Author Archives: Denise

November garden dispatches

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Denise

We all have our favorite months in the garden. Our sentiments aside, the November garden continues sending out dispatches, oblivious to any seasonal bias. dispatches from plectranthus tillandsias and cryptbergias urgent communications from Echeveria gigantea Candy-corn-colored Morse code from Mina … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Flame', Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Agave desmettiana 'Joe Hoak', Agave geminiflora, Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor', Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash', Echeveria gigantea, Mina lobata | 7 Comments

So Cal Hort’s “Coffee in the Nash Garden”

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Denise

Potted dwarf pomegranate Southern California Horticultural Society sent out a “Coffee in the Garden” invitation to its members for a late October visit to Donivee Nash’s garden in Arcadia, redesigned by Judy Horton in 2009. Participation in hort. society events … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, design, garden visit | Tagged Donivee Nash garden, Erigeron karvinskianus, garden designer Judy Horton, Los Angeles Aqueduct, mediterranean plants, salvias, Southern California Horticultural Society, The Garden Conservancy Open Days program, William Mulholland | 2 Comments

AGO/non-secateur flea market pop-up shop 12/15/13

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Denise

I’ve been checking out local flea markets to get a sense of how this whole thing works from a seller’s perspective, which is totally foreign to me. I still have stuff from flea markets I bought when I was in … Continue reading →

Posted in garden ornament, pots and containers | Tagged Downtown Flea, flea markets, Los Angeles, pop-up shop 12/15/13 Long Beach Antique Market, Rose Bowl Flea Market | 6 Comments

the colors of Bilbergia nutans

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Denise

The first bloom of the common Queen’s Tears bromeliad, Bilbergia nutans, is just so very startling when it arrives, especially if you’ve only seen it in photos before. Like drop-your-coffee-cup startling. As though David Hockney was in the garden overnight … Continue reading →

Posted in design, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged Bilbergia nutans, bromeliads, Euphorbia mauritanica, Euphorbia rigida, Gomphrena 'Fireworks', Huntington Botanical Gardens, Lavandula multifida, Lavandula pinnata var. buchii, Pelargonium crispum 'Variegatum', Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Western Hills Nursery and Garden | 7 Comments

Fall Planting Festival at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden 11/2/13

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Denise

“California is defined by its Mediterranean climate. It is the smallest floristic province in North America, but has the greatest diversity of plants north of Mexico. It includes such characteristic vegetation as chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and grassland. … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, plant nurseries | Tagged California native plants, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, RSABG Fall Planting Festival 2013 | 4 Comments

lost in Florence

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Denise

Zadie Smith’s essay “Love in the Gardens,” describing complicated family relations against the backdrop of visits to two gardens, the Boboli in Florence accompanied by her father, and the Borghese garden in Rome after her father had died, gave me … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit | Tagged Boboli gardens, Florence, Italy, The Duomo, The New York Review of Books 11/7/13, Uffizi Gallery, Zadie Smith's "Love in the Gardens" | 4 Comments

prowling the plant nurseries in fall

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Denise

A startling sight at a local nursery this week was Dalea frutescens in roaring, five-alarm bloom, a Texas native that endures extreme heat and drought, then explodes with flowers in fall. Imagine this Black Dalea with muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris, … Continue reading →

Posted in design, Plant Portraits | Tagged Dalea frutescens, fall gardens, guerilla gardening, Muhlenbergia capillaris | 5 Comments

a kale of two cities

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Denise

“America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement.” — Alexis de Tocqueville Unlike Dickens’ tale of London and Paris, the two cities under consideration here are yours and Paris. … Continue reading →

Posted in edibles | Tagged Alexis de Tocqueville, Brassica oleracea, Elizabeth Schneider, Kristen Beddard, London's River Cafe, the kale project, Thread & Bones, Tuscan kale, Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide | 5 Comments

chasing muhly grass

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Denise

As far as seasons go, to me summer is rich, pungent, dense, where autumn is quicksilver, vaporous, light on its feet, with a tartness that is the perfect apertif to summer’s gluttony of sensation. The eaves are now dripping morning … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Muhlenbergia capillaris, wildflowers | 4 Comments

Stanford’s New Guinea Sculpture Garden

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Denise

More updates from the Bay Area, this one from occasional AGO photographer and contributor MB Maher. I’ll let him tell this adventure in his own words: “Shirley Watts messaged me to keep my Wednesday evening open. And per her instructions, … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, garden visit, MB Maher, photography | Tagged MB Maher, Robert Pogue Harrison, Shirley Watts, Stanford University, The New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford | 4 Comments