Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies
Wanda Mallen & Gary Vincent’s Fallbrook garden
The CSSA’s tour of private gardens for their 2015 Biennial Convention in June also included the 2-acre garden of Wanda Mallen and Gary Vincent in Fallbrook, Calif. This superb collector’s garden, started from scratch in approximately 1999-2000, is occasionally open … Continue reading
Wednesday clippings 8/26/15
So what’s shakin’ this muggy end of August? As little as possible, you say? There’s been all manner of weird stuff going on, including a recurring problem with street-parked neighborhood cars getting their gas siphoned. This on the heels of … Continue reading
DIY therapy
One of my boys is experiencing some painful romantic complications, which is frustrating for both of us because in grappling with the problem I necessarily have to accept the fact that my boys are now men. But he hurts, therefore … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave bracteosa, Strobilanthes gossypinus
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aftermath of the Inter-City Show & Sale
As a kid, sneaking with my best friend into the unoccupied bedroom of her older sister and marveling at her sophisticated possessions, I still vividly remember finding the Rolling Stones’ album “Aftermath.” The older sister immediately rose several degrees cooler … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Aeonium 'Mardi Gras', Aeonium tabuliforme, Agave guadalajarana, Echeveria agavoides 'Ebony', Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus, Gymnocalycium ragonesei, Inter-City Cactus Show & Sale 2015, Opuntia microdasys, Stenocactus tricuspidatus
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Inter-City Cactus Show & Sale August 8 & 9, 2015
Thank goodness there’s a big plant sale to look forward to in August. 30th Annual Inter-City Cactus and Succulent Show and Sale The LA County Arboretum in Ayres Hall 301 North Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007 Saturday, August 8, 2015, … Continue reading
The landscape at Pitzer College; The John R. Rodman Arboretum
“It’s difficult to sum up the Arboretum in a phrase… Perhaps the core is a search for a third way between the two traditional American paths: the exploitation of nature and the worship of a sacred, untouchable nature … a … Continue reading
CSSA road trip June 2015
Enormous Quiver Tree, Aloidendron dichotoma, and cycads in a Fallbrook, California private garden It’s so true that passion bestows courage on the meek. A passion for plants put me on a bus one early Wednesday last June, a bus filled … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, succulents
Tagged Aloidendron dichotoma, Cactus and Succulent Society of America, Claremont garden of Rico Leon, cycads, Debra Lee Baldwin, Field Guide to Cactus & Succulents of Arizona, Loran Whitelock, Orange Coast College Horticulture Department, Vonn Watkins
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Bloom Day July 2015
The planting under the Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ is all fairly new, except for the Plectranthus neochilus. Stinky or not, it’s a great addition to a dry garden. Gomphrena ‘Balboa’ is the clover-like flowers with silver leaves, which blends in seamlessly … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, pots and containers
Tagged Abutilon venosum, Agave 'Snow Glow', Agave franzosinii, Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls', Agave vilmoriniana, Aloe distans, Aristida purpurea, Berkheya purpurea, Cordyline ‘Electric Star’, Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberry', Crithmum maritimum, Eryngium pandanifolium, Gaura 'Belleza', Glaucium grandiflorum, Gnidia polystacha, Pelargonium sidoides, Pennisetum 'Sky Rocket', Phygelius 'Diablo', Plectranthus neochilus, Ruellia macrantha, Sesleria autumnalis 'Campo Verde', Sonchus congestus, Sphaeralcea 'Newleaze Coral', Yucca aloifolia 'Blue Boy'
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clippings, 4th of July
My neighbors have been diligently practicing for 4th of July celebrations since May, the little darlings. Fireworks are illegal here, a fact which obviously adds zest to surreptitious, after-dark escapades ending in window-rattling booms and blasts. Seeing as it’s the … Continue reading
potted plants on the move
The summer containers in nondrought-stricken gardens can become quite a virtuoso display. I’ve understandably pared things down the past few years but am always amazed at how even a relatively small group of pots can exclaim “Summer!” All the pots … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, journal, pots and containers
Tagged Aeonium 'Cyclops', Agave 'Blue Flame', Chionanthus retusus, Corokia virgata 'Sunsplash', Cussonia spicata, Euphorbia ammak, Fortnam Gardens, Homecrest chairs, Los Angeles Harbor, Manihot esculenta 'Variegata', marine salvage, Maurizio Zucchi, MB Maher, Mina lobata, Potted's City Planter, Schefflera 'Amate Soleil', Shirley Watts, Streptosolen jamesonii, Warehouse No. 1, Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger'
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