Author Archives: Denise

friday agave love

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Denise

I had a paycheck a couple weeks back that was bigger than expected, so that’s when my ongoing cold inspection of every variegated octopus agave on offer around town turned into hot acquisition. Always expensive, always a little bit beat … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave franzosinii, Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls', Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass', Agave x leopoldii, Cante Institute and Botanic Garden in San Miguel de Allende, Charles Glass, Guanajuato, International Garden Center, Mexico, octopus agave, potted agaves, San Marcos Growers, variegated agaves | 11 Comments

Fernando Caruncho’s Design Studio

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Denise

Images from Architectural Digest of the design studio of the Spanish landscape architect who resolutely insists on being called a gardener. As with stripping down occupations to their mythic essence, Caruncho does the same for gardens, revealing anew the power … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, climate, design, photography | Tagged "A Landscape Designer's Airy Studio in Madrid", Architectural Digest, Fernando Caruncho, landscape architecture, Simon Watson photography | 5 Comments

waiting out a furcraea’s awkward years

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Denise

This furcraea has been kicking around in the garden, oh, such a very long time. It’s been in pots, planted in the ground, and then moved several times, frequently serving as a midnight snail snack. This summer is the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Furcraea foetida 'Mediopicta' | 6 Comments

completion of the High Line September 21, 2014

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Denise

“Before it was constructed, the New York Central Railroad had operated a rail freight line at grade, or street level, along Tenth Avenue, and men on horseback (“West Side cowboys”) had ridden ahead of the train with red flags or … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden travel, garden visit, photography | Tagged air rights, Friends of the High Line, Joel Sternfeld, Joshua David, landscape architecture, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York City, Piet Oudolf, Robert Hammond, The High Line Park, Transferable Development Right, urban planning | 12 Comments

terraced gardens and the Cow Horn agave

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Denise

I love terraced gardens, with their multiple shifting perspectives from up, down, side to side. I can probably trace this appreciation to an aunt’s hilltop home in the harbor town of San Pedro, Calif. My dad’s sister had a house … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Nova', Agave bovicornuta, agave garden, Dracaena draco, Echeveria agavoides, Euphorbia tirucalli, Kalanchoe luciae ‘Fascination’, Kalanchoe tomentosa, terraced gardens, terracing, Yucca rostrata | 10 Comments

beam me here

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Denise

Actor Zachary Quinto, probably best known for playing the young Spock in the JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movies, on the evidence of his garden, seems to be a well-grounded young man. It’s not very often that a house for sale … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit | Tagged concrete retaining walls, Los Angeles real estate, The Los Angeles Times, Zachary Quinto's Los Angeles house for sale | 7 Comments

a garden wedding

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Denise

When someone who works in landscape design gets married, even the agaves are dressed for the occasion. Congratulations to Mary True and Cheryl Fippen on their recent wedding in Berkeley, California. Thank you both for your kind permission to use … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, cut flowers, design, garden ornament, garden visit, MB Maher, photography | Tagged Agave vilmoriniana, garden wedding, wedding photography | 8 Comments

streetside with grasses and succulents

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Denise

Because of this house, I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon trying to source a flat of Sesleria autumnalis or Sesleria ‘Greenlee.’ No luck yet, but I will not be deterred.

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave attenuata, Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers', Bulbine frutescens, Dianella, Dymondia margaretae, Echeveria agavoides, Furcraea macdougalii, Ligularia tussilaginea, retaining walls, Senecio decaryi, Senecio vitalis, Sesleria autumnalis, Spanish style architecture, terraces, westringia | 11 Comments

backdrops for plants

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Denise

Some interesting backdrops I found around town, some intentional, some borrowed, some just sheer serendipity. I’m wondering what came first here, the choice of color for the house and then the Lion’s Tail? Or did the Leonotis leonurus start the … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave americana 'Variegata', Agave bovicornuta, Agave vilmoriniana, color in the garden, garden walls, Kalanchoe tomentosa, Leonotis leonorus, Muehlenbeckia_complexa, retaining walls, terracing | 12 Comments

fall planting notes 2014

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Denise

The first second day of fall. Depending on who you talk to, summer was either glorious or it passed like a kidney stone. No in between. I’d describe summer 2014 and its occasional heatwaves as a cocktail that included plenty … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, plant nurseries | Tagged Athanasia pinnata, Detour audio walks, Digitalis ferruginea 'Gigantea', Euphorbia characias 'Tasmanian Tiger', Euphorbia mellifera, Ferula communis ssp. glauca, Gnidia polystachya, Hymenolepis parviflora, Lavandula lanata, Leucadendron 'Pisa', Phylica pubescens, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', Santolina, Sphaeralcea 'Newleaze Coral' | 15 Comments