Monthly Archives: November 2011

Occasional Daily Photo 11/30/11

I switched out the 50 mm lens today for a 24mm to get a bigger view. I’ve been leaning on the 50mm like a crutch — for such a small garden, it just seems easier to manage with the 50mm. … Continue reading

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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 , , , | 10 Comments

some quiet plant conversation

I suggest we leave the main table with its overturned wine glasses, scattered pie crumbs, gravy stains and increasingly madcap discussions and gather in an out-of-the-way corner to quietly talk plants. A kind of horticultural digestif. A couple weeks ago … Continue reading

Posted in Bulbs, creatures, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Desk Diversions

The past few days have been misshapen, unwholesome things, misspent in a prolonged bout of desk duty. Sporadic but sweet relief and diversion came in the form of The Paris Apartment. Claudia has been shopping the Paris flea markets(!) The … Continue reading

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Bloom Day November 2011

It can’t be November already. But the winter-blooming salvias don’t lie. Rosebud-like blooms are forming on Salvia wagneriana, and the slender wands of Salvia littae from Oaxaca, Mexico are budding up. The latter’s tall, lanky growth habit is very reminiscent … Continue reading

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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

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pieces of Rancho Reubidoux

The inaugural Rancho Reubidoux Bazaar took place this weekend, a truly one-of-a-kind experience amounting to a physical journey through Reuben’s blog posts, a kind of dimension-pushing experience with flash mob overtones. Blogging in 3-D, so to speak. At my last … Continue reading

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Villa Mundo Nuevo

This fall photographer MB Maher revisited this Northern Californian residential garden designed by landscape architect Jarrod Baumann of Zeterre Landscape Architecture and built by contractor Jim Everett of EvLand LLC that won the 2010 California Landscape Contractors Association Trophy Award. … Continue reading

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Occasional Daily Weather Report 11/2/11

“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch.” — Raymond Chandler, … Continue reading

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