Author Archives: Denise

Succulent Sunday

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Denise

The nice man who I gave all my cash to, talking about a miniature agave from Japan he called ‘Shoji.’ (Unlike many of the Japanese A. potatorum hybrids, this one supposedly grows not much bigger than a poker chip.) Cleaned … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, succulents | Tagged Aeonium smithii, Billbergia sanderiana, California Nursery Specialists, Crassula marginalis, Echeveria subrigida, Kalanchoe synsepala, Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society, plant shows, Senecio rowleyanus, Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief | 5 Comments

Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana “Pink Butterflies”

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Denise

The entire name wouldn’t even fit in the post title: Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana ‘Pink Butterflies.’ How fitting that a hybrid with a parent commonly known as ‘Mother of Thousands’ would have a name involving syllables of thousands. I’ve had … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged 'Houghton's Hybrid', A.D. Houghton, Arthur Duvernoix Houghton 1870-1938, Hortus Third, Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana 'Pink Butterflies', Terra Sol Garden Center, website Succulent Gardening; The Art of Nature | 46 Comments

June Leans In

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Denise

Look away briefly, and June overwhelms winter’s carefully laid plans. Since spring in Southern California really gets going in March, by June plant growth is at full throttle. The agaves, succulents, and Mediterranean evergreen shrubs have presented a sedate, enchanting … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Agave titanota, Briza maxima, Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga, crocosmia, Gaura linheimeri, Geum magellanicum, Haloragis erecta, Lobelia tupa, perovskia, Persicaria amplexicaule, Salvia 'wendy's Wish', Salvia cacaliifolia, Teucrium 'Fairy Dust', zone 10 Southern California | 6 Comments

Garden Attire From Koreatown

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Denise

I saw something tangentially related to gardens in the window of a golf shop in Koreatown recently, UV-protective clothing, which gives me the barest of opportunities to write about one of my favorite LA neighborhoods. Los Angeles’ most densely populated … Continue reading →

Posted in design, shop talk | Tagged Ambassador Hotel, Blade Runner, Chapman Market, Kool Dog, Koreatown Los Angeles, Radiohead OK Computer, tattoos, The Wiltern Theater, UV-protective clothing | 4 Comments

The Kitchen Garden Contained

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Denise

Is it possible for a vegetable to reach celebrity status? Tuscan kale has seemingly reached a kind of stardom with both ornamental and vegetable gardeners. Brassica oleracea var. acephala, aka Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, black kale, dinosaur kale. I grow … Continue reading →

Posted in design, edibles, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged black kale, Brassica oleracea var. acephala, climbing squash Trombetta di Albenga, Deborah Silver, dinosaur kale, Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, Noel Kingsbury, pole bean Trionfo Violetto, small garden, urban garden, Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea' | 4 Comments

Manly Plants

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Denise

I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay. I sleep all night and I work all day. (Manly chorus: He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay He sleeps all night and he works all day) I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged Debra Lee Baldwin, Gymnocalycium doppianum, Gymnocalycium multiflorum, Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society, Mammillaria decipiens var. camptotricha, Monty Python, Peter Walkowiak, San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society, Sulcorebutia mentosa, Titanopsis calcarea | 6 Comments

Occasional Daily Photos 6/6/11

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Denise

San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society Plant Show and Sale at Balboa Park (San Diego), California. First-time visit to this amazing show in an open-air courtyard at the Casa Del Prado of Balboa Park. I’ll stick with photos of some … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave lophantha 'Goshiki Bandai', Agave parrasana 'Fireball', Crassula capitela, Echeveria agavoides 'Ebony', Euphorbia bupleurifolia | 4 Comments

Another Look at the Huntington

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Denise

I promise this will be the last post on my recent visit here. Unless I get around to writing about John Frame’s exhibit, which I urge any steam punk aficionados in the LA area to get to post haste before … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit, MB Maher, Plant Portraits | Tagged Art Collection and Botanical Gardens, Cedrus atlantica, Elastic Chair, Euphorbia 'Blackbird', Foeniculum vulgare Bronze Fennel, John Frame, Lonicera hildebrandiana Giant Burmese Honeysuckle, Lychnis coronaria, Punica granatum, Rose 'Sally Holmes', Salvia 'Indigo Spires', Salvia pratensis, steam punk, The Huntington Library | 2 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo 6/3/11

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Denise

The garage was cleaned out yesterday, and I was offered four leftover glass doorknobs. Yes, of course, I need them. I absent-mindedly stuck them in the closest thing to hand, a pot of succulents. Kinda startled me this morning, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Occasional Daily Photo, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Echeveria 'Crinoline', Echeveria ciliata x nodulosa | 4 Comments

Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz’

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Denise

There’s no space in the garden for this wonderful santolina currently, so pots it is. Rationale No. 1: Best to be prepared in case a plant in the garden should…die… (and open up a spot for one or both). Rationale … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged Helictotrichon sempervirens, Santolina 'Lemon Fizz' | 15 Comments