Category Archives: shop talk

APLD Plant Fair 10/2/21 at LA Arboretum

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Denise

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

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Denise

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!)

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Denise

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 Albuca spiralis, ceramics, Dustin Gimbel Designs, Eric Trine, Grigsby Cactus Gardens, Hazel Jewelry, Heal the Bay, Kevin Sheby Half Light Bindery, Phylica pubescens, Potted gifts for the garden, Rhipsalis crispata, River LA, Surfrider Foundation, Theodore Payne Foundation, Urban Americana, Wilder California | 7 Comments

discovering The Potting Shed on a Lark at Sourced Collective

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Denise

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 Jack Carlisle, Laguna Beach, Lark Artisan Market, Lisa Gutierrez-Martinez, Luis Sardinas, Michelle Mercado, Sourced Collective, The Potting Shed by Carlisle | 9 Comments

Bloom Day May 2017 (and assorted garden projects)

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Denise

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 ' Amicia zygomeris, Aloe 'Kujo', Alstroemeria 'The Third Harmonic', Aristida purpurea, Gaillardia 'Mesa Peach', Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Melinus nerviglumis, Passiflora 'Flying V', Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails', Pennisetum 'Karley Rose', Phlomis 'Sunningdale Gold', Salvia uliginosa, Strobilanthes gossypinus, Verbena bonariensis | 11 Comments

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

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Denise

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 Natural Discourse: Fire! (2016), The Huntington Library | 6 Comments

friday clippings 6/5/15

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Denise

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 "Garden of Contrast" by James Van Sweden and Sheila Brady, "White Cloud" by Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot, Better Homes & Gardens, Cornerstone Sonoma, Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus, Garden Bloggers Fling 2015, Glaucium grandiflorum, Stephen Orr, Sunset magazine | 3 Comments

compound interest

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Denise

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 compound leaves, Dustin Gimbel, Joshua McCullough, Melanoselinum decipiens, Melianthus major 'Purple Haze', PhytoPhoto, Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Tetrapanax papyrifer, umbellifers | 8 Comments

elephant season

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Denise

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 Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Colocasia 'Blue Hawaii', Colocasia 'Diamond Head', Colocasia 'Mojito', Cussonia gamtoosensis, elephant ears, garden plans, Kalanchoe beharensis, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', Pseuderanthemum carruthersii var. atropurpureum 'Rubrum', tropical plants | 6 Comments

staining concrete

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Denise

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 hardscape, staining concrete | 9 Comments