neurotically detail-oriented Virgo daughter of a must-have-things-visually-orderly Libra mother, so, of course, against the advice of every proper rose planting guide out there, I spent a few hours pruning our unwieldy and crispy rose bushes this past warm June weekend. While most of my effort went towards deadheading spent blooms, I also … Read more
In proper Swiftie fashion, I have been in a lavender haze lately. That’s to say, the English lavender I’ve been harvesting from the garden has had quite the soporific effect on me as a tea. Or maybe the trials and tribulations of adulthood have just left me in a perpetual state of drowsiness over the … Read more
I think I have sufficiently established that I possess very little skill when it comes to the culinary arts. That said, I do enjoy infusing whatever rudimentary meals I cook with a generous amount of flavor. One lovely flavor trifecta that always hits the spot for me is chili peppers, fish sauce, and Thai basil … Read more
