Milica's garden in April

Vlada and I spent a good amount of time in grandma Milica’s garden over the course of our five day stay in Los Angeles. On the afternoon of our arrival, we mowed the lawn in the back, which had become a wildflower field (left) – not without its own charm, so that we decided to preserve a wildflower border along the alley over which the grapevines grow. Weeds of a much less charming variety had also invaded all the flower beds. I eventually pulled out what amounted to two large containers filled to the brim. I also clipped the grapevines, picked lots of grapefruit and lemons in order for Vlada to make lemonade, grapefruit juice and lemon-grapefruit curd, and trimmed the tallest branches of the fig tree.

The Spanish lavender plants which I planted two year ago in the front garden have become enormous and were full of flowers and bees busily collecting pollen. The fern lavender plant (below left) which I moved from back to front garden last August because it was not getting enough sun there, was now healthier and bushier but completely hidden under tall weeds. This is a more delicate plant, which I have only ever seen in California gardens and whose leaves are incredibly fragrant. During the next few days, Vlada and I got four more lavender plants for the front border, including another Spanish lavender which seems to be the hardiest kind and most adapted to California as well as a more mysterious (also Spanish) “Madrid” variety, which came from a nearby garden center and is supposed to have deep purple flowers.