Category Archives: Plant Portraits

Bloom Day September 2012

A stupefyingly hot Bloom Day here in Los Angeles. June and July were lovely, August and September the devil’s smithy. This heat wave is having the same effect on the streets as martial law, rendering them eerily quiet and empty. … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

August water bill

20 percent less water usage this past August compared to August 2011. That wasn’t too terribly painful. The back garden is fairly torn up right now, but that’s all me, Edwina Shovelhands, not a result of any water rationing. The … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

my, how they grow

Looking at the front fence, in back of which, planted along the sidewalk, is a row of box hedging, now over 7 feet tall. Height restrictions of course limit privacy options for fences along the sidewalk, but as far as … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant crushes, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

something different in an alstroemeria

The Alstromeria isabellana that I brought home from Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend, Washington, opened its first bloom in my garden in Southern California a couple days ago. Sean Hogan had pointed it out to me in a display … Continue reading

Posted in plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

snapshot of August 2012

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

melianthus at the getty and other controversies

The incomparable Herb Ritts and Titian were also at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and some of Marie Antoinette’s hand-me-down furniture too. I think it can be safely said that gardeners are connoisseurs of the perfect moment, and last … Continue reading

Posted in design, garden visit, photography, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

bringing it home

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Joy Creek Nursery

Continuing the posts on my recent visit to Oregon and Washington with some unabashed flower porn courtesy of the display gardens at Joy Creek Nursery, a retail and mail-order nursery in Scappoose, Oregon. (The buddleia might be ‘Evil Ways’) I … Continue reading

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Cistus Nursery

The second installment of my recent visit to Oregon and Washington (or How I Mispronounced Botanical Latin for Six Days While Touring Gardens and Nurseries of the Pacific Northwest). My own peculiar zonal filter can’t help but color these posts; … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

summer 2012 road trip: Pacific Northwest

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments