Improbable mashup of agave, castor bean, Sonchus palmensis and possibly Lily ‘Eurydice’ — the color is right, though the bloom habit is supposed to be drooping, pendant, not outward facing. Maybe that habit develops as the bulb matures? Whichever way it hangs, the scent is incredible
Here in dry frost-free zone 10b, grow lilies in containers. That’s what I’ve been admonishing myself for years. And that’s what I’ve been doing, without much noticeable benefit, because the bulbs rarely return a second year whether in the ground or containers. It could be the lack of winter chill and/or me falling down on watering duties after they bloom. But in the housebound August of 2020, late summer being when the selection is best, I deliriously ordered over a dozen lilies; and upon their arrival in October/November I planted them in the ground. Potato/potatuh, right? If success in containers is minimal, it’s back to the garden for the bulbs. At the very least, there wasn’t an extra dozen containers underfoot all winter/spring.
unlike other bulbs, lilies never go dormant, and they require even moisture year-round. And when an Oriental lily bud unfurls and throws its scent…ooh la la!
At twilight just these two lilies in bloom wafted scent strong enough to fill the entire back garden. Even when it’s too dark to see, it’s hard to leave that scent behind and head indoors at the end of the day. I ordered my lilies from B&D Lilies and the Lily Garden, and both companies are highly recommended for selection and service. Be warned that not all lilies are scented; the colorful, earlier blooming Asiatic lilies bear no scent.
no ID — my lily bulb binge garnered a bonus unnamed orienpet from B&D Lilies
So this year I mostly skipped the tulip rigamarole but went in a big way for lilies, and there are a half dozen stalks with buds forming in pockets throughout the garden.
Move over, aloes and agaves. Even a garden as small and densely planted as mine can squeeze in some lilies.
Treating them both as expensive annuals, I find lilies actually easier to manage than tulips. There are no pests like the lily beetle here waiting to ravage the flowers, and so far no creature disturbs or attempts to dig up the bulbs. However, the tulip rigamarole will be back for 2022 — some pandemic habits, like heavy catalogue use, will be difficult to break!
a good one for forcing/prechilling, Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’ March 2011. The Triumph and Single Early varieties are generally good bets for prechilling, which is how frost-free zones like mine must handle the bulbs
Once again I ordered early for the best selection, and the bulbs will come this fall 2021 prechilled. Incorrigible is the word that best describes this bulb habit, a peculiar form of zonal denial. And this cool spring I’m enviously reading reports of how long the tulips are lasting.
handled prechill regime well — Tulip ‘Brown Sugar’ February 2011
With their mysterious bulbous nature, hidden underground like Persephone for much of the year, I find them the ultimate garden tease. Delivery devices of rich, complex colors suspended on slim green stems, their appearance searingly intense but brief. In a condensed performance, bulbs enact a preview of the transformations a garden will make spring through fall.
Tulip ‘Double Beauty of Apeldoorn’ March 2011
I suppose it’s because they are so difficult here that I find them perversely irresistible. I don’t dream of large municipal plantings of tulips in spring, just a few pots on my back steps to celebrate Persephone’s triumphant reemergence as captured in the fleeting drama of ‘Gavota‘ — and maybe next year ‘Bastogne‘ and ‘Amber Glow‘ too if the prechill rigamorale is a success.
“[M]ost gardens are a three-part alchemy between the riches and constraints of the natural and/or cultural history of the place, the individual creativity and personality of the gardener, and the gardening culture in which both the garden and the gardener exist.”
preface to Under Western Skies
I’ve been taking small sips of this delicious new book by Jennifer Jewel and photographer Caitlin Atkinson, rich in both words and images. So often I become fixated on what the West lacks — abundant rainfall, for instance. Under Western Skies‘ emphasis on the West’s natural beauty and the rare opportunities it affords to make unique gardens here has refreshed my appreciation for my home. This book shows that the only lack one must be wary of in making a garden in the West is imagination.
the Reids’ garden at Hog Hill, Sebastopol, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Rancho Arroyo, Phoenix, Arizona, photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Nature Garden by Mia Lehrer, Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson
the Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve, Ojai, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Marwin Gardens, Watsonville, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson
David Godshall’s Edendale Garden, Echo Park, Calif., photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Bernard Trainor’s garden, Carmel-By-The-Sea, photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Academy for the Love of Learning, New Mexico, photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Harborton Hill, Portland, Oregon, photo by Caitlin Atkinson
Rarely do garden images and words complement each other as effectively as they do here; the collaborative synergy between writer and photographer comes through page after page. This over 400-page book is filled with unforgettable images of brilliant planting, such as cactus spires rising up from a froth of flowering buckwheat. And the detailed discussions of both the people and plants provide insight into the process of making a garden that can be universally applied, whatever sky you’re under. In books and magazines the West is often celebrated for the outdoor culture it has pioneered and exported, its patios and swimming pools, not its Coast Live Oaks, saguaros, Joshua trees and manzanitas. This plant-driven, deeply felt love letter to Western landscapes and gardens restores plants as central to the idea of a garden in the West, and for that alone it is to be cherished. It is highly recommended as a book to to be placed within easy access on your bookshelf, to be referred to over and over again when making a garden that attempts to honestly engage with your own unique land and sky.
(My copy of Under Western Skies was kindly provided by Timber Press for review.)
In November 2020 three Monterey cypresses were removed, the wooden fence replaced, a small brick patio removed, and the plantings reworked. Fernleaf acacia trunk is center photo.
roughly the same angle today. Agave victoriae-reginae needed potting up and received a celebratory matte turquoise pot
In November 2020 the east side of the garden saw some major renovations. The size of the lemon cypresses on the east boundary, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Citriodora,’ had dictated the character of the planting in its root and shade shadow. After their removal, the planting became intentional instead of reactive. A lot of the new planting was woven around original plants that were retained, such as Yucca rostrata, aloes, forms of Agave attenuata, tough plants that had managed to thrive in less-than-ideal conditions. In the far corner, a purple-leaved crinum and Doryanthes palmeri were also retained. Rarely do I think ahead about before-and-after documentation, but there are a few photos of this area that show how it’s been filling in. I am a plant-crazy person, there’s no two ways about it, so this in no way is a comprehensive plant report but more of a quick overview.
Dustin Gimbel’s ceramic totems are temporarily on loan from Mitch until his own garden is ready for them. Most recent additions are the two Ballota acetabulosa ‘All Hallows Green’ in the foreground, the sharp end of the wedge (now Marrubium bourgaei ‘All Hallows Green’)
Today the planting has taken on a wedge shape, with the narrowest end meeting up with the brick patio. I initially didn’t intend to take the planting this close to the bricks but — you know how it goes when you’re weak-kneed susceptible to the stunning beauty of plants. My neighbor’s garage is the visible structure. Leucospermum ‘Tango’ and Grevillea ‘Poorinda Blondie’ are two big, shrubby, and hopefully permanent additions on either side of the totems.
Before the crushed rock mulch which was put down in November/December 2020. The tight buns in the foreground and in front of Agave ‘Arizona Star’ are a dwarf statice I found at Worldwide Exotics, most likely Limonium minutum. It’s sending up clouds of bloom now — love it! I have a slightly larger form too, no ID.
Breaking this down a bit more, in the fall 2020 renovations, a sloping, roughly east/west spine of rocks was laid up to the fence. Lots of my potted succulents were planted along the rocks.
the old LA street light shade was deployed when the gravel was empty of plants
There was a lot of gravel showing early on — not so much now as the planting has absorbed new acquisitions and as spring progresses into summer. The slim trunk belongs to a young Euphorbia cotinifolia which was planted as a small understory tree to the fernleaf acacia.
Poppies have already filled in, bloomed, and been pulled. Gomphostigma virgatum is now hidden under mauve bachelor buttons.
Another Yucca rostrata was moved in front of the fence, transplanted from the front yard.
newly planted succulents along the rocks settling in over winter. Heuchera maxima was planted behind the existing Yucca rostrata, now one of two here. Agave geminiflora in a tall pot was slipped in behind the heuchera. Yet-to-bloom Aloe wickensii in foreground, Aloe ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ to the left. Grassy and strappy leaves are the predominant feature here year-round, whether sedges, yuccas, restios, agaves…
alstroemeria leaves filling in on the left
spring growth filling in along the rocks — especially prominent is the Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ — on the left, silver leaves, is the happiest dudleya I’ve ever grown. Carex testacea on the right is a prolific reseeder.
Yucca ‘Magenta Magic’ on left, Mangave ‘Purple People Eater’ on the right. With dwarf statice, echeverias, Chondropetalum tectorum lower left
wands of statice forming flowers
looking to the west, Plectranthus argentatus bulking up, the white flowers of Heuchera maxima now fading to tan
southeast corner with permanent planting of strappy-leaved Doryanthes palmeri, dark-leaved crinum, big leaves of Trevesia palmata. Alstroemeria ‘Third Harmonic’ was already established in this corner as well.
I’ve had a great time playing around with new plantings, keeping in mind the two categories of planting intention: plants that are hopefully permanent, such as the Trevesia palmata above right, and those that are intended for the 2021 season, like Digiplexis ‘Illumination Apricot.’ Silvery plectranthus, bronze fennel, palm-leaved geranium, gaura, verbascum, castor bean are all in the less-than-permanent category, though some will reseed or be easily renewed with cuttings.
Euphorbia cotinifolia engulfed by spring surge. Grevillea leaves in the foreground.
The Euphorbia cotinifolia, even though not an especially long-lived shrub/small tree, is also intended as a permanent feature. One of it’s drawbacks is that it is a prolific reseeder here. I intend to keep it clipped to no more than 8-10 feet, which will keep the reseeding down somewhat — although this morning I noticed flowers forming.
The leucospermum in particular will want frequent irrigation until it’s established.
I’m hoping to do another progress report towards the end of summer, with the aim of checking on size compatibility and seeing what’s survived the hot, dry months — “dry months” being relative terms, as this area has been hand-watered since planting last fall, with scant rainfall recorded. Oh, California! You don’t make it easy…
At 10 pounds, she’s still growing into those ears!
She’s a little sleepy right now, which is the best time to point a camera at her.
Born January 9, 2021, we picked her up on March 13. Just this morning I noticed how she’s becoming less madcap puppy and more surveyor and protector of her home and family. Positioning herself in strategic locations where she can watch two points of entry at once, for instance.
Her ankle-biting, herding instincts are practiced less on us now and channeled more into the big daily event of bringing the cat into the house before sundown. When Billie gets a little too enthusiastic, Banksy the cat has no problem setting her straight with a quick swipe. The cat has been remarkably patient and seems a natural at training rambunctious puppies.
herding cats
Watching the relationship unfold between these two has been pure comedy. And very touching too. Marty still has occasional lapses and calls Billie by our first corgi’s name (“Ein”), but that’s becoming less frequent as her uniquely impish personality develops. I have my own selfish reasons for loving this breed. Compact yet sturdy, both sociable and independent, their acute spatial awareness makes them expert at navigating small spaces (i.e. gardens). Now that she’s current on all her shots, we’ve been getting out for walks at the beach and trying out the local dog parks — which gives the cat a well-earned break from all that herding practice!
Oscar and family are growing the local cactus and succulent community one plant fair at a time on the grounds of his Green Touch Nursery in Bellflower, Calif. And why not? They’ve got the space and, most importantly, the can-do entreprenurial spirit to grow outside the traditional retail box. Oscar and family recognize the pent-up desire of plant collectors to shop for rarer plants, mingle, and swap growing techniques and sources.
It’s important to point out that most Southern California nurseries offer a good selection of cactus and succulents any day of the year. They’d be crazy not to, because these plants have only become more desirable in the past year as plant sales have boomed. What you don’t see are the rarer offerings from small growers that are traditionally brought to plant society sales or offered at local botanical garden sales. With the covid pandemic, all this plant-collecting enthusiasm has been pushed online, and the physical outlets to browse rarities have been shuttered. Green Touch has nimbly filled that void, getting out the word through social media, easily adapting their expansive grounds for plant fairs.
I’ve missed a few plants fairs already and was determined to make it to last Saturday’s. Arriving at 10ish, as always the early birds got the best selection . Oscar says about 250 people were ready to shop when they opened at 9 a.m. Stopping at the first table inside the gate, Botanic Wonders immediately had me in thrall with their aloes. Their Aloes boylei, karasbergensis, and capitata ‘Tsiroanomandidy’ ended up being the sum total of my purchases this plant fair — the offer of fresh seed of Dioscorea elephantipes with purchase was a very nice touch! (I’m very excited about my two Aloe boylei, which have the widest leaves of all the grassy-leaved aloes.) Botanic Wonders is open by appointment at their Vista, California nursery. I’ll be adding it to the itinerary of upcoming San Diego road trips.
And then it was on to ogling all the pretty spiny things in bloom.
You can pack a hatchback full of these 4-inch delicacies without breaking a sweat.
Checking out the nursery, I recognized old friends, like this Echeveria gigantea hybrid that just gets better and better. Green Touch’s day-to-day selection is exceptional.
The developing bloom spike on Agave victoriae-reginae has exploded skyward since my last visit.
Nice-looking bunch of spiral aloes.
Thank you so much, Green Touch Nursery, for organizing and hosting cactus and succulent plant fairs — looking forward to the next one! Follow them on Instagram and Facebook for announcements of upcoming sales.
It’s been two years since Mitch visited Greece. When I first saw his photos, it was the giant fennel in its native habitat that grabbed all of my attention. With my giant fennel taking its sweet time to bloom, Mitch’s photos may be the closest I get to seeing it in flower.
Looking at his photos again, I rediscovered all the beauty I initially skimmed over, enough for a mini-travelogue this Monday. It’s so nice to have a compulsive shutterbug in the family. When I visited the Parthenon, did I shlep a camera around? Um, no.
Agave x leopoldii ‘Hammertime’ on a table near the office at Worldwide Exotics
It was that article in the Los Angeles Times sometime in the ’90s, accompanied by a photo of Gary Hammer crouched in a rock crevice or slot canyon with a curtain of waterfall flowing behind him. The article that christened him the Indiana Jones of plant explorers. I can’t find the photo, but I did find another article written by Susan Heeger in 1992. Maybe I imagined the photo? Shortly after the article appeared I visited Gary’s Montebello retail nursery mentioned in the article and brought home an Ecuadoran polygonum that ate my parkway then climbed up the jacaranda — on no supplemental irrigation With climate change forcing record heat and prolonged drought, I appreciate more and more Gary’s scouring the world for beautiful plants tough enough for Southern California gardens. (Although the knotweed turned out to be a little too tough, even for a hell strip, and was removed.)
Office at Worldwide Exotics 2021
Gary eventually left California and moved to Mexico. And it was while he was delayed in transit, awaiting a rescheduled flight back to Mexico, that he was struck by a car on an Arizona highway in 2011, when he was 57. Like T.E. Lawrence, years of dangerous, bone-breaking adventures in foreign countries were survived to end in a vehicular accident near home.
Gary Hammer, via Pacific Horticulture, by France Ruffenach
In this 2013 tribute to Gary in Pacific Horticulture, some of the plants attributed to him include Dymondia margaretae, Cotula lineariloba, and he is credited with introducing lomandra, westringia, phormium, juncus, among so many others to SoCal gardens. Shelley adds ledebouria to the list. And considering its ubiquity, it’s astonishing to be reminded that Gary introduced Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’ here.
Euphorbia ‘Sticks on Fire’ and possibly Agave potatorum at Worldwide Exotics
For a time capsule snapshot of those heady times, pre-Internet, this excerpt from the article in Pacific Horticulture sums it up:
“Remember the plant lust of the mid-1980s through mid-1990s? When you would drive hours out of your way to a plant sale in another county or an out-of-the-way nursery to find something you’d never grown before? And head back home with a smile on your face because your vehicle was crammed full of things your gardening cronies would never even have heard of and couldn’t help but envy? And wasn’t it glorious?…In Southern California, Gary Hammer created that fever almost single-handedly.”
Worldwide Exotics 2021
And in the intervening years since then, I somehow assumed the nursery was closed. In fall of 2020, on one of those rambling pandemic reading jags at the computer, I discovered that Worldwide Exotics, run by Gary’s friend and business partner Shelley Jennings since the ’90s, was still in business and continued to offer Gary’s plants. I immediately made the hour-long trip and met Gary’s friends and eventual business partners, Shelley and Ken Jennings. Shelley and Ken were Gary’s neighbors, working in aerospace and finance, respectively, when they jettisoned those careers and joined forces with Gary, who seemed to be having a lot more fun. Worldwide Exotics had been running for years five days a week, but the huge operation is slowing down, now open only on Saturdays from 10-4.
From Worldwide Exotics website: “By the early 90s, Shelley founded Worldwide Exotics Nursery and began collecting with Hammer. Over the years her collection has been displayed at farmers markets, botanical gardens, amusement parks, Disney Concert Hall, schools, local zoos, wildlife habitats, commercial and residential gardens, movie sets, and many more. To this day we are still propagating unusual specimens and farming 6 acres in the San Fernando Valley.”
Shelley says this agave was obtained on Gary’s last collecting trip. It reminds me of Agave ellemeetiana but that’s not a confirmed ID. The leafy plant on the right is an aroid Pinellia tripartita
Euphorbia lambii with westringia in foreground. Neighboring property in the distance is an equestrian facility
I made that first trip to Worldwide Exotics maybe six months ago, taking no photos, just wandering the grounds. I may have been projecting a misplaced tinge of tragedy onto the nursery, especially with loss the leitmotif of the pandemic, and I found the subject difficult to write about. But how could the nursery be written about without mentioning Gary? And this was someone I knew only from newspaper articles! Yet apart from Gary’s untimely death, it also fills me with emotion to be transported back to my younger gardening self, one of the devotees who chased down Gary’s plants in a time prepandemic that seemed filled with more physicality, more jitterbugging around, more adventures, more wonder — just more.
This trip last weekend I was determined to shake off that introspective mood, take some photos, and just enjoy this remarkable nursery, which Shelley and Ken work tirelessly to maintain. The weather was mild, having been in the 90sF just a few days before. Yet when the timed misters went off near the office, there was a shout of approval from customers as they swarmed to the hydrated air. The grounds get baking hot, especially on the open, unshaded succulent side.
Euphorbia resinifera
Under the shade cloth you can find bromeliads, begonias, plectranthus, ferns, hardy orchid bletilla…
Shelley says their pyrrosia were installed in the gardens at the Disney Concert Hall on Grand in DTLA
bilbergia with oversized pendulous flowers
Plectranthus argentatus
Artistolochia fimbriata
shrimp plant with delicate coloring
The dry garden herbaceous plants are grouped at the entrance to the nursery. You drive past the succulents to the end of the dirt road to reach the office, where you can park. A hand-picked selection of plants are grouped for sale near the office, but you don’t want to miss exploring the entire nursery, because there are some real gems to be discovered.
herbaceous perennials and shrubby stuff at the entrance
Euphorbia rigida
Most plant IDs I could guess at, but for this tutti-frutti number I’ve got nothing
(Edited to add ID offered by Randy Baldwin of Eremophila racemosa)
Possibly Sea Squill, Drimia maritima
I thought I’d finally found a variegated foxtail lily but it was NFS (not for sale)
Shelley has plans to gather every plant named for Gary and take them to the horticultural department at his alma mater, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. (In my garden, Tecomaria ‘Hammer’s Rose’ grows against the east fence.) Both Shelley and Ken are keenly aware of his legacy that permeates their remarkable nursery. But you don’t need to know any of this to enjoy one of the prime plant shopping experiences in Los Angeles on Saturdays, 9:30-4.
It started off mid-Saturday morning May 1 at Ray and Netty’s plant sale at their home in Atwater Village. There in the driveway was a 3-gallon plant beckoning me with the intriguing tag “mystery euphorbia.” Ray Valentine really knows how to get a plant collector’s attention.
mystery euphorbia’s mother plant is the tree dead center. Both Ray and Netty seemed stunned at the mature size of the plants in their garden, as though it happened overnight, in the blink of an eye. Thirty years feels like that to me too.
I was on the hunt for textural drama for pots. And with that agenda in mind, it was a very good day!
Here’s one of the mystery euphorbias I brought home, cuttings from the tree pictured in the top photo, potted up and placed on a high stool to keep it out of the reach of an inquisitive puppy. I’ve no intention of letting it grow to tree size in the ground. As far as identification, Euphorbia drupifera seems the closest fit I’ve found so far. The plant has a pachypodium vibe, with thorny stems ending in lush leaves at the tips. Netty said it is extremely cold sensitive and will drop all its leaves when cold-challenged. E. drupifera is a Zone 11 plant, so that fits the description as well.
Another mystery euphorbia from the Valentines’ sale, one I’ve yet to identify. I was attracted to the rhipsalis-like habit of growth, hoping for another lush-appearing but dry-tolerant plant to spill out of a hanging pot. Then Netty showed me the mother plant — another enormous tree! Still, in the short term, I’ll probably grow it from a hanging pot to drape over the sides.
Two-tiered ponytaill palm
In the Valentines’ back garden the size of the specimen plants seems even larger now that they have cleared out most of the smaller understory succulents for ease of maintenance. All the Aloe camperi I was recently enthusing about in the front garden have been likewise cleared out and the parkway graveled over. Netty said the debris on the succulents was becoming too much maintenance, and I admitted that I took out the succulents under the Pearl Acacia in my front garden for the same reason. We both agreed that trees are priority number one, for shade, for cooling, for cleansing the air, for wildlife.
Ray’s back garden towering over him
Ray showing off a spray of ocotillo flowers
An enormous clump of monstrose cactus putting the squeeze on a tree aloe
These huge specimens were the source of the plants available at the sale.
The Valentines said the inspiration for starting their garden 30 years ago came from the Huntington’s desert garden.
After the Valentines’ sale, I made a quick stop at Potted, about fives minutes from the Valentines, for a yellow pot, then headed to Worldwide Exotics in Lakeview Terrace, which is now only open on Saturdays. There were many mystery plants here too, which is no surprise since the nursery was started by plant explorer Gary Hammer, who passed away 10 years ago. At these extensive growing grounds, the plants are unlabeled. After you make your selections, you bring your swag to Shelley Jennings for ID and payment. Shelley consults her three-ring binder and provides names for all selections, like this Homalocladium platycladum, Ribbon Bush. The Ribbon Bush too has potential to become a large shrub, but it’ll stay in a pot for the short term.
And at Worldwide Exotics I found this treasure, which Shelley identified as Hechtia tillandsiodes, a barbless hechtia! Swoon….
I picked the Hechtia tillandsiodes with the inflorescence
I flagged down Shelley’s husband Ken after seeing this medusa-like, oddball bromeliad and asked if there were any small plants for sale. He pointed to a group of four hanging just behind me.
Silvery slim leaves spill forth studded with nubby blooms that give it the common name Pinecone Bromeliad, Acanthostachys strobilacea.
However, this fern needed no introduction. Pyrrosia lingua is epiphytic, so rather than plant it in a very crowded garden where it would be swamped, I used an old orchid box which I lined with some beech bark that I peeled off some firewood, mossed the gaps, and hung it on the east patio (Pandemic Garden Project.)
My wagon filled with both familiar and mysterious plants at Worldwide Exotics.
I’ll get around to more photos of WE’s growing grounds later this week. Just an incredibly fun place for a good plant prowl.
