Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies
stellar agaves
The ancient Aztec riddle asked “What points its finger at the sky?” and the riddle’s answer is “the Maguey Thorn.” Left-over plans from 2014: So when I finally get around to making a Steller contribution featuring agaves, these are some … Continue reading
happy holidays
I always find that the winter holidays have a lot in common with Silly Putty — extremely malleable, occasionally stretching a little thin, often just straddling the border of tangling up into a fine mess, and in this house anyway, … Continue reading
weekend nursery browse
On the way to dropping off a holiday wreath at my mom’s on Sunday, I stopped for a walkabout at H&H nursery, located on Lakewood Blvd. in a power line easement near the 91 freeway. I was hoping to find … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave titanota, Aloe 'Hercules', Aloe 'Rooikappie', Corokia cotoneaster, Correa 'Ivory Bells', Cynthia Giddy, Dichondra argentea., Euphorbia pseudocactus, H&H Nursery, Joy Creek Nursery, Kalanchoe beharensis, Little Red Riding Hood aloe, Notocactus magnificus, ozothamnus, San Marcos Growers
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agaves take Los Angeles
About a year ago I was told by a nurseryman that aloes have replaced agaves in popularity, because people have gotten wise to the approximate 8-year death spiral of agaves, the bloom-and-doom cycle, which isn’t the case with aloes, reliably … Continue reading
Natural Discourse: Light & Image 2014, an epilogue
Ever wonder when our buildings are going to have the photosensitivity and photoreactivity of plants? Dale Clifford, with his focus on biomimetics applied to architecture, is on the case, investigating the possibility of designing a photoreactive brick inspired by the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, Department of Instruction, MB Maher, photography, science, succulents
Tagged Dale Clifford, Folly Bowl, Garden designer Sue Dadd, glass artist Christian Thornton, Harvard's Ware Collection of Glass Plants, interactive computer programming, Interactive Programmer John Carpenter, James Griffth, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Marion Brenner, MB Maher, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, Natural Discourse: Light & Image, Richard Schulhof, Roger Hangarter, Shirley Watts, Silverlake Farms, terraced gardens, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Ware Collection Manager Jenny Brown, Xaquixe Glass Innovation Studio
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friday agave love
I had a paycheck a couple weeks back that was bigger than expected, so that’s when my ongoing cold inspection of every variegated octopus agave on offer around town turned into hot acquisition. Always expensive, always a little bit beat … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave franzosinii, Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls', Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass', Agave x leopoldii, Cante Institute and Botanic Garden in San Miguel de Allende, Charles Glass, Guanajuato, International Garden Center, Mexico, octopus agave, potted agaves, San Marcos Growers, variegated agaves
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terraced gardens and the Cow Horn agave
I love terraced gardens, with their multiple shifting perspectives from up, down, side to side. I can probably trace this appreciation to an aunt’s hilltop home in the harbor town of San Pedro, Calif. My dad’s sister had a house … Continue reading
a garden wedding
When someone who works in landscape design gets married, even the agaves are dressed for the occasion. Congratulations to Mary True and Cheryl Fippen on their recent wedding in Berkeley, California. Thank you both for your kind permission to use … Continue reading
streetside with grasses and succulents
Because of this house, I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon trying to source a flat of Sesleria autumnalis or Sesleria ‘Greenlee.’ No luck yet, but I will not be deterred.
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave attenuata, Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers', Bulbine frutescens, Dianella, Dymondia margaretae, Echeveria agavoides, Furcraea macdougalii, Ligularia tussilaginea, retaining walls, Senecio decaryi, Senecio vitalis, Sesleria autumnalis, Spanish style architecture, terraces, westringia
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backdrops for plants
Some interesting backdrops I found around town, some intentional, some borrowed, some just sheer serendipity. I’m wondering what came first here, the choice of color for the house and then the Lion’s Tail? Or did the Leonotis leonurus start the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave americana 'Variegata', Agave bovicornuta, Agave vilmoriniana, color in the garden, garden walls, Kalanchoe tomentosa, Leonotis leonorus, Muehlenbeckia_complexa, retaining walls, terracing
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