Category Archives: creatures

live through this (Halloween 2012)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Denise

After the storm of the century, are you really in the mood for a postapocalyptic zombie movie on Halloween? I know I’m not. Gates are locked, porch lights are dimmed, and on the Netflix queue tonight we’ll be watching (and … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, Ephemera | Tagged Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi, Daniel Horowitz, Edgar Allan Poe, Halloween 2012, Lon Chaney, The Paris Review, The Tell-Tale Heart | 5 Comments

snapshot of August 2012

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Denise

August is always a truth-telling time in the life of a garden and a good month to take a snapshot of it. The hoses have been deployed this week to deep water the trees and soak the now bone-dry soil. … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, creatures, garden visit, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Aeonium 'Zwartkop', Aeonium canariense, Agave americana var. medio-picta 'Alba', Agave attenuata 'Kara's Stripes', Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor', Agave parrasana 'Fireball', Anigozanthos 'Yellow Gem', Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Chionanthus retusus, Chrysanthemoides incana, Cotinus 'Grace', Crithmum maritimum, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', Dustin Gimbel, Echeveria elegans, Euphorbia cotinifolia, Helenium puberulum, Hibiscus acetosella, Laurus nobilis 'Aureus', Lepismium cruciforme, Lotus jacobaeus, Lysimachia ephemerum, Manihot grahamii, Mirabilis jalapa 'Limelight', Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', Persicaria amplexicaulis, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', Salpiglossis 'Chocolate Royal', Scabiosa ochroleuca, Sedum nussbaumerianum, Senecio anteuphorbium, Sideritis oroteneriffae, Sonchus canariensis, Stipa arundinacea, Teucrium hircanicum, Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea', Zea mays 'Tiger Cub' | 9 Comments

bringing it home

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Denise

Visiting first-rate plant nurseries necessarily involves purchasing plants, or so I’ve always believed — even if the purchaser is thousands of miles from home and has to shove the pots into an already bursting suitcase and then into the cramped … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, creatures, garden travel, garden visit, journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged agastache, Alstroemeria isabellana, anemonopsis, Aster souliei, Bellevue Botanical Garden, celmisias, Charles Price, Cistus Nursery, David Lewis, digitalis, Dragonfly Farms, Dunn Gardens, Far Reaches Farm, George Little, Glenn Withey, Lilium regale, Linda Cochran, Little & Lewis, Lobelia tupa, Melianthus major, New Zealand Daisy, Nymphaea 'Ultra Violet', Pacific Northwest, Pelargonium 'Golden Lemon Crispum', perennials, potentilla, Saxifraga stolonifera 'Maroon Beauty', Sean Hogan, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio serpens, verbascum, Western Hills Nursery | 10 Comments

summer 2012 road trip: Pacific Northwest

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Denise

I find vacations in the Pacific Northwest have a lot in common with Chinese food; after being home for a few days, you’re hungry for another serving of Puget Sound, please. I’m sitting at a table in my garden in … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, creatures, design, garden travel, garden visit, journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Actaea 'Black Negligee', Agastache 'Blue Boa', Agastache 'Summer Glow', Aloe striatula, Aralia cordata 'Sun King', Bupleurum falcatum, Calla 'Edge of Night', Cistus Nursery, Crocosmia 'Twilight Fairy Gold', Dan Heims, Dancing Oaks Nursery, Danger Garden, dierama, Echinacea 'Now Cheesier', Echinacea 'Pink Sapphire', Echinacea 'Secret Lust', echinacea hybrids, Eucomis 'Can-Can', Fatsia japonica 'Spider Web', Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold', Leonard Foltz, Leycesteria formosa, Loree Bohl, McMenamins Kennedy School, Oregon Garden Resort, Plant Lust, Rhus typhina, Sauvie Island, Terra Nova, Tiger Eye Sumac, Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' | 16 Comments

the spell of the present

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Denise

Though we may occasionally argue about what a garden is, I think we can all agree that what a garden does is cast a “spell of the present.” I loved this eminently quotable piece from Diane Ackerman a couple days … Continue reading →

Posted in books, creatures, Occasional Daily Photo, succulents | Tagged A Natural History of the Senses, Brachysema praemorsum, Diane Ackerman, Sedum confusum, Sedum nussbaumerianum, The New York Times | 3 Comments

summer camp for locavores

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Denise

From the Wikipedia entry: “A locavore is a person interested in eating food that is locally produced, not moved long distances to market.” I’ve been hinting without going into too many gory details that my new little community vegetable garden … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, edibles, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged boutique hotels, chickens, goats, Mar Vista Cottages and Edible Gardens, MB Maher, Mendocino, Northern California, vegetable gardens | 9 Comments

Pandemonium Aviaries

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Denise

Photographer MB Maher sent in some photos from a visit he paid to an exotic bird sanctuary in Northern California called Pandemonium Aviaries, which hosted a fund-raising Birdhouse Design Contest on May 6, 2012, and he described the owner’s zeal … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, design, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged aviaries, exotic bird sanctuary, extinction, landscape architect Jarrod Baumann, MB Maher, Michele Raffin, nurseryman/garden designer John Greenlee, ornamental grasses, Pandemonium Aviaries, San Francisco Botanical Garden, San Francisco Flower & Garden Show 2012, Stanford Magazine | 2 Comments

tobacco-free zone

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Denise

Note to self: Stop planting Nicotiana mutabilis in full afternoon sun. Note to garden: Stop spitting out my favorite plants. Friday morning my Nicotiana mutabilis that wintered over from last year looked like this. Obviously still trying to get the … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, Plant Portraits, science | Tagged flowering tobaccos, fusariuim wilt, Nicotiana mutabilis, tender perennials | 2 Comments

friday’s clippings 4/20/12

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Denise

Friday’s Clippings is a handy blog closet into which accumulated stuff can be shoved at the end of the week, things I want to refer to again that might be of wider interest. And speaking of odds and ends shoved … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, creatures, design, garden travel, garden visit, journal, science | Tagged Colony Collapse Disorder, Dustin Gimbel, Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, neonicotinoid insecticides, South Coast Plaza, Southern California Spring Garden Show 2012, Why Trees Matter by Jim Robbins | 2 Comments

friday’s clippings 4/6/12

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Denise

I trust we’ve all safely arrived at the doorstep of this spring weekend relatively intact. My car is in the shop from a minor crash a few weeks back, my first since I can’t remember when, and the rental has … Continue reading →

Posted in Bulbs, Cinema Botanica, clippings, creatures, journal, Plant Portraits, shop talk | Tagged Abbey Hotel, Allium schubertii, alliums, Bonhams, Chateau Marmont, Chelsea Hotel, Colony Collapse Disorder, Irish wolfhound, Jean Shrimpton, Rob Walls photographer, Rose 'Bouquet d'Or', Terence Stamp | 3 Comments