Come Into the Garden

Tomatoes The Basket of Apples is one of Cézanne’s most famous still-life paintings. Today he might have chosen to paint a basket of colorful heirloom tomatoes. History of Tomatoes Tomatoes are native to the Americas and can be traced back to the Aztecs around 700 A.D. Early Aztec writings reveal recipes for a dish that uses tomatoes, peppers, and seasoning. However, it was not until around the 16th century that Europeans were introduced to this fruit. Throughout Southern Europe, the tomato was quickly accepted into the kitchen, but as it moved north, many Europeans feared that the tomato was poisonous, and the tomato’s reputation was ruined. You can’t keep a good plant down, though, and despite its ill-deserved bad reputation, eventually, the taste of the tomato TRIUMPHED and became popular the world over.

Come Into the Garden

Bougainvillea This exotic plant catches your attention and steals your heart with its beauty. It is the Cinderella of the garden. Its colorful flower brings a bright burst of excitement to every breathtaking landscape. Bougainvillea is a subtropical flowering vine named for Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729 – 1811), the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe during a three-year voyage in the mid-1700s. Philibert Commerson, a flagship botanist was the first to describe this plant in scientific literature, but it was his assistant, an herbalist named Jeanne Baret, who found it growing in the hills near Rio de Janeiro and carried it back on board.

Come Into the Garden

“A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.” – Chinese Proverb The past year has reminded us how much relationships mean in our lives. Nothing expresses this sentiment better than the rose, which has been a symbol of love and friendship for centuries. Garden cultivation of roses began some five thousand years ago in China where they grew in the imperial gardens of the Chou dynasty. The Romans used roses to make garlands and crowns for celebrations. In Roman homes, petals were used to carpet the floors, to fill bathwater, and to drop as confetti at parties. It is said that Cleopatra covered the floor of her chambers with over a foot of rose petals to intoxicate her lovers and demonstrate her power.

Come Into the Garden

With our Mediterranean-style climate in Los Angeles, we have more opportunity than most to explore the natural world and to be creative, surrounding ourselves with nature’s favorite flowers and plants of the season. There is a special kind of joy when one puts their hands-in-the dirt gardening. The result is a happy blend of mental relaxation and creative energy. Our garden star this month is the CAMELLIA, one of nature’s greatest fall gifts. They are the jewels of the shade garden that brighten the winter months with blooms of incredible variation and beauty. Camellias were also one of Virginia Robinson’s favorite flowers. The pink flower pictured here was named after Virginia Robinson at “Nuccio’s” famous camellia nursery.

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