Author Archives: Denise

winter-blooming aloes go about their business

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Denise

Returning from a 10-day trip over Thanksgiving, the garden buzzed with energy from emerging aloe flowers. Seeing the refreshed garden after the weeks of cleanup in October/November was a pretty special homecoming. Catching the aloes starting their winter bloom cycle … Continue reading →

Posted in plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | 8 Comments

fence project status

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Denise

(A quick recap. Creeping fig, Ficus pumila, covered the south CMU wall of the back garden since we bought in ’89. Clinging tightly, it grew tall and thick and provided excellent evergreen privacy. A couple years ago, the neighbor on … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024, pots and containers, succulents | 7 Comments

infrastructure week in the SoCal zone 10 garden

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Denise

Now that the back garden has been (mostly) cleared and sorted, it’s a little weird to find that some of the remaining plants have now turned into nameless strangers. Especially the aloes. The one pictured, with the elegant scroll-worked leaves, … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024, succulents | 9 Comments

Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ (my how you’ve grown!)

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Denise

In November 2020 I moved a couple pups of Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ under Grevillea ‘Moonlight,’ along with a large astelia and other odds and ends. Only the bromeliads and Callisia fragrans survived. (The callisia aka Basket Plant or False Bromeliad, also … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024 | 10 Comments

caudiciform plants for the win

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Denise

I confess the loss of Beaucarnea ‘Gold Star’ was one I dreaded the most during our extended absence. It was one of the first plants I rushed to check upon return. Survival of caudiciform plants was a theme. Right up … Continue reading →

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

taking stock of the runaway garden

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Denise

I know “runaway garden” is an oxymoron, but even so the SoCal garden (zone 10) seems to have been on a journey without me, cycling through various caretakers, some benign, some less so. The last few days have been the … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents | 11 Comments

soaking it all in

Posted on October 8, 2024 by Denise

Even though I’m the main instigator, this late-season crescendo of growth astonishes me. While the garden has morphed into a late-season mosh pit, there has been one summer-long standout that still rises above and coolly surveys the garden’s autumnal slugfest: … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 7 Comments

September surprises

Posted on September 14, 2024 by Denise

I’m not referring to surprises in the sense of predicted late-season arrivals, but just the generic, built-in unpredictability of plants we choose for our gardens. A plant’s performance can be dramatically different just down the street, not to mention spanning … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Oregon garden | 9 Comments

Hoffman’s Center for the Arts: The Wonder Garden

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Denise

The Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, Oregon, celebrated its 20-year anniversary Saturday August 31. Out of their many programs — clay, writing, visual arts — I became acquainted with the HCA through their horticulture program. The Hoffman’s Wonder … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden, plant sales, succulents | 7 Comments

Late additions

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Denise

I love my new single dahlia so much I had to post another photo. Blazingly hot but fresh color is a nice look for an August that feels autumnal already. A cool August has brought the small herd of elk … Continue reading →

Posted in Oregon garden | 12 Comments