Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Anatomy of a Pot of Tender Plants
There’s some great names in the plant world, and Cussonia is up there with some of my favorites. And for pure enjoyment, no history of the name is necessary, just an appreciation for vowels and syllables. Also lends itself to … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Araliaceae, Cabbage Trees, Cottage Gardens of Petaluma, Cussonia gamtoosensis, Cussonia paniculata, Delosperma sphalmanthoides, High Country Gardens, International Garden Center & Floral Design, plantzafrica, Support Your Independent Nursery Month, Tufted Ice Plant
3 Comments
Bloom Day October 2011
The highest temps all summer hit last week, an unwelcome intrusion into fall planting season. Limbing up the big smoke tree a few weeks ago allowed a lot more light into the back garden, setting in motion some deadly domino … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Bulbs, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged Dahlia 'Chat Noir', Digging Dog Nursery, Grevillea 'Superb', Nerine sarniensis, Persicaria amplexicaulis, Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', Rudbeckia triloba, Salvia canariensis var. candissima, Salvia madrensis, Selinum wallichianum, Thunbergia gregorii
9 Comments
Sedum & the Summer of Neglect
A tale of invincibility. The sedum, with the survivability of a cockroach, has been performing every trick I’ve asked it to. Way back in January I planted up these hollow flues pried out of our chimney when some repairs were … Continue reading
Wreath of Asarina
Now that it’s October, the grapevine wreath I hung on the fence mid-summer doesn’t seem half as silly. The pink flowers are from a nearby Asarina scandens, which has been galloping over the fence. The wreath is one I made … Continue reading
Rained Out
Unlike a sporting event or outdoor concert or meal, a Southern California garden that’s rained out in early October is cause for rejoicing. And to really intensify the blissed-out experience of the first seasonal rains, just the day before you … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, design, garden visit, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits
Tagged Agave bovicornuta, Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', Agave parryi var. truncata, Allium sphaerocephalum, Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition', climate change, dahlias, garden disputes, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', prechilling tulips, Salvia farinacea 'Texas Violet', San Marcos Growers
4 Comments
Garden Miscellany
Since the post on the tree collard continually gets a surprising number of hits, full disclosure is in order: I’ve composted the tree collard. It is a defiantly ugly vegetable. My hat is off to fellow tree collard growers who … Continue reading
Salvia macrophylla ‘Upright Form’
Large-leaved sage, Salvia macrophylla. Insistently, emphatically, imperially blue. And since I’ve officially entered the fall season of travel lust I tumble into every year, a more sinister association also comes to mind, that of Mayan Blue, a sacrificial blue. The … Continue reading
a monday collage
A new week, slightly out of focus. Feed the cats, make the coffee, read Paul Krugman’s column. Routines are the pitons hammered into the seams of blurry grey rock that is a Monday morning. A quick check on the garden. … Continue reading
Hebe ‘Western Hills’
Hebes are the kind of tidy plants so perfectly composed they can be accused of conveying a touch of smugness, of rendering a garden a little too safe and suburban. I take the personal position that it’s best to resist … Continue reading
Plant Hunting in Namibia
I didn’t need to know too much about the Crassula mesembryanthemoides I bought last week, just some elaboration of the nurseryman’s comment that the stem tips drop, root, and spread everywhere. Very few search hits available. Add its home, Namibia, … Continue reading