Author Archives: Denise

more talk about plants

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Denise

I’m blaming it on spring. A beautifully soft, mild spring. And that rainy winter certainly didn’t hurt in rebuilding confidence. New acquisitions are now unloaded from the back of the Mini at near weekly intervals. Amazingly, this little garden swallows … Continue reading →

Posted in journal | 5 Comments

tuesday clippings 4/23/19

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Denise

The pitcher plant Sarracenia ‘Scarlet Belle’ is sending out more flowers than leaves this spring. I have no idea if this is usual, unusual, a sign of imminent demise, or what exactly. But at least the pitcher plants made it … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged | 6 Comments

spring surge

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Denise

In what’s become a spring ritual, I thinned out a whole bunch of poppies today (my go-to poppy, Papaver setigerum, which has been reseeding for years). And yanked handfuls of branches from the bulging honeywort, Cerinthe major purpurascens, too. When … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, shop talk, succulents | 10 Comments

recycling; it takes more than a bottle village

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Denise

After a hard-scrabble life of over 60 years, and after the roughshod course of a couple marriages and the tragic loss of most of her children, Tressa Prisbrey decided when she settled in Simi Valley with her third husband, Mr. … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, MB Maher | Tagged , | 6 Comments

garden tour season 2019

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Denise

Upcoming garden tour: APLD S.E.E. garden tour Saturday, April 13, 2019, 9-4 p.m. tickets @ https://tinyurl.com/y5tzaeky One’s own garden is never enough. One’s friends’ gardens are never enough. Seeing lots of other gardens is essential sustenance for this peculiar obsession, … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit | 3 Comments

the giant fennel

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Denise

Mitch has been sending photos from his wanderings in Greece this week while I watch his cat. I don’t mean to always be a supergeek botanical nuisance, but there’s been a tall umbellifer cropping up in the background in those … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, MB Maher, Plant Portraits | 11 Comments

Nigel Dunnett’s Low-Input, High-Impact Landscapes

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Denise

(Nigel Dunnett passed away in late April 2026. Updating this post on the visit he made to speak at the Huntington in 2019. Too young, such a loss.) A few days before he was scheduled to speak at the Huntington … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, design, MB Maher, science | 11 Comments

echiums, blue spikes for dry gardens

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Denise

At the Huntington earlier in the week… Echiums getting the formal treatment. Formal, informal, echiums never hit a false note. They’re some of the wildest, spikiest blues around. Sometimes shading into violet, with other species spiking in white, red. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit | 4 Comments

garden notes 3/20/19

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Denise

Yesterday I removed the diseased carcass of Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ which lived its brief but spectacular life – until this rainy winter – under the acacia tree in the far southeast corner. You’d think having to battle for resources … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 6 Comments

Digital Nature 2019

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Denise

(More from MB Maher, far-flung AGO correspondent. Winter storms, family stuff, a host of things kept me from attending Natural Discourse‘s Digital Nature 2019 at the LA Arboretum this past February. So I’ve been pumping Mitch, who has worked with … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, garden visit, MB Maher | 5 Comments