Category Archives: succulents
elephant season
A few tropicals in pots can be a fine sendoff to summer. Here about a mile from the ocean, the big-leaved tropicals like colocasia, the “elephant ears,” bide their time until the temperatures start to really feel uncomfortable. By the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents
Tagged Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Colocasia 'Blue Hawaii', Colocasia 'Diamond Head', Colocasia 'Mojito', Cussonia gamtoosensis, elephant ears, garden plans, Kalanchoe beharensis, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', Pseuderanthemum carruthersii var. atropurpureum 'Rubrum', tropical plants
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hillside with Schwentker Watts Design
I was in a wonderful garden the other night, but was caught flat-footed as far as having any photos to show for it. Although only 7:30ish, twilight doesn’t last long in this Los Angeles neighborhood but is quickly swallowed up … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, climate, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Bocconia arborea, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', Franco-Giacomo Carbone, Harvey Watts, James Schwentker, landscape architecture, Los Angeles, MB Maher, mediterranean climate, Schwentker Watts Design, Silverlake, The Los Angeles Times
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Yucca ‘Blue Boy’
I’ve brought a couple home under the name Yucca aloifolia ‘Purpurea,’ but I’ve recently been seeing it tagged as Yucca desmetiana ‘Blue Boy,’ as it was here at Cornerstone Sonoma, in the Transcendence garden designed by Delmar McComb and Peter … Continue reading
anatomy of a late-summer road trip
Is there a tinge of desperation in the road trips of late summer? By the end of summer are we stuffing itineraries with an absurd number of places to see in the dwindling opportunities to experience daylight until 8 p.m.? … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, edibles, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, plant nurseries, succulents
Tagged "Natural Discourse", 2013 Heirloom Exposition, Agave 'Cornelius', Agave americana var. striata, Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Andy Cao, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Cornerstone Annual Tomato Tasting, Cornerstone Sonoma, Cottage Gardens of Petaluma, Gladiolus papilio, Gunnera perpensa, James Van Sweden, John Greenlee, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Sheila Brady, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Xavier Perrot
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Echeveria agavoides ‘Ebony’
Seen at the 2013 Inter-City Cactus & Succulent Show held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum over the weekend. Once again, on the show table, not the sales table. Echeveria agavoides ‘Ebony,’ intensely desirable and chronically unavailable. Is it going … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, plant nurseries, succulents
Tagged Boophone disticha, Cactus and Succulent Society of America, Echeveria agavoides 'Ebony', Grevillea 'Moonlight', Inter-City Cactus Show & Sale, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, plant sales, plantzafrica.com, San Marcos Growers, Urginea maritima
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driveby garden; LAPD headquarters, Downtown Los Angeles
“The first five months of this year were the driest on record in California, with reservoirs in the state at 20 percent below normal levels.” – Arid Southwest Cities’ Plea: Lose the Lawn, The New York Times, August 11, 2013 … Continue reading
A Texas shoe story as told by Ronald Rael (Prada Marfa)
rac·on·teur /ˌrakˌänˈtər/ Noun A person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Synonyms narrator – storyteller Way back in January I breezily announced “ambitious plans to produce transcripts of the lectures” given by the illustrious group of artists … Continue reading
InterCity Succulent Show and Sale August 17-18, 2013
Mr. Ripple and friends cordially invite you to that holy of holies in the world of desert plants, The InterCity Show and Sale next weekend, August 17 and 18, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. Agave ‘Mr. Ripple’ Agave potatorum … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Agave potatorum, Aloe marlothii, Cactus & Succulent Society of America, CSSA InterCity show August 2013, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Mangave 'Bloodspot', rhipsalis
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succulents make us do the strangest things
I had to laugh when I saw Reuben’s latest project on this post, planting the frame to an old television monitor, which I think is incredibly classy and wish he’d sell to me. (Look at those aeonium knobs!) I completely … Continue reading
Cross-Pollination July 2013
Garden designer Dustin Gimbel hosted another of those fabulous mid-summer rave-ups that he calls “Cross-Pollination” at his home and garden, where “hikers, nursery professionals, beekeepers, home brewers, crazy plant people, artists, architects and designers” gather for food and conversation, slipping … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, garden ornament, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Acacia pendula, Adenanthos sericeus, Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold', Agave gypsophila, Aristolochia gigantea, Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers', bocconia, Chrysanthemoides incana, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold, Cotyledon orbiculata var. flanaganii, Dodonaea viscosa, dyckias, Euphorbia 'Blackbird', Euphorbia cotinifolia, Farfugium japonicum Crispatum, Frankenia thymifolia, Gainey ceramics, garden designer Dustin Gimbel, Gomphrena 'Fireworks', Lessingia filanginifolia, Leucadendron argenteum, Russellia equisetiformis, Sedum rubrotinctum, St. Augustine grass Stenotaphrum secundatum
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