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Waterwise Gardening - a book review

Waterwise Gardening: Everything You Need To Know About Efficient Watering to Grow a Healthy Yard by Richard Restuccia Published by Rizzoli, 2025 I would guess that watering is the major issue that most gardeners grapple with, especially novice gardeners. I know from working at the nursery that the majority of questions and issues we get stem from either watering too much or not watering enough.  Many people in our area have sprinkler systems and I'm sure that can be a good thing if used properly but I feel that they primarily keep the lawns green but fall short for landscape plants. Especially when it comes to trees and larger plants, the timing and amounts are not satisfactory for many plants. I often hear people say that their sprinklers are set to come on every day - yikes! And there are those who did not water because it "rained" when it actually drizzled.  The best thing to do in this situation is to have a xeric garden but that would mean sacrificing favorite plant...
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Winter wonders

Well, today's weather made me eat my words from my last post. It was sunny and reached 60! The ground was too wet to do any garden work so I picked up sticks and other debris from the wind storm we had a few nights ago and looked at plants. Do you wonder if people who are non-gardeners notice the beauties in the winter landscape? I got my camera out and took a few photos:

The Chinese Holly 'O'Spring' is always beautiful, no matter what the weather is like -





I wrote about the Winter Daphne in a previous post - it just gets prettier!



If you want winter fragrance, plant Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) - it is such an unexpected pleasure to catch a whiff of this in the dead of winter.



Viburnum 'Spring Bouquet' -



Abelia 'Francis Mason' -



I only found one camellia in bloom - 'Governor Mouton'-




Mossy bricks in the vegetable garden -



I have a fear of bamboos - this is the only one I have (Pleioblastus viridistriatus) and it is in a pot.



What would we do without pansies for the winter?



One of my favorite trees - the River Birch -



The holly fern hanging on -



Nandina berries -



Awaiting spring -



We still have some herbs to enjoy, like parsley -



and Santolina -



Ruins -



Winter birdbath -



And one last showoff, Isabella, who finally stopped rolling around on this bench long enough for me to snap a photo -

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  1. BKFebruary 2, 2008 at 10:38 PM

    Beautiful photography. I could almost smell the daphne!

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  2. Carol MichelFebruary 3, 2008 at 2:57 AM

    Sunny and 60 sounds so nice. We got to sunny and 35 and I thought that was pretty good.

    There is certainly a lot of winter interest in your garden.

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

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  3. RandyFebruary 3, 2008 at 6:43 AM

    Thanks for the inspiration Phillip. I hate this weather, I can't even make myself get outside and pick up sticks. I had all these winter projects planned, I take one step outside and back into the house I go. In the spring and summer you can't stop me, now I'm having a difficult time getting just the slightest bit motivated.

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  4. The DivaFebruary 4, 2008 at 4:28 AM

    Love your pics. It's supposed to be 78 here today. 32 tomorrow. Ah February and March, the changeable months. I found you thru Blotanical.

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  5. kateFebruary 4, 2008 at 10:35 AM

    Isabella is beautiful - your Winter Daphne is striking in bloom. I wish I could grow Camellias. Your 'Governor Mouton' is lovely. The Nandina berries are such a brilliant colour.

    I've never heard of Winter Honeysuckle. I imagine it has a wonderful fragrance.

    Your winter landscape stands in sharp contrast to mine!!

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  6. Aunt Debbi/kurts momFebruary 4, 2008 at 1:58 PM

    I'm going outside right now to look for pretty stuff. I get so bummed out in winter I forget to do that. Thanks for the reminder.

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  7. CanadianGardenJoyFebruary 4, 2008 at 2:15 PM

    Phillip
    Obviously you are taunting us poor Canadians under our 4 feet of snow.
    I'm too jealous to say how gorgeous your pictures are .. so there !
    Isabella is beautiful .. cat people appreciate these little souls no matter thier owner (haha)
    Very nice blog !
    Joy (disgruntled in the snow, Canuck) : )

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  8. Annie in AustinFebruary 4, 2008 at 2:39 PM

    Your Chinese holly looks great in your photo, Phillip, but in the wrong place those leaves are like knives - to get from the drive to the garden gate I have to pass two of them and they're out to get me!

    I'd like to find out what winter honeysuckle smells like, and the ruins are awesome!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  9. Frances,February 4, 2008 at 5:33 PM

    How sweet is Isabella! I am in love with the holly, sharp leaves or not. There are spots here under the mature Lobolly pines where few things grow well, but the hollies thrive. I will have to look for that one.

    Frances at Faire Garden

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