Category Archives: clippings
Wednesday’s plants
In the interest of keeping a better garden record…
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
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
escape from the heat
Ecstatic, delighted, defeated, miserable? I probably cycle through all of those emotions in a single September day. I think a hot day’s super power is in how all-encompassing and omnipresent it can feel, blotting out memory and awareness of anything … Continue reading
friday clippings 8/16/19
The LA Times wrote a glowing review of the recent Inter-City Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale, and it was my impression as well that this event was an enormous success over past years. I was told by a cashier … Continue reading
friday clippings 7/12/19; shapes of things
With this July being the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, it’s been nonstop space coverage here at home. I doze off and on, but Marty is absolutely rapt, so I can always quiz him afterwards on what I missed. … Continue reading
tuesday clippings 4/23/19
The pitcher plant Sarracenia ‘Scarlet Belle’ is sending out more flowers than leaves this spring. I have no idea if this is usual, unusual, a sign of imminent demise, or what exactly. But at least the pitcher plants made it … Continue reading
garden notes 3/20/19
Yesterday I removed the diseased carcass of Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ which lived its brief but spectacular life – until this rainy winter – under the acacia tree in the far southeast corner. You’d think having to battle for resources … Continue reading
friday clippings 2/8/19; Modernism Week 2019
Next week brings some welcome warmth to this chilly February with the start of Modernism Week in Palm Springs (February 14-24, 2019). Long Beach garden designer and ceramicist Dustin Gimbel, some of whose recent work is pictured above, will give … Continue reading
friday clippings 1/18/19
I find this brickwork for the studio of photographer Graciela Iturbide utterly mesmerizing, taking a pedestrian building unit like the brick to new heights — three-story heights, in fact. The architects Mauricio Rocha (Iturbide’s son) and Gabriela Carrillo (of the … Continue reading