Author Archives: Denise

Growing Dragon Fruit

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Denise

Yesterday, 12/20/11, The Los Angeles Times ran a well-informed piece on the cultivation and propagation of pitahaya, or dragon fruit, written by Jeff Spurrier of the The Global Garden, which you can read here. I wrote about my neighbor’s dragon … Continue reading →

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holiday cheer

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Denise

the garden has started a holiday party of its own, in a very traditional palette

Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

fountain with fishnet and text

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Denise

The matted, black material at the base of this fountain merited closer inspection. Was it trash? Or perhaps something had gone terribly wrong with the water chemistry. Not at all, just fishing net. A wonderful touch which brought a smile … Continue reading →

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Foliage Followup December 2011

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Denise

400 South Hope Street, Los Angeles Mellon Bank Center An enormous agave (A. weberi?) in a sea of Senecio mandraliscae, ribboning out into massed plantings of dwarf phormium, then masses of a smaller agave, replaced by blocks of feather grass. … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, succulents, The Hortorialist | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Bloom Day December 2011

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Denise

An unexpected afternoon cloudburst visited the garden this Bloom Day. In five minutes it was over, leaving enough time to collect some photos before sunset. Self-sown Orlaya grandiflora, the Minoan Lace. Rose ‘Bouquet d’Or still in a flush of blooms. … Continue reading →

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Rolling Greens Nursery

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Denise

I had a job just down the street from Rolling Greens Nursery yesterday, but the sun was already set by the time I paid them a visit. The store is a big, roomy, open air space (formerly a tire shop) … Continue reading →

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walkies

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Denise

We’ve been pushing ourselves to take long walks, sometimes early morning, sometimes early evening, as much as 4 miles, mostly through Long Beach’s old downtown, which has seen many of its older buildings become frozen mid loft conversion. (Probably too … Continue reading →

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bowl of succulents

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Denise

Hoping to do some holiday shopping for the hikers in the family, I drove out to Patagonia’s store at The Camp in Costa Mesa. Also at The Camp is the little shop Organic Designs by Aggelige, where I studied this … Continue reading →

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Covent Garden’s LEGO Greenhouse

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Denise

The LEGO greenhouse from London Design Week 2011 got lots of coverage from design blogs last fall. Image found here. But since LEGO at one time was practically synonymous with winter holidays in our house, it seems appropriate for a … Continue reading →

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Moroccan Toadflax

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Denise

Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon. My Hortus Third says there are “Between 75 and 100 species of annual and perennial herbs of temperate Europe, Asia, North America, but mainly of the Mediterranean region.” Linaria reticulata, a hardy annual that thrives in zone … Continue reading →

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