Monthly Archives: April 2012

freeway wildflowers

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Denise

Two Sundays ago, on Earth Day, in fact, I bounded out of bed early to head for a strip of wildflowers I’d been watching gain momentum for weeks and which looked to be approaching peak bloom. Instead of driving miles … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged aloes, California native plants, Centuarea cyanus, Cistus purpureus, Escholtzia californica, Kalanchoe beharensis, kniphofias, Layia platyglossa, Mediterranean climates, Mimulus aurantiacus, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Pennisetum messiacum, Phacelia crennulata, Red Bunny Tails Fountain Grass, scorpionweed, Verbena lilacina | 5 Comments

Saturday’s Clippings 4/28/12

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Denise

I enjoyed this article very much earlier in the week, well worth a Sunday read: “Any patch of earth, large or small, turns out to be a mad surprise party of species — fluid, unpredictable and wild — and a … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, clippings, design, garden ornament, garden visit, plant nurseries, pots and containers, science | Tagged "Counting Species on a Little Patch of Earth", Agave 'Felipe Otero', Agave attenuata 'Kara's Stripes', Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold', Agave Coast Landscapes, arctotis, B&D Lilies, Carol Kaesuk Yoon, Catalina Ironwood, Desert to Jungle, Dustin Gimbel, Fermob garden chairs, Gary Hammer, Huntington Botanical Garden plant sale April 2012, Laura Dalton, Lily 'Lankon', Lyonothamnus floribundus, Potted gifts for the garden, San Marcos Growers, Sarah Robinson/Sarah's Gardens, Second Nature Garden Design, South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times | 2 Comments

selections from Mar Vista’s Green Garden Showcase

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Denise

A quick look back at one of the gardens on the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase last Saturday, which was a huge tour, with over 80 houses participating. Careful logistical preparation is required, researching and winnowing through descriptions online, mapping … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, garden visit, MB Maher | Tagged Acacia podalyriifolia, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Daniel Rhodes, Hidcote, Italian gardens, Katherine Spitz, Los Angeles Times, Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, Pittosporum tobira 'Wheeler's Dwarf' | 2 Comments

Carex pansa

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Denise

“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 →

Posted in design, garden visit, science, shop talk | Tagged California meadow sedge, Carex pansa, John Greenlee, lawn substitutes, Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, The New Yorker 8/19/96 "The Grassman", Wade Graham | 5 Comments

the clematis club

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Denise

I’m referring to a club in the informal sense, with really only one criterion for membership. And that is to push on past the inevitable early disappointments associated with growing clematis until one is found that will bloom in your … Continue reading →

Posted in plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged Chalk Hill Clematis, Clematis 'Betty Corning', Clematis viticella, Joy Creek Nursery | 11 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo 4/21/12

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Denise

Some mornings the poppies do an especially fine job of arranging their blooms throughout the gravel garden. Orange notes from Papaver rupifragum and dyckia (I know I keep referring to this bit of garden as the “gravel garden,” which it … Continue reading →

Posted in Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Dyckia species, Papaver rupifragum | 6 Comments

friday’s clippings 4/20/12

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Denise

Friday’s Clippings is a handy blog closet into which accumulated stuff can be shoved at the end of the week, things I want to refer to again that might be of wider interest. And speaking of odds and ends shoved … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, creatures, design, garden travel, garden visit, journal, science | Tagged Colony Collapse Disorder, Dustin Gimbel, Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, neonicotinoid insecticides, South Coast Plaza, Southern California Spring Garden Show 2012, Why Trees Matter by Jim Robbins | 2 Comments

quick trip to Rolling Greens

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Denise

Work cancelled at the last minute today, the message on the phone said, so there I was in a Culver City business center parking garage with nothing to do. Driving around Culver City, I mulled the situation over and considered … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, plant nurseries, pots and containers | Tagged Rolling Greens Culver City | 6 Comments

221 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Denise

From the tenth floor looks like this: And at ground level. Aloes, furcraea, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Senecio mandraliscae, Dichondra argentea. One of the most successful public plantings of succulents I’ve seen around town. It’s been at least five years since I … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, succulents | Tagged Aeonium 'Zwartkop', Agave titanota, aloes, Dichondra argentea., furcraea, Kalanchoe orgyalis, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Sedum rubrotinctum, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, woody lilies | 7 Comments

Foliage Followup April 2012

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Denise

Grasses and agaves, yes, of course, solidity and movement, so why not grasses and aloes? A youngish Aloe marlothii and the evergreen cold blue steel blades of Blue Oat Grass, Helicotrichon sempervirens. I can’t imagine keeping a plant in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged aeoniums, Aloe marlothii, echeverias, Foliage Followup, Frankenia thymifolia, Helicotrichon sempervirens, Plectranthus argentatus, Viola labradorica, x Fatshedera lizei | 4 Comments