Almond Tree in Blossom by Pierre Bonnard

The Almond Tree by Pierre Bonnard

The Almond Trees are in blossom! It’s such a glorious time of year. And every year as I write this blog my thoughts turn to the artists who loved almond blossoms just as much. In the late winter of 1941, Post-Impressionist French painter Pierre Bonnard wrote to his friend Henri Matisse: “Today I saw the […]

Posted on March 21st, 2019

It’s California Arbor Day

Almond Grove in Bloom

We’re celebrating trees on the blog today! We celebrate Arbor Day in California on March 7th in honor of horticulturist Luther Burbank’s birthday. Did you know that Luther Burbank got his start in the field when he chose the almond as the rootstock to fulfill a commission from an investor who wanted to cash in […]

Posted on March 7th, 2019

Why Nuts are Traditional for Christmas

Nutcrackers

A big bowl of nuts with a nutcracker is always on our table at Christmas. And it’s hardly the Christmas season at all without the Nutcracker ballet on television or an old-fashioned nutcracker livening up the room. But where did the tradition of nuts and nutcrackers at Christmas come from? Well, it depends on who […]

Posted on November 26th, 2017