Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies

Come Any Time

Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino (Pasadena), California. MB Maher and I visited on Saturday, May 28, 2011. As I wrote here, one of the reasons we visited on Saturday was to catch some puyas in bloom. But there’s always … Continue reading

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Walk the Walk

Long Beach Water Department is leading by example to gently ease citizens out of the mindset that wants to seed or unroll mowable turf grass as the default landscape. Who else is better positioned to educate the public on alternative … Continue reading

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Agave franzosinii

This photo was taken by MB Maher during a visit he made to artists Sue Dadd and James Griffith’s amazing Folly Bowl last summer. Some agave, huh? I’m now fairly sure that this uber-undulating creature is Agave franzosinii, which develops … Continue reading

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Plant Sale Weekend

I was determined to get to the UC Irvine Arboretum plant sale this weekend, having had to miss the Huntington Botanical Garden’s big sale last weekend. But before I could browse UCI’s small sale, there were some minor roadblocks. (Just … Continue reading

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Venice Garden & Home Tour 2011

Buy tickets and a map at the Las Doradas Children’s Center, apply the lime-green wrist band, and we’re off on the VGHT 2011 (Last year’s post here.) Under overcast skies, thirty houses, covering several miles. Bikes would be the preferred … Continue reading

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Sudden Mediterranean Plant Collapse Disorder

I made that name up. But it’s true, collapse and then a swift death does come suddenly to mediterranean plants in lusty health mid-summer. Which is why I’m ecstatic that this one cutting of Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca ‘Variegata’ has … Continue reading

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The Kashmir Cypress

A pre-dinner garden tour at Dustin’s. “What is it?” I asked. “You asked me that last time,” he answered patiently. “It’s psoralea.” “Oh, the Kool-Aid something or other?” (Strange, how memory works.) “Right,” he explained, “from Annie’s.” His psoralea is … Continue reading

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Landscape Crit

A new shopping center was planted with sharp plants four years ago. Agaves, yuccas. I was thrilled but also slightly alarmed.

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Agave ‘Cornelius’

When I got home last night, Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element was streaming from Netflix. (Sidebar: TV is amazingly complicated these days.) First thing this morning, I was of course snapping photos of the Agave ‘Cornelius.’ Or “Corneeleyoos,” as Mila … Continue reading

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Yuccas Do

And how. Then keep on doing some more. Agaves get all the love, while yuccas just quietly get the job done. Yucca filamentosa, probably ‘Golden Sword,’ name tag lost long ago. Hardy to zone 5.

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