Category Archives: Occasional Daily Weather Report
thinning dyckias
If you asked me what I planned on doing when I woke up that morning a couple Saturdays ago, tackling the enormously overgrown clump of dyckias in the front garden was as remote a contender as washing the windows, which … Continue reading
Posted in design, journal, Occasional Daily Weather Report, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged bromeliads, dyckias, jacaranda debris
11 Comments
autumn sun
I tell you, since sunlight has once again become transformed from merciless enemy into the most charming and distracting friend, I can’t sit at my desk for more than five minutes without jumping up to watch it play on leaves, … Continue reading
It happened one night; August rain
I bought my first water plant Saturday, and it rained all that night. Not a downpour, but a steady drizzle. I’m not saying there’s any causal link between the two, just that they’re both rare events that happened to coincide … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Occasional Daily Weather Report, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Aloe 'Hercules', August garden, dark-leaved plants, east side of garden, Echeveria multicaulis 'Copper Roses', Garden Bloggers Fling 2014 Portland, International Garden Center & Floral Design, Mina lobata, Olea europaea 'Little Ollie', Pennisetum purpureum 'Princess Caroline', Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Sheen', Potted For Outdoor Living, Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum 'Black Varnish', rhipsalis, Sagittaria lancifolia 'Ruminoides', Salvia guaranitica, Sticks on Fired/Euphorbia tirucalli, water gardens
15 Comments
Potted’s wind chime revival
Relax, I’m not going to talk about the astonishing heat wave we’re having but something light and buoyant. First, remember Ned Racine’s initial, fateful meeting with two-steps-ahead Matty in the movie Body Heat? NED You can stand here with me … Continue reading
aftermath of a spring heat wave
Unseasonal, sudden onset heat, like cold, is similarly not in a plant’s best interests. The pristine good looks of Agave ‘Blue Flame’ took a hit last week. Poor thing didn’t have time to develop a base coat and suffered a … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame', Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Anigozanthos, Coprosma 'Plum Hussy', Eryngium pandanifolium, Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons', Harpochloa falx 'Compact Black, Lavandula multifida, Melanoselinum decipiens, Orlaya grandiflora, Pelargonium 'Golden Lemon Crispum', Plectranthus neochilus, Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia sclarea 'Piemont', Senecio leucostachys (vira-vira)
6 Comments
Coronilla valentina
Now that we all have a new phrase in our meteorology lexicon (“polar vortex”)*, it’s time to entertain our cold-blasted friends with talk of plants from warmer climes. Along with the unexpected germination of several triangle palm seeds (Dypsis decaryi), … Continue reading
garden notes 12/30/13
Over the holidays, daytime temps have been hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering my sister-in-law’s flight into Los Angeles from Cody, Wyoming, was delayed by storms for four days, it seems churlish to complain about the warm weather. I’ll just … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, journal, Occasional Daily Weather Report
Tagged Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', Agave guadalajarana 'Leon', Cussonia gamtoosensis, Cussonia paniculata, Cyrus Pringle, Dymondia margaretae, Echeveria agavoides, RHS Award of Garden Merit, South African mountain cabbage trees
3 Comments
I wish I had a river I could skate away on
Digging out from under piles of work, with holiday prep woefully inadequate to date, I’ve been daydreaming, romanticizing really, what I could do with a pair of ice skates and a frozen river. The reality is, in Los Angeles it … Continue reading
so cold that plants are turning purple
The cold weather is coaxing some fine seasonal coloration out of plants, especially those whose names hint to a destiny with the color purple anyway. Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ deeply plummy mid ribs on the leaves of Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ Yucca … Continue reading
Posted in Occasional Daily Weather Report, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged "Umbrella Group: why not make room for a Schefflera?" by Robbie Blackhall-Miles, Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea', Crug Farm Plants, hardy scheffleras, Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Yucca aloifolia 'Purpurea'
4 Comments
Sunday clippings 12/8/13
(baby, it’s cold outside…) The cold front that’s been scaring the bejeezus out of Central Valley citrus growers hit new lows last night. The back garden temperature gauge registered 40 degrees at 7ish a.m., but that’s our moderating coastal influence … Continue reading