Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies
the path not taken (August fidgets)
There are as many ways and reasons to design a garden as their are gardeners — but Im with Billie. Its all about the feet (and paws). I love to play with the varying scale that moving through a garden … Continue reading
while I was away
We have a new member of the family, so of course I had to immediately become acquainted with little Hannah, who resides in a foggy coastal Oregon town. And even though she’s only days’ old, I began deliberating before leaving, … Continue reading
July 2021 garden report
With the drought tightening its grip, Californians have been asked to cut water use by 15 percent compared with last year. Even so, yesterday I let a hose trickle to deep-water parts of the garden, which was getting by on … Continue reading
new planting progress report
In November 2020 the east side of the garden saw some major renovations. The size of the lemon cypresses on the east boundary, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Citriodora,’ had dictated the character of the planting in its root and shade shadow. After … Continue reading
Green Touch Nursery fills a void with plant fairs
Oscar and family are growing the local cactus and succulent community one plant fair at a time on the grounds of his Green Touch Nursery in Bellflower, Calif. And why not? They’ve got the space and, most importantly, the can-do … Continue reading
what’s on the table
In the garden, the development of this little silene has been incredibly exciting, however much it underwhelms the camera. My normally sober-as-a-judge succulent garden is having a deliriously frothy moment this first week of May.
Worldwide Exotics Nursery
It was that article in the Los Angeles Times sometime in the ’90s, accompanied by a photo of Gary Hammer crouched in a rock crevice or slot canyon with a curtain of waterfall flowing behind him. The article that christened … Continue reading
Yucca ‘Magenta Magic’
Seems like only yesterday we were all very excited about Yucca aloifolia ‘Blue Boy,’ with enticing photos whizzing by with some regularity on blogs and public garden websites. So much exciting potential for dry gardens! In my garden, they never … Continue reading
the White Agave is in bloom again
Agave celsii var. albicans ‘UCB’? Agave mitis var. albidior? The nomenclature continues to be shifty with this agave, so let’s just call it the White Agave. I can’t think of another agave that can also claim that common name, but … Continue reading