Category Archives: shop talk

APLD Plant Fair 10/2/21 at LA Arboretum

The Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers puts on a helluva fall plant fair, and against some impressive odds they have managed to deliver another one for 2021 on October 2nd. And hooray for autumn plant … Continue reading

Posted in plant nurseries, plant sales, shop talk | 9 Comments

spring surge

In what’s become a spring ritual, I thinned out a whole bunch of poppies today (my go-to poppy, Papaver setigerum, which has been reseeding for years). And yanked handfuls of branches from the bulging honeywort, Cerinthe major purpurascens, too. When … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, shop talk, succulents | 10 Comments

scenes from the popup (big thank you!)

photos by MB Maher Here’s a look at the tables as they were first set up, before the sale. Dustin Gimbel’s footed “log” pots were a big hit and sold out. (Luckily, you can find the “Gimbel Marbelized Trunk Planter” … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, commerce, design, garden ornament, MB Maher, photography, plant nurseries, plant sales, pop-up, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

discovering The Potting Shed on a Lark at Sourced Collective

There’s retail that does vintage and architectural finds well, and there’s retail that does plants well. Haven’t you wished somebody with a passion for both would combine them under one roof? I know I have. Consider it handled by The … Continue reading

Posted in artists, commerce, cut flowers, design, edibles, garden ornament, MB Maher, photography, plant nurseries, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bloom Day May 2017 (and assorted garden projects)

Photo taken last night, when I still hoped I could squeak this post in under the Bloom Day deadline, the 15th of every month, and be righteously on time, but it was not to be. Flash of red is from … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, climate, creatures, cut flowers, design, MB Maher, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Natural Discourse: Fire! 9/30 & 10/1/16

I’ve lived long enough to have experienced the dispersal of information about plants move from paper to the computer screen, and it seems I rarely have the sense anymore that I’m cut off from an essential stream of information on … Continue reading

Posted in artists, climate, Department of Instruction, design, garden travel, garden visit, science, shop talk | Tagged , | 6 Comments

friday clippings 6/5/15

Late spring conversation at our house sums up living in a “mixed” household (gardeners/nongardeners): Duncan, from the back porch: Whatcha doin’ out there? Me, from deep in the garden: Sitting in a field of poppies. Duncan (scanning for alleged field … Continue reading

Posted in artists, Bulbs, clippings, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

compound interest

Image found here I don’t have a lot of botanical vocabulary at my fingertips anymore, but I do know a compound leaf when I see one*, since I’ve always had a pronounced weakness for them. If you’ve got a potted … Continue reading

Posted in design, Plant Portraits, science, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

elephant season

A few tropicals in pots can be a fine sendoff to summer. Here about a mile from the ocean, the big-leaved tropicals like colocasia, the “elephant ears,” bide their time until the temperatures start to really feel uncomfortable. By the … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

staining concrete

One of the more excruciating projects this past summer involved the tiled patio on the east side of the house, photo taken 10/3/10. The indoor tile left over from a friend’s DIY project was a mistake the day we laid … Continue reading

Posted in Department of Instruction, design, shop talk | Tagged , | 9 Comments