Monthly Archives: April 2014

isoplexis and digiplexis side by side

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Denise

There’s no telling which of these, if either, will be around for photos next year, so now’s the time for a side-by-side color comparison.According to this article, it was Isoplexis canariensis that was crossed with Digitalis purpurea to give us … Continue reading →

Posted in cut flowers, Plant Portraits | Tagged Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame', Digitalis purpurea, Isoplexis canariensis, Isoplexis isabelliana | 10 Comments

this is my brain on spring

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Denise

Spring is such a massive distraction, and that’s coming from just my own little garden, which apart from work* I rarely want to leave. For the first time in my adult life, I drove by a multiplex theater on Sunday … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, plant nurseries, succulents | Tagged alcantarea, Andy's Orchids, bromeliads, Cerbera odollam, Cosmos 'Yellow Garden', eiphyllums, Entada sp., epidendrums, Graptopetalum pentandrum ssp. superbum, Graptopetalum superbum 'Cotton Candy', rhipsalis sp., Southern California Spring Garden Show 2014, tillandsias | 7 Comments

waxflowers in bloom at Grand Park

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Denise

The last time I worked at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse prompted this post on Grand Park*. Yesterday the waxflowers were in bloom, an Australian shrub that most likely passed completely unnoticed at my last visit. The waxflower, or chamelaucium, … Continue reading →

Posted in cut flowers, garden visit, Plant Portraits | Tagged Australian plants, chamelaucium, Los Angeles Grand Park, Made in America Festival Los Angeles 2014, waxflower | 3 Comments

sweet peas and orlaya

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Denise

Finally made it to the garden plot, where mountains of old chard running to seed were thrown on the compost pile, aged horse manure was dug in, and all was raked and watered. After two weeks of pure neglect, I … Continue reading →

Posted in cut flowers | Tagged Acacia podalyriifolia, Orlaya grandiflora, Sweet peas | Leave a comment

planting notes 2014

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Denise

Every year brings a new crop of preoccupations in the garden, such as: Will the beschorneria choose this spring for their first bloom? How about the puya in the gravel garden? Feel like blooming this year? Some plants really do … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, garden travel, journal, plant nurseries, succulents | Tagged Aloe marlothii x castanea, Anigozanthos 'Yellow Gem', Annie's Annuals & Perennials Nursery, Asphodeline lutea, Beschorneria X 'Martin Grantham Hybrids', Cirsium occidentale, Cistus 'Snow Fire', Crambe maritima, Eryngium padanifolium, Glaucium grandiflorum, Lessertia montana, Leucadendron 'Ebony', Puya mirabilis, Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', self-sowers, Sideritis oroteneriffae | 5 Comments

rhipsalis in the Bay Area

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Denise

I was up in the Bay Area for two days, helping to launch a vegetable garden, which was just enough time to squeeze in a couple brief plant shopping forays at Flora Grubb Gardens and Annie’s Annuals & Perennials. At … Continue reading →

Posted in plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Colocasia esculenta 'Lime Fizzy', Flora Grubb Gardens, Rhipsalis burchellii, Rhipsalis sulcata, Sedum treleasi, Sedum x adolphii ‘Golden Sedum’ | 4 Comments

Bloom Day April 2014

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Denise

A day late for the Bloom Day report, with the above photo of the back garden taken this overcast morning and most of the closeups taken the past couple days. It’s all shockingly rumpled and disheveled already, but I still … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, journal, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged Albizia 'Summer Chocolate', Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Coprosma 'Plum Hussy', Derry Watkins Special Plants Nursery, Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame', Euphorbia lambii, Far Reaches Farm, Gladiolus papillio, Kniphofia thompsonii, Lavandula multifida, Linaria reticulata, Melanoselinum decipiens, Olearia virgata v. lineata 'Dartonii, Orlaya grandiflora, Papaver setigerum, Pelargonium caffrum X 'Diana', Priory Plants, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', Robin Parer's Geraniaceae plant nursery, Salvia curviflora, Salvia pulchella x involucratya, Senecio leucostachys (vira-vira), Stipa gigantea, Sue Mann, Tom Stuart-Smith's exotic meadow, Verbena bonariensis | 3 Comments

Iris a l’Orange

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Denise

With certain heavily hybridized plants that people have been tinkering with for centuries, like irises, dahlias, and tulips, for instance, you only have to say Let there be orange, click the keys or fill in the catalogue order with your … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits | Tagged bearded iris, Iris germanica | 8 Comments

favorites 4/10/14

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Denise

Loree at Danger Garden shares her favorite plants in the garden every week, and spring is a good time to join in, when so much is fleeting and the turnover in favorites comes at a rapid pace. True, that’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, Plant Portraits | Tagged Agave 'Jaws', Albuca canadensis, Albuca maxima, Loree Bohl/Danger Garden, Stipa gigantea | 4 Comments

green walls around town

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Denise

The Smog Shoppe, a special event venue in Culver City owned by Woolly Pocket creator Miguel Nelson, famously deployed the pockets on its cinder-block facade in 2009, which has since been regularly reported on by local media and blogs. I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged aeoniums, Agave attenuata, California, Crassula multicava, Culver City, designer Miguel Nelson, green walls, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, Singapore, the Garden City, The Smog Shoppe, Woolly Pockets | Comments Off