Category Archives: clippings

making the most of it

Emotionally, this summer feels like summers when I was 12 or 13 — when I stuck close to home because I wasn’t allowed yet to get in trouble with friends with cars. I’m regressing to the point that I’ve even … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, cut flowers, design, journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | 5 Comments

garden notes late July 2020

More garden chit-chat. Let’s see, where to begin? I never know what bits of info will be useful so I’ll just meander. Working from most recent, last night I moved the potted Cussonia natalensis into this corner made by the … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, succulents | 8 Comments

garden notes 7/12/20

Pots line one side of the back porch stairs — the first year I’ve done this. Tripping hazard? Not really, not if you don’t try anything cute like taking a shortcut over the pots. Just follow the stairs straight down. … Continue reading

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

garden mysteries and dilemmas

Some minor drama and quandaries in the garden recently. The very large but unidentified tillandsia brought home from a sale at the private garden of the late Bill Baker (of Aloe ‘Hercules’ fame), organized by his wife Donna Baker and … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, pots and containers | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

6/28/20 garden progress report

That’s gotta be a record for the fastest repurposing of a bird bath from water to plants, considering the bird bath just arrived in May. Filling it with plants is not a total admission of failure, just temporary frustration with … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents | 6 Comments

clippings 6/22/20

Hope you find lots of interesting and diverting things to do this week. I’m tending new seedlings and waiting for another seed order to arrive — there’s got to be more empty pots around here somewhere…

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, climate, clippings, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | 6 Comments

sunday clippings 3/8/20 (save Prospect Cottage)

Artist, filmmaker, and gardener Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, England, needs some crowd-sourcing love. If it’s one of those places you dream of one day visiting, you might want to consider helping to secure its future by donating what … Continue reading

Posted in artists, Bulbs, clippings | 5 Comments

Wednesday’s plants

In the interest of keeping a better garden record…

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

a garden’s long-term care

My mother turned 90 yesterday, and we celebrated this momentous occasion at her new living arrangement in a nearby board-and-care.  Getting her here took months of medical, legal, financial, and familial wrangling, all while taking care of her as she … Continue reading

Posted in clippings, garden travel, MB Maher | 5 Comments

clippings, holiday edition 12/11/19

The brick-red thunbergia vine that I was training up to the roof eaves was blown off its fishing line support during a Santa Ana wind event and collapsed on itself, losing about 4 feet of height in the bargain. With … Continue reading

Posted in books, clippings, commerce, garden ornament | 5 Comments