4 minPittosporum tenuifoliumIt is easy to dismiss some of the more Plane Jane plants of the ornamental landscape, but for landscape architects, they can play key...
3 minPrunus laurocerasusFor formal and informal hedges, Prunus laurocerasus is a competitive option. They treat us with deep green and lustrous foliage, perfect...
3 minPinus edulisMemories can pop up when least expected. My family and I would sit on the back deck of our South Lake Tahoe cabin and pick out and devour...
4 minKoelreuteria paniculataTruth be known, I have not specified Koelreuteria paniculata in any of my designs, and I am not sure why. Perhaps one reason is that it...
3 minMelaleuca linariifoliaEasily unnoticeable but offers so much more when looking at the details, we should be seeing more of Melaleuca linariifolia in public...
3 minCeiba speciosaAges ago...I am referring to my own ancient history...I was an outsider yet still involved with activities on Stanford's campus. My...
4 minGinkgo bilobaLike me, Ginkgo biloba is a living fossil, or as Sunset summarizes, an "ancient survivor from prehistoric times..." (p. 339). The...
4 minMyoporum laetumThere are two trees I can think of that leave me unenthusiastic about giving them my time here. The first is Ailanthus altissima, which...
2 minPSA #1: Trees still need water over the summer and fall, just not as much as you might thinkAutumn 2021. California is drought stricken. Wildfires seem endless. Fire season. Our state is at the precipice, where we are...
5 minPistacia chinensisFrequently, I second guess myself on the scientific name of this deciduous tree. Pistache, pistachio...isn't there an "h" in the genus? ...
3 minCeratonia siliquaWhere do you fall in the carob or chocolate debate? A general online search illustrates how people take sides for their health benefits...
4 minArbutus 'Marina'When thinking about street trees for California, there are few evergreen examples that check off all the boxes of requirements and still...
4 minHibiscus rosa-sinensisIf a landscape design calls for tropical plant species, one cannot go wrong with including Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Its genus, Hibiscus,...
3 minStyrax japonicusDesigners may already be familiar with Japanese maples and flowering cherries, but this Japanese snowdrop or snowbell tree offers a...
3 minClerodendrum trichotomumThis large shrub, small tree came my way from generous owners of a small resort in Guerneville. I would occasionally talk with them...
3 minLagunaria patersoniiAdmittedly, I only discovered this tree when developing our plant list for student studies, so in this situation, I am the student as...
3 minChilopsis linearisIn the past decade, Chilopsis linearis has started to pop up in Northern California as a viable, colorful option in the landscape ...
4 minPunica granatumWe moved to Palo Alto when I was child, so I was amazed to learn that we had our own pomegranate tree in the front yard, already well...
5 minLagerstroemia indicaWhat's not to love about Lagerstroemia indica, or crape myrtles? Right about now, mid to late summer, their ubiquity is obvious along...
3 minBrachychiton populneusCalifornia landscape designers, give this tree more attention. We have a specimen at West Valley College (shown below), which is just...