Category Archives: shop talk
the learning garden at Venice High School
I’m late posting about the Learning Garden, a garden stop on the May 2012 Venice Garden & Home Tour, and today the LG offers a class open to the public on vermiculture/composting, a deadline I had been hoping to beat. … Continue reading
summer notes
Though I’ve been practicing lots of garden math — some addition but mostly subtraction and a little light division — the garden still seems almost unchanged and very familiar this summer, and I haven’t decided yet if that’s necessarily a … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, garden visit, journal, Plant Portraits, shop talk, succulents
Tagged ' Plant Delights Nursery, 2012, Anemanthele lessoniana, Atriplex hortensis, Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition', Christopher Lloyd, Colocasia 'Diamond Head', Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito', Euphorbia characias 'Silver Swan', Giovanni Battista Amici, Leycesteria formosa 'Golden Lanterns', Lilium 'Lankon', Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. incana, San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society, SDCSS plant sale June 2 & 3, Stipa arundinacea, Teucrium hircanicum 'Paradise Delight', Tibouchina granulosa 'Gibraltar', Tweedia caerulea, Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger'
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Bike to Work Day
Today, 5/18/12, is Bike to Work Day, which I heard over the car radio stuck in traffic. So I have no cycling adventure to recount, but it’s the perfect opportunity to share this very cool photo of Humphrey Bogart cycling … Continue reading
saturday’s clippings 5/12/12
Quote of the week: “I can’t believe I burned down a tree older than Jesus,” philosophized a 26-year-old woman who torched a 3,500-year-old bald cypress known as The Senator last January, one of the 10 oldest trees on earth, while … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, shop talk, succulents
Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Anemanthele lessoniana, Anigozanthos 'Yellow Gem', Argyranthemum haouarytheum, Cotinus 'Grace', Cra, Crassula expansa subsp. fragilis, Hesperaloe parviflora, Nancy Ondra, Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', Ornithogalum dubium, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', Salvia canariensis var. candissima, Salvia wagneriana, Stipa arundinacea
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Carex pansa
“Somewhere out there in nature, he reasoned, there had to be a grass…that would be naturally low-growing, drought-tolerant, evergreen, and trampleable: a natural lawn grass.” – The New Yorker, August 19, 1996, “The Grassman.” Carex pansa, the California meadow sedge, … Continue reading
friday’s clippings 4/6/12
I trust we’ve all safely arrived at the doorstep of this spring weekend relatively intact. My car is in the shop from a minor crash a few weeks back, my first since I can’t remember when, and the rental has … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, Cinema Botanica, clippings, creatures, journal, Plant Portraits, shop talk
Tagged Abbey Hotel, Allium schubertii, alliums, Bonhams, Chateau Marmont, Chelsea Hotel, Colony Collapse Disorder, Irish wolfhound, Jean Shrimpton, Rob Walls photographer, Rose 'Bouquet d'Or', Terence Stamp
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fertilizer and its discontents
My dainty coronilla reminds me of Cytisus battandieri a little bit, which is another member of the vast legume family. All legumes have the ability to convert and “fix” atmospheric nitrogen, making it available to plants as a natural fertilizer. … Continue reading
Outdoor Rooms Need Shelving
Outdoor furniture, kitchens, fireplaces. Outdoor fabrics have come a long way for dirt and UV resistance. But anyone else notice something lacking? Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places, but it seems to me that for sturdy outdoor … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden ornament, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents
Tagged Building REsources, outdoor rooms, salvage, shelving
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Lunaria annua
I’ve finally discovered the identity of the little clutch of seedlings under the smoke tree. Lunaria annua, which I saw lining the pathways of *Western Hills, the former plant nursery in Occidental, California. Western Hills photo by MB Maher. I’ve … Continue reading
seeing double
At Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery in West Los Angeles yesterday, I was surprised to find double blooms on a couple of popular summer tropicals, abutilon and mandevilla, something to keep in mind for next summer’s containers. (Abutilon for shade, mandevilla for … Continue reading
Posted in plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents
Tagged Abutilon 'Victorian Lady', bonsai, Ginkgo biloba, Hashimoto Nursery, Mandevilla 'Tango Twirl', Monrovia, sempervivums, Support Your Independent Nursery Month, The Jungle, West Los Angeles, Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
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