Category Archives: Plant Portraits
saturday clippings 4/4/20
A quick tour around the back garden this early April morning. A tidal surge of spring growth is washing up on the gravel under the pergola. It’s a small-garden microcosm and abridged version of a long, undulating path with plants … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, Plant Portraits
3 Comments
monday’s plants 3/23/20
Leaving the bizarro world aside for the moment, and desperately clinging to the bright side, at least this unusual March has been a good month for rain in Los Angeles. We’re just about an inch below average, which is great … Continue reading
some plants that got away
Continuing in a reflective, “safer at home” mood, from the AGO archives, these would be plants that got away for various reasons — grew too large, grew too slow, grew in a spot I needed for something new, but all … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
5 Comments
what’s new…and what isn’t
Burrowing into plant and seed catalogues isn’t a bad idea at the moment. Mail ordering plants and seeds is eminently doable even in a pandemic crisis, and if you’re hanging out a lot at home, so much the better for … Continue reading
Wednesday’s plants
In the interest of keeping a better garden record…
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits
Tagged Aloe pluridens, Sonchus palmensis, Trevesia palmata
5 Comments
November now and then
My rapturous opinion of November hasn’t changed much over the years (the cooler days, the slanted light, the chance of rain!), but certain patterns in the garden do escape my notice. Perusing past November entries, I find that Berkheya purpurea … Continue reading
so many salvias
I love the buzz of excitement of trying out new plants. In my garden, a good share of the newcomers always seems to include a few salvias, which isn’t surprising considering these multivarious members of the mint family number almost … Continue reading
Posted in climate, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
7 Comments
the garden stories we tell
It always amazes me how what was just hours before a scene of mayhem in the garden can look so calm and serene just a few moments after the mulch settles. Right where those little Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Beach Ball’ now … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
5 Comments
early September at Red Butte Garden
A short, unplanned, very hot visit to Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Garden last week brought an unexpected amount of pleasure and inspiration. Due to a flight delay back to Long Beach, we had a few extra hours to kill … Continue reading
Posted in climate, garden travel, MB Maher, Plant Portraits
Tagged Ericameria nauseosa rubber rabbitbrush, Red Butte Garden
8 Comments
summer stock: Agapanthus ‘Indigo Frost’
I have even less impulse control when plant shopping now because…summer. Of the four seasons, summer seems to be the one that we’re constantly admonished to savor to its fullest or risk being filled with inconsolable regret. And you won’t … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers
7 Comments