Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies
Monday clippings 6/22/15
It’s almost the end of the month, a good time to unpack some random June impressions. Dustin’s potted Aloe ‘Johnson’s Hybrid,’ the mother of my little one I mentioned recently. See how spectacular? Blooms nearly year-round, and Dustin says it’s … Continue reading
terraced Spanish Colonial Revival house & garden
For those of you who enjoy gawking at houses and their gardens as much as I do, here’s a look at the house that belongs with this post from September 2014. I don’t think I looked up much from the … Continue reading
traditional with a twist
Here’s another house nearby that warrants a second look and always brings a smile. It’s the traditional front lawn setup with a bit of a twist. All the supporting plants are exclusively dry garden plants, some rare like the cycads. … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged cycads, dry gardens, lawns
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Pepper Tree courtyard
Spotted locally around dusk, a front-house courtyard with Pepper Tree (Schinus molle), stone paving “grouted” with Dymondia margaretae. Planting includes euphorbias, agaves, phormiums (or dianella) a small Cercis ‘Forest Pansy,’ and purple irises in bloom near the side gate. There … Continue reading
the east fence
In case I’ve left the impression my only collection of pots resides on that little table under the pergola, there are more. Lots more. This group of pots lines the east fence. Morning shade, afternoon sun. The topmost plant in … Continue reading
favorite plants and an end-of-week nursery browse 5/29/15
All the new and interesting dry garden shrubs on the smallish side seem to be coming from Annie’s Annuals & Perennials. Gnidia polystacha from South Africa is a light-limbed shrub with needle-like leaves that readily give away its Thymelaeaceae family … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, plant nurseries
Tagged Agave desmettiana 'Joe Hoak', Agave salmiana var. ferox 'Medio Picta', Aloe deltoideodonta ‘Sparkler’, Annie's Annuals & Perennials Nursery, Beaucarnia recurvata, Dasylirion wheeleri, Echeveria pallida, Emilia javanica, Ethiopian Spur Flower, Gnidia polystacha, Lincoln Avenue Nursery, Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent Society Annual Drought Tolerant Plant Festival, Plectranthus coerulescens, Tradescantia cerinthoides 'Greenlee', Yerba Buena Nursery
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small garden, tough choices
“I reckon there are 5 seasons. There’s an early spring, which I call Sprinter…a Sprummer which comes after that for 2 months…There’s a long summer…a short autumn, a short winter – both just two months long, and then you’re back … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, design, journal, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea', Agapanthus 'Gold Strike', Agave sisalana ‘Variegata’, Aristida purpurea, Ballota pseudodictamnus, Brachysema praemorsum 'Bronze Butterfly', Cistus 'Snowfire', Cordyline banksii 'Electric Star', Glaucium grandiflorum, Gomphrena 'Fireworks', Hymenolepis parviflora, Lavandula minutoli, Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike', Lomandra 'Breeze', Lomandra 'Lime Tuff', Marrubium bourgaei ‘All Hallows Green’, Nepeta ‘Purple Haze’, Pedilanthus bracteatus, Verbascum bombyciferum
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Agave ovatifolia
Treasured for being on the short list of agaves hardy to zone 7, this imposing agave is no less desirable in warmer zones. My recently planted ‘Frosty Blue’ has a ways to go before it looks like this: Photos of … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, MB Maher, Occasional Daily Photo
Tagged Agave ovatifolia, MB Maher
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the short but productive life of Agave mitis ‘Multicolor’
There’s something about an agave bloom that’s crazy-making. Emotions are as variegated as the leaves of this nomenclature-challenged agave. (Bought as Agave celsii ‘Multicolor,’ it might even be chiapensis*.) I’m thrilled, sad, awestruck, and a little dumbstruck, too, at having … Continue reading