Lovely article Tee! You are so right about the Cali suburbs and the very manicured and limited plants at times...especially in new developments, a specified list of plants allowed, needs permission and so forth and so on, otherwise issues with the HOA. I guess the rationale behind is that some people do not have the time to put in maintaining the yard, which a sod would still require anyways..all the more for other plants. And the on and off drought conditions, plus I think they are also trying to encourage less fire prone vegetation around the homes, especially those along the hillsides.
Ah but I love your article! A wondeful insight how plants adds color to our homes and our lives
