Sign up for our L.A. Times Plants newsletter
Sign up for our L.A. Times Plants newsletter
At the start of each month, get a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with links to tips and articles you may have missed.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
The L.A. Times Plants newsletter is for everyone who cares about plants — whether you’re a committed gardener with tons of yard, a condo dweller with a balcony container garden or a landless environmentalist who wants to see habitat restored as much as possible for our threatened species.
I’m Jeanette Marantos, a staff reporter for The Times who has been covering plants and the things that make them grow since 2016. I’ve covered a lot of other things during my 20-plus years in journalism, from health and business to courts and homicides, but plants are the topic that fills me with the most hope — and the greatest sense of urgency.
If you care about the natural world, you probably feel this too. Whatever your circumstance, I’m guessing you’re probably curious about the world, interested in new ideas and juggling so many things it’s hard to keep up.
That’s where this newsletter comes in.
At the start of each month (and only once a month!) I’ll send you a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with links to tips and articles you may have missed.
My goal is to provide you with options to learn, consider, act and thrive, because ultimately, the way we landscape, the methods we use to grow, the food we eat, even the temperature of our urban neighborhoods are all plant-related decisions with far-reaching effects on the health and happiness of our communities and our world.
I talk to experts every day — thoughtful, passionate people who graciously share their knowledge and ideas so I can pass them along to you. And I want to talk to readers like you too about your gardening journeys. Let’s make this a conversation.
Sign up for the L.A. Times Plants newsletter here or at our newsletters center. Email your plant questions, interests and events to jeanette.marantos@latimes.com.
And finally, don’t forget the joy of plants. Always take time to stop and smell the roses … or better yet, some delicious Cleveland sage!
Sign up for our L.A. Times Plants newsletter
At the start of each month, get a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with links to tips and articles you may have missed.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
See all Times plants and gardening coverage at latimes.com/plants
Recent editions
The Mountain fire threatened SoCal’s premier iris growers, but both survived. December is prime time to plant these exotic flowers, plus a list of plant events.
Seeds for wildflowers and sweet peas produce delicate bursts of spring color. Here’s how to plant them now in SoCal, plus November plant events.
You’d think L.A.’s ‘perfect’ street tree would be a California native. So why does the city plant so many trees from somewhere else? Plus a list of plant events.
Native plants have a reputation for hardiness, but it’s wrong to treat them like weeds — they need nurturing when they’re first planted to grow and thrive.
Artist David Allen Burns wants to build a world full of fruit trees that people actually pick from.
An online map points to urban fruit trees ripe for the picking, some of which are growing on private property but hanging into the public right of way. ‘Why not share?’ organizers say.
Want bulletproof plants for your landscape? Consider these hyperlocal L.A. plants that survived massive climate changes 30,000 years ago and are still flourishing today.
Why does Southern California have so many residential fruit trees? Credit the weather, developers, even the Gold Rush. Plus: a list of plant-related June events.
With summer temperatures and water rates on the rise in Southern California, gardeners can learn from desert farmers how to grow food with little water and lots of heat.
April is a stellar month for celebrating native plants, from wildflower hunting (when they arrive) to the Los Angeles Times’ Festival of Books, plus lots of plant activities.
