Author Archives: Denise

San Gabriel Valley CSS Show & Sale

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Denise

I treated myself yesterday to San Gabriel Valley’s Cactus & Succulent Society‘s show and sale at the Los Angeles Arboretum. I bought no plants this time, just circled the show tables over and over, sometimes because the show plant was … Continue reading →

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

Othonna cheirifolia

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Denise

I just had a panicked moment, several of them actually, trying to recollect the name of this very good plant that has prospered through this very challenging summer. I could only remember that Heather had blogged about it blooming in … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Greenlee Meadow Grass Fall Festival 2015

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Denise

Fall has been stupidly busy, but I’m so glad I made it out to Pomona last Saturday for John Greenlee’s Meadow Grass Fall Festival, the second year it’s been held. Let’s cross our grubby, fall-planting fingers and hope for another … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, plant nurseries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

postscript to Natural Discourse; Flora & Fauna

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Denise

It’s been such a pleasure to see what shape and expression each successive Natural Discourse has taken. Developed by Shirley Watts and Mary Anne Friel for the Berkeley Botanic Garden, a group of artists were invited to make site-specific work … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, MB Maher, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

“Emergency Prescriptions Kept Up One’s Sleeve.”

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Denise

Congratulations, Artemisia annua (Sweet Annie, Sweet Wormwood), on your recent Nobel Prize in the sciences. photo found here And congratulations as well to Dr. Tu, who solved the problem of increasingly drug-resistant malaria with artemisinin extracted from Artemisia annua. Dr. … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged | 5 Comments

Bloom Day October 2015

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Denise

Bloom Days are celebrated by May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of every month, and as far as I know, latecomers are welcome. If you’re perpetually late like me, you end up straddling Bloom Day on the 15th and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

bromeliads for winter

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Denise

Hot enough for you? It’s over 100 degrees in Los Angeles today, so hot that even the devil has left town…(That’s the best “It’s so hot” line I’ve heard all summer, spoken by a gentleman from El Paso, Texas.) And … Continue reading →

Posted in Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

gardens without borders

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Denise

This corner of my small, jam-packed garden is where it gets crazy. Okay, okay. Crazier. This east end of the garden kind of horseshoes around this collection of containers, with the main sitting area (and more containers) off to the … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

the siren call of cycads

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Denise

a local Long Beach front garden, zone 10, south-facing exposure I recently chanced upon a house and garden that I used to drive by a lot more frequently. Habits change, errands take one in a different direction, and in that … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

signs of fall

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Denise

Fall doesn’t announce itself ceremoniously draped in dramatic curtains of crimson and gold. We’re a little, ahem, minimalist and understated here in Southern California as far as seasonal transitions. But there are many autumnal similarities we share. Like everyone in … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments