A Growing Passion

Bromeliads are a unique group of plants with amazingly colored and patterned foliage along with vividly colored flowers. Bromeliads have evolved in some of nature's most challenging conditions, from desert to rainforest to cloud forest. Spanish moss is a bromeliad. Air plants are bromeliads, too. Discover the amazing diversity of bromeliads!

California's Mediterranean climate is ideal for growing the dried beans that Native Americans and other ancient cultures have grown and eaten for centuries. Sadly, delicious and nutritious heirloom beans have some weaknesses - the plants are naturally smaller and produce fewer beans than today's "improved" varieties. Learn how the work of breeders are strengthening the traditional varieties.

Miniature gardens are the rage - from railroad gardens to fairy gardens, traditional Asian art gardens, to tiny gardens that surround buildings constructed from Legos! There is a miniature garden for everyone, whether young or simply young at heart. In this show, we visit a range of miniature gardens to enjoy their whimsy as we discover how they are carefully designed and meticulously constructed.

In America, 40% of all the food produced goes uneaten. In an era with rampant food insecurity, it is shameful to waste so much. What’s the solution? We unravel this complicated story as we follow the paths of wasted produce from farm to landfill to compost. Along the way, we meet individuals and organizations working hard to stem the flow, both on a large scale and in our homes, too.

Come along on an armchair tour of Southern California’s amazing wildflower “super bloom” of winter 2018/2019. We accompany scientists and flower experts through the rolling wilds of Riverside County, Anza Borrego Desert, and other blooming areas. Everywhere we go, you’ll be amazed and delighted by the diversity of annual flowers in explosive bloom.

If you want to garden but don't have the space, don't give up! Like many other regions of the country, San Diego County is home to dozens of community gardens. In these collections of small plots, your friends and neighbors grow a bounty of produce; sometimes enough to sell at local farmer's markets. We visit a variety of community gardens in this episode.