Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies
a much-delayed visit to Descanso Gardens
I was determined to attend botanist Jeff Chemnick‘s talk on plant exploration in Oaxaca, Mexico, yesterday, 7 p.m., hosted by SoCal Hort, located in an auditorium within spitting distance of Griffith Park. I had just visited his home garden/nursery in … Continue reading
the January report
Another January gone. There have been nine reported on the blog. A lot has changed, but a lot is still weirdly the same. (For example, my obsession with poppies and agaves.) Inconsistent, ambivalent, flighty — those are the words that … Continue reading
the week in plants 1/28/18
Aloe striata is getting ready to bloom. The Coral Aloe is not an uncommon aloe in Southern California, but it is in my garden. Sometime during summer, as I bring plants home from nurseries and shows, this aloe inevitably loses … Continue reading
French chateau succulent garden
There I was, biking through French chateau country, rounding a bend in the zig-zag roads stitched with Lombardy poplars. And just as I was brushing the wind-blown hair out of my face, doing my best impersonation of Jeanne Moreau in … Continue reading
summer is overrated
Agave bracteosa ‘Monterrey Frost’ I know those are fighting words, especially depending on where you live and your opinion of winter in general, and I’m not trying to pick a fight. We all miss those long days that stretch luxuriously … Continue reading
autumn garden triage
I spent most of October traveling, intermittently home just long enough to sweep up piles of ash and note that the customary accumulation of a summer’s worth of city grime on leaves had been augmented by heavy particulates from local … Continue reading
Bloom Day September 2017, fall-planting edition
Nothing much new to report for September Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Anything new in bloom here is from fall planting. Okay, so technically I’m a little premature with fall planting, but patience has never been … Continue reading
dog days of August bite garden
My leaning Cussonia gamtoosensis took a serious dive earthward in late August. Like a watched pot that never boils, it’s difficult to discern when a chronically leaning tree is in imminent danger of failing, but clearly the cabbage palm was … Continue reading
Sunday clippings 9/3/17
Did the Powerball mania descend on your home too a couple weeks back? Just because I never buy Powerball or lottery tickets, magical thinking really kicks in when news of the big jackpots reaches even my normally oblivious state of … Continue reading