Category Archives: design

Devils in the Details

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Denise

I’ve been pestering MB Maher to shake loose some more video work, and he keeps telling me the coffers are empty at the moment, that he’s hard at work on a new series on designers tentatively titled Field Studies. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, design, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Tropicalissimo Redux

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Denise

Anybody remember “tropicalissimo”? In gardening, it references a word used maybe a decade ago for the then-shocking innovation of incorporating tropicals in summer borders and containers. A fairly mundane practice now. Somewhat counter-intuitively, I’ve found these plants, the alocasia, colocasias, … Continue reading →

Posted in design, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Blue Bottle & Finial

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Denise

I cleaned out my garden shed the other day and found this blue bottle buried under twine and dirty garden gloves dried into angry fist shapes. There was apparently attraction enough at one time for me to squirrel the bottle … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, succulents | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo 7/29/11

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Denise

Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ and Allium senescens. This little mid summer-flowering onion is sweet consolation for an allium-less garden up to this point. Unlike me, the early-blooming, flamboyant drumstick alliums don’t enjoy a zone 10 garden and prefer chillier winters. And although … Continue reading →

Posted in design, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Sherman Gardens & Library

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Denise

I took the day off yesterday to check out some local nurseries for dahlias and eucomis in flower. (All my eucomis were bought as bulbs, some with leaves purportedly of varieties as dark or darker than ‘Oakhurst,’ but all instead … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Ennis House

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Denise

All Bladerunner fans, relax. Deckard’s house is safe. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis house in Los Angeles was used as a set for some of the scenes in Bladerunner. The Ennis House was released from a Wright family conservatorship in 2009 … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, design | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Agave bovicornuta

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Denise

The Cow Horn Agave. I can’t think of another agave with this translucent quality to its leaves. And the little “steer horns” (teeth) fire up in morning sun like burning coals heating a branding iron. Do I really know anything … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Succulent Experiments

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Denise

Crassula expansa subsp. fragilis was planted this past May in these car jack stands, using window screening to hold the soil in, first pictured here near the bottom of the post. Unlike my mossy experiments, this crassula is growing much … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sunsleeves

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Denise

I finally corraled someone (Mitch) into modeling the sunsleeves that were sent to me by Kool Dog. If you email them and inquire as I did, I’m sure they’ll send a sample to you too. The model’s unfortunate choice of … Continue reading →

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Big Daddy On The Move

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Denise

“You know what I feel like? I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof.” Maggie the Cat, daughter-in-law of Big Daddy, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Me, too, Maggie. It’s clearly going to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Botanica, design, MB Maher | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments