Category Archives: plant nurseries
Hardenbergia violaceae, the Happy Wanderer
This smallish evergreen vine, also known as the Happy Wanderer, is in bloom around town, always a surprising sight for February. It’s a tough little number in the pea family from eastern Australia that lays low all year, unnoticed, in … Continue reading
Asparagus virgatus
There’s not a lot of fern action in my dry, sunny garden, much to my regret, but in the front garden on the north side of the house, planted in the parched gloom at the foundation line, a fern is … Continue reading
Kalanchoe ‘Oak Leaf’
Wonderful architectural bloom trusses on this 5-gallon kalanchoe at Lincoln Avenue Nursery in Pasadena. Was this a Kalanchoe beharensis in flower? The leaves at the base of the plant were difficult to see without disturbing the careful display. The San … Continue reading
tropical leaf under glass
Cleaning up the tropicals for their winter rest in early November, there remained an absolutely perfect leaf on Colocasia ‘Blue Hawaii.’ I cut it for a vase, and when the water had evaporated and the leaf was still in good … Continue reading
so cold that plants are turning purple
The cold weather is coaxing some fine seasonal coloration out of plants, especially those whose names hint to a destiny with the color purple anyway. Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ deeply plummy mid ribs on the leaves of Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ Yucca … Continue reading
Posted in Occasional Daily Weather Report, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged "Umbrella Group: why not make room for a Schefflera?" by Robbie Blackhall-Miles, Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea', Crug Farm Plants, hardy scheffleras, Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Yucca aloifolia 'Purpurea'
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the colors of Bilbergia nutans
The first bloom of the common Queen’s Tears bromeliad, Bilbergia nutans, is just so very startling when it arrives, especially if you’ve only seen it in photos before. Like drop-your-coffee-cup startling. As though David Hockney was in the garden overnight … Continue reading
Posted in design, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
Tagged Bilbergia nutans, bromeliads, Euphorbia mauritanica, Euphorbia rigida, Gomphrena 'Fireworks', Huntington Botanical Gardens, Lavandula multifida, Lavandula pinnata var. buchii, Pelargonium crispum 'Variegatum', Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Western Hills Nursery and Garden
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Fall Planting Festival at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden 11/2/13
“California is defined by its Mediterranean climate. It is the smallest floristic province in North America, but has the greatest diversity of plants north of Mexico. It includes such characteristic vegetation as chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and grassland. … Continue reading
Agave ‘Shira ito no Ohi’
Or, more specifically, Agave filifera ssp. schidigera ‘Shira ito no Ohi’ (Queen of White Thread Century Plant). No one seems to know the origin of the variegated form of this wee agave with the big name, whose queenly title was … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, plant nurseries
Tagged ' Plant Delights Nursery, 2013 Garden Bloggers Fling, Agave filifera ssp. schidigera 'Shira ito no Ohi', Brian Kemble, Echeveria elegans, Kellee Adams, Queen of White Thread Century Plant), Queen of White Thread-leaf Agave, recessive traits, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, The Wave Garden, Tony Avent
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this summer’s dahlias
I moved my one dahlia, the deep burgundy ‘Chat Noir,’ to my community garden plot this summer. Performance was…meh. By August the plant was finished. The soil at the CG still needs work if it’s to grow anything but zinnias … Continue reading
anatomy of a late-summer road trip
Is there a tinge of desperation in the road trips of late summer? By the end of summer are we stuffing itineraries with an absurd number of places to see in the dwindling opportunities to experience daylight until 8 p.m.? … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, edibles, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, plant nurseries, succulents
Tagged "Natural Discourse", 2013 Heirloom Exposition, Agave 'Cornelius', Agave americana var. striata, Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Andy Cao, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Cornerstone Annual Tomato Tasting, Cornerstone Sonoma, Cottage Gardens of Petaluma, Gladiolus papilio, Gunnera perpensa, James Van Sweden, John Greenlee, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Sheila Brady, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Xavier Perrot
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