Category Archives: clippings

clippings 7/24/23; new views

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Denise

Some recent small changes at home. This stock tank held that incredibly generous friend to bees, Anisodontea ‘Strybing Beauty,’ that I brought up from the zone 10 garden. In its second season here, the unexpected girth and height now completely … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, Oregon garden | 9 Comments

garden miscellany 2/28/22

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Denise

A quick garden report then we can all get back to doomscrolling. (Here’s a list of solid, experienced relief organizations that can help.) Another atmospheric river is hitting the Oregon coast, but here in coastal Long Beach we’re climbing into … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers | 6 Comments

clippings 2/21/22

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Denise

Seen on T-shirts and protest signs around the world, now multimedia artist Patrick Martinez has worked Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos’ words to electrifying effect in neon (which comes from the Greek word for “new”). A sign of and for the … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, clippings | 3 Comments

clippings 9/30/21

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Denise

A self-sown manihot made an exquisite canopy of uniform growth to 4 feet in its first summer — consolation for the loss of a similar but shorter-lived performance from a young Schefflera taiwaniana, which unlike the manihot had a strong … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents | 7 Comments

garden clippings 9/7/21

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Denise

Yes, that is a box full of chrysanthemums. Let me explain why such a wildly uncharacteristic flower, for me, is blooming in my otherwise mostly austere and dryish garden. It’s part of the ongoing experiment of trying cut flowers in … Continue reading →

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

Six on Saturday

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Denise

‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading →

Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 4 Comments

clippings 4/28/21

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Denise

For Southern California gardeners: Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ was spotted at Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano this month, a single plant. After planting, try not to move it around too much; in zone 10, placement that avoids afternoon sun is … Continue reading →

Posted in books, clippings, plant nurseries, plant sales | Tagged | 5 Comments

clippings 3/23/21

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Denise

The poppies self-sown into the new gravel area have grown so tall I wasn’t sure if they were my old standbys, the smaller statured Papaver setigerum. Blooms opening this week confirmed that indeed they are, but just gaining a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents | 8 Comments

clippings January 5, 2021

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Denise

Happy New Year news: We’re waitlisted for a corgi puppy with an Oregon breeder! The arrangement seems nebulous at best, but it’s the closest we’ve come to envisioning life with another dog since Ein shared his life with us, our … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, journal | 7 Comments

friday clippings 8/21/20

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Denise

“When we sow a seed, we plant a narrative of future possibility,” Sue Stuart-Smith, a British psychiatrist and psychotherapist and wife of garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith, writes in her new book, “The Well-Gardened Mind.” (The New Yorker 8/24/20 “The Therapeutic … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, journal | 6 Comments