Category Archives: Bulbs
Bloom Day June 2013
For a girl who couldn’t get an eryngium to bloom before, this is shaping up to be an exciting summer. Eryngium pandanifolium is supposedly the biggest eryngo of them all. I’ve been intently watching it develop this wicked candelabra of … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, Bulbs, succulents
Tagged Achillea 'Terracotta', Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', Eryngium pandanifolium, Euphorbia cotinifolia, Garlic Passionfruit, gladiolus, lilies, Lilium regale, Passiflora loefgrenii, Phylica pubescens, Russelia equisetiformis, Teucrium hircanicum, Verbena bonariensis
18 Comments
Lilium ‘African Queen’
For purplepixie, who wants to paint these lilies on the wall of a friend and asked for more angles back in April. I would love to watch as these colors get mixed on the palette. Here you go, lots of … Continue reading
scenes from the garden 6/3/13
Some of the cast of characters this summer. First spikes of Teucrium hircanicum. Shaggy grass is newly identified Chloris virgata (thank you, Maggie!) The peachy ‘Terracotta’ yarrow lining the path are beginning bloom too. The white umbels belong to Cenolophium … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, creatures, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged Achillea 'Terracotta', Anthemis 'Susanna Mitchell', Aster 'Monch', Bacillus thuringiensis, Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, budworms, Chloris virgata, Coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany', Cussonia gamtoosensis, Derry Watkins Special Plants, Kalanchoe luciae 'Fantastic', lilies, lilium, Teucrium hircanicum, Verbena bonariensis
8 Comments
ranunculus
I took this photo of ranunculus at the 2011 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show (which is coming up again this week, March 20-24.) Who knew ranuncs came tissue-petaled in cinnamon brown and pale peach? Last fall I tried like … Continue reading
tulip report 2013
After all the mid-summer catalogue busywork, the list making, the dreaming in color, the potting soil mess, the ritual chilling of the little bundles of bulbs from September to November like some demented grocer, in other words, the really fun … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs
Tagged 'Queen of the Night', bud blast, ethylene, prechilling tulips, tulips
3 Comments
Bloom Day February 2013
I admit I’m a vulgarian, if there was any doubt left. By February I’m starved for brash and garish, even though it violates the subtle order of nature that has spring unfolding with a delicacy that builds by degrees to … Continue reading
friday clippings 12/7/12
The tulips are planted, and now the vegetable bin in the fridge is once again restored to its rightful purpose of chilling vegetables. I went beyond the required six weeks of prechilling this year, but overchilling is not the problem … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, clippings, plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame', Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor', Agave parrasana 'Fireball', Aloe polyphylla, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Far Reaches Farm, Gertrude Jekyll, glaucium, High Country Gardens closure, Lincoln Avenue Nursery, Native Sons plant nursery, Othonna cheirifolia, Senecio viravira, Sideritis oroteneriffae, Sideritis syriaca, silver foliage
5 Comments
Nerines in November
My zone 10, winter wet/summer dry climate makes it possible to grow nerines in the ground, and they start blooming late October/early November. These stems were cut about two days ago. Nerine bulbs are never offered for sale locally but … Continue reading
friday clippings 8/17/12
August is not a month to be trifled with. Spring comes so early here, with winter more a brief, rainy intermission than a season, that by August I really need to 1) loosen compacted clay soil that refuses to absorb … Continue reading