Category Archives: garden visit

the gardening beatle

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Denise

I think it was George’s son Dhani Harrison who let slip in the Martin Scorcese documentary “Living in the Material World,” (last week on HBO) that the family sometimes called George “Capability,” jokingly comparing George to the great 18th century … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit | Tagged Beth Chatto, Dan Pearson, Dhani Harrison, English landscape movement, Friar Park, George Harrison, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, Living in the Material World, Martin Scorcese | 8 Comments

Rained Out

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Denise

Unlike a sporting event or outdoor concert or meal, a Southern California garden that’s rained out in early October is cause for rejoicing. And to really intensify the blissed-out experience of the first seasonal rains, just the day before you … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, design, garden visit, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits | Tagged Agave bovicornuta, Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', Agave parryi var. truncata, Allium sphaerocephalum, Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition', climate change, dahlias, garden disputes, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', prechilling tulips, Salvia farinacea 'Texas Violet', San Marcos Growers | 4 Comments

Beer & Art

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Denise

I’m not arguing that these are the twin pillars of civilization or anything. Just pointing out that there is a surreal alliance between the two that has been taking place for years in a local abandoned brewery. The old Pabst … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Ken Burns Prohibition, Los Angeles Brewery Art Walk, succulents | 7 Comments

Dinner at Dustin’s

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Denise

A word of advice. An invitation to dinner at Dustin’s should never be passed up. Yes, he is a wonderful cook (Salade Nicoise with salmon, chocolate ganache torte). But prowling around his garden to see what he’s been up to … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged Annette Goliti Gutierrez, Dustin Gimbel, MB Maher, Potted, Reuben Munoz | 5 Comments

Devils in the Details

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Denise

I’ve been pestering MB Maher to shake loose some more video work, and he keeps telling me the coffers are empty at the moment, that he’s hard at work on a new series on designers tentatively titled Field Studies. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, design, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged MB Maher, Rancho Reubidoux, Reuben Munoz | 11 Comments

Sherman Gardens & Library

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Denise

I took the day off yesterday to check out some local nurseries for dahlias and eucomis in flower. (All my eucomis were bought as bulbs, some with leaves purportedly of varieties as dark or darker than ‘Oakhurst,’ but all instead … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Royal Spine', Agave ferdinandi-regis, Agave macroacantha 'Blue Ribbon', Agave ovatifolia, Begonia luxurians, Echinocactus grusonii, Eriogonum giganteum, Matthew V. Maggio, Nicolaia elatior, Pacific Horticulture, Sherman Library & Gardens, succulent garden | 7 Comments

Plant Societies

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Denise

Why has it taken me so long to check out local plant societies? I’ve been a member of the various conservancies, The Mediterranean Garden Society, but membership was mostly in a passive sense, as a means to attend tours and … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged Agave americana var. striata, Cactus and Succulent Society of America, Dominguez Rancho Adobe, Inter-City Cactus Show & Sale, Long Beach Cactus Club, Los Angeles Arboretum, Nazca lines, Peru, The Mediterranean Garden Society, Woody Minnich | 8 Comments

Solanum marginatum

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Denise

Cable TV was turned back on in our house after an absence of about a year of no TV other than Netflix. Fiberoptic cable was laid on our street, so a package deal with faster internet, cable TV, and phone … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, Plant Portraits | Tagged Alcatraz Island, California's Gold, Dustin Gimbel, Garden Conservancy, Gardens of Alcatraz, horsenettle, Huell Howser, Solanum marginatum, White-Margined Nightshade | 12 Comments

Succulent Sunday

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Denise

The nice man who I gave all my cash to, talking about a miniature agave from Japan he called ‘Shoji.’ (Unlike many of the Japanese A. potatorum hybrids, this one supposedly grows not much bigger than a poker chip.) Cleaned … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, succulents | Tagged Aeonium smithii, Billbergia sanderiana, California Nursery Specialists, Crassula marginalis, Echeveria subrigida, Kalanchoe synsepala, Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society, plant shows, Senecio rowleyanus, Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief | 5 Comments

Another Look at the Huntington

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Denise

I promise this will be the last post on my recent visit here. Unless I get around to writing about John Frame’s exhibit, which I urge any steam punk aficionados in the LA area to get to post haste before … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit, MB Maher, Plant Portraits | Tagged Art Collection and Botanical Gardens, Cedrus atlantica, Elastic Chair, Euphorbia 'Blackbird', Foeniculum vulgare Bronze Fennel, John Frame, Lonicera hildebrandiana Giant Burmese Honeysuckle, Lychnis coronaria, Punica granatum, Rose 'Sally Holmes', Salvia 'Indigo Spires', Salvia pratensis, steam punk, The Huntington Library | 2 Comments