Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies

November garden dispatches

We all have our favorite months in the garden. Our sentiments aside, the November garden continues sending out dispatches, oblivious to any seasonal bias. dispatches from plectranthus tillandsias and cryptbergias urgent communications from Echeveria gigantea Candy-corn-colored Morse code from Mina … Continue reading

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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

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evie and the agaves

I potted up some offsets from Agave desmettiana ‘Joe Hoak’ yesterday, and Pam’s focus on leaves the 16th of every month was all the occasion I needed to show off the proud agave mama and her pups. That Vanna White … Continue reading

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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

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Agave ‘Shira ito no Ohi’

Or, more specifically, Agave filifera ssp. schidigera ‘Shira ito no Ohi’ (Queen of White Thread Century Plant). No one seems to know the origin of the variegated form of this wee agave with the big name, whose queenly title was … Continue reading

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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

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counting on agaves

No, I haven’t done a recent tally. But, boy, do they ever count when the days heat up and stay hot. Nothing looks as composed under the sun as an agave. Hard to say if their numbers are increasing, since … Continue reading

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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

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Folly Bowl Presents

Saturday, August 24, 2013, 7:30 p.m. $5 donation suggested. Contact: james.griffith4@gmail.com Part of a summer-long, outdoor concert series at the Folly Bowl, the hand-made amphitheater in Altadena, California, created by artists Sue Dadd and James Griffith. This just might be … Continue reading

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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

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