Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Veltheimia bracteata
Yes, Joseph, this one will be a slow grower, so settle in. My system for summer-dormant bulbs is fairly lackadaisical, as in if I’m lucky I just might trip over the pot tucked in an out-of-the-way spot and notice the … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, Plant Portraits
Tagged Pacific Bulb Society, Telos Rare Bulbs, Veltheimia bracteata
2 Comments
Pennisetum spathiolatum
This pennisetum, the Slender Veldt Grass from South Africa, has been on my mind for some time. The form of it has, at least. I didn’t know its name until last week. I was hoping to find this form in … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Digging Dog, Pennisetum spathiolatum, Slender Veldt Grass
3 Comments
Do Not Fill Angel Trumpets with Whipped Cream
Amazing how fast plants cycle back into flower. This brugmansia had dropped all flower buds in response to high temperatures in September, and now this show in November, taken early this morning. These blooms on ‘Charles Grimaldi’ are a pallid … Continue reading
Silver&Gold
(I’m describing the slow accretion of the colors selected to surround me, practiced by me, a nonprofessional. An inattentive process of anti-design, if you will.) It starts out with silver. Just silver. Silver came home first, in the form of … Continue reading
Weedy, Weedier, Weediest Mullein
A white seedling of Verbascum phoeniceum is enthusiastically blooming away after the October surprise of early rains. It held on to its basal leaves in the sere gravel garden all summer in hope of some form of irrigation. Tough little … Continue reading
While You Were Away
I swing between elation and despondency upon returning from an absence to be confronted by a garden that obviously carried on beautifully while I was away. Bravo, everyone is alive and thriving vs. sniffle, I am clearly superfluous. As usual, … Continue reading
Sky’s The Limit
It was recently calculated (but not by me) that my little back garden is all of 882 square feet. After 20 years of gardening here, methodically covering every inch of that 882 square feet, with moisture and light now robbed … Continue reading
Posted in design, Plant Portraits
Tagged Antigonon leptosus, asarina, Clematis cirrhosa, Cobaea scandens, Dicentra scandens, Dolichos lablab, Eccremocarpus scaber, Manettia cordifolia, Passiflora sanguinolenta, Pole beans Trionfo Violetto, Thunbergia alata, vines, Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea'
5 Comments
Nerine sarniensis
(Followup to Nerinomania.)
Salvia ‘Limelight’
I certainly don’t have a garden large enough to include a 6×6 fall-bloomer like Salvia mexicana ‘Limelight.’ And I don’t think there’s an affordable pot in existence roomy enough for a mature plant, except maybe the humble trash can. (On … Continue reading
Dishing with the Girlfriends
You didn’t really expect we’d be discussing the latest Manolo Blahniks, did you? Below is the transcribed conversation of a group of cyber garden pals on the topic of various approaches to overwintering tropicals. All but me garden in a … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged alocasia, colocasia, overwintering tropicals, xanthosoma
4 Comments