Category Archives: garden visit

concrete containers by Dustin Gimbel

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Denise

Dustin’s Facebook feed is showing lots of new work, and I just had to pop over to see what he’s been up to, even if it was almost too late in the afternoon for photos. Invariably, whenever I post on … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, garden visit, pots and containers | Tagged Beaucarnea 'Gold Star', concrete, Dustin Gimbel, Rhamnus alaternus, rhipsalis, Second Nature Garden Design, tillandsias | 6 Comments

blogger meetup at the Huntington

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Denise

I should have talked less and picked up the camera more at the meetup this past Saturday at the Huntington Botanical Garden, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun as our nonstop gabfest. The occasion for the meetup was … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Aloe 'David Verity', Aloe rubroviolacea, Aloe sinkatana, Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon', Kniphofia 'Christmas Cheer', Muhlenbergia dubia, Muhlenbergia rigens, Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails' | 8 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 California, Cycad Day 10/24/15, cycads, Fallbrook, Huntington Botanical Garden, Lotusland, Palm & Cycad Exchange, The Cycad Society | 13 Comments

planting details at the Reid garden

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Denise

I went through my Reid garden photos again, looking for clear examples of the subtly layered plant communities that rose up around my feet as I followed the paths, scanning the garden like a hungry predator, looking down then quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in books, climate, design, garden visit | Tagged "A Passionate Pursuit", American Conifer Society, Claudia West, dry garden planting, Leonotis leonurus, marthastewart.com, Mary and Lew Reid, Northern California, Pacific Horticulture, Planting in a Post-Wild World, Stipa gigantea, terraced gardens, Thomas Rainer, Tibouchina heteromala, Western Hills Nursery and Garden | 9 Comments

Lotusland, garden provocateur

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Denise

More from that June visit to Lotusland, Ganna Walska’s 37-acre estate near Santa Barbara, California. In the comments to this post, Emily kindly provided a link to an English series “Around the World in 80 Gardens,” in which a visit … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, garden travel, garden visit, succulents | Tagged Around the World in 80 Gardens, Cactus and Succulent Society of America, cactus gardens, California gardens, Donald Culross Peattie, Geoff Stein, James Van Sweden, Lotusland, Madame Ganna Walska, March-April 2015 Cactus and Succulent Journal, Monty Don, Pauleen Sullivan, writer Catherine Phillips, Ysabel Wright's cactus garden Quien Sabe | 16 Comments

Wanda Mallen & Gary Vincent’s Fallbrook garden

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Denise

The CSSA’s tour of private gardens for their 2015 Biennial Convention in June also included the 2-acre garden of Wanda Mallen and Gary Vincent in Fallbrook, Calif. This superb collector’s garden, started from scratch in approximately 1999-2000, is occasionally open … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Cactus & Succulent Society of America, California, CSSA 2015 Biennial Convention, Fallbrook, Wanda Mallen & Gary Vincent's garden | 7 Comments

Lotusland’s abalone shell pond

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Denise

More from my Lotusland visit this past June. In my guided tour group was a friendly couple with a serious selfie habit, expressed at every turn in a path, at every new feature. We ended up exploring the garden at … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit | Tagged Lotusland | 14 Comments

The landscape at Pitzer College; The John R. Rodman Arboretum

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Denise

“It’s difficult to sum up the Arboretum in a phrase… Perhaps the core is a search for a third way between the two traditional American paths: the exploitation of nature and the worship of a sacred, untouchable nature … a … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, succulents | Tagged Arboretum & Grounds Manager, Cactus & Succulent Society of America, dry gardens, Joe Clements, Pitzer College | 16 Comments

scenes from Lotusland; the Lemon Arbor

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Denise

Since I snapped hundreds, I’ll probably be trickling out photos of my June visit to Lotusland for months to come. The Eureka lemon tree arbor, planted in 1988, is probably one of the more sedate and traditional features of Lotusland. … Continue reading →

Posted in edibles, garden travel, garden visit | Tagged California, Lotusland, Madame Ganna Walska, Montecito | 3 Comments

CSSA road trip June 2015

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Denise

Enormous Quiver Tree, Aloidendron dichotoma, and cycads in a Fallbrook, California private garden It’s so true that passion bestows courage on the meek. A passion for plants put me on a bus one early Wednesday last June, a bus filled … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, succulents | Tagged Aloidendron dichotoma, Cactus and Succulent Society of America, Claremont garden of Rico Leon, cycads, Debra Lee Baldwin, Field Guide to Cactus & Succulents of Arizona, Loran Whitelock, Orange Coast College Horticulture Department, Vonn Watkins | 15 Comments