Monthly Archives: January 2018

Australian garden design

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Denise

Australia. Big continent. Vast, you might say. My familiarity with Australian garden design, however, is the opposite of vast. Southwestern Australia is one of the five true mediterranean climate zones, like where I live here in Los Angeles — dry … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, climate, design, garden travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Natural Discourse 2018 update

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Denise

photo by MB Maher Natural Discourse, the series of lectures and accompanying exhibits that started back in 2012, focusing on collaborative efforts among scientists, naturalists, and artists to illuminate our increasingly fraught relationship with the natural world, is ongoing through … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden travel, inspire me, MB Maher, science | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

plants on walls

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Denise

Plants on walls…need some convincing? I do too. Last time I checked out botanical wallpaper, it was still under the thrall of William Morris, with dense geometric patterns wound so tight that having them on my walls would make me … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

the week in plants 1/28/18

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Denise

Aloe striata is getting ready to bloom. The Coral Aloe is not an uncommon aloe in Southern California, but it is in my garden. Sometime during summer, as I bring plants home from nurseries and shows, this aloe inevitably loses … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, edibles, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

tracking down a tillandsia

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Denise

Up to as recently as a few weeks ago, I confess I didn’t pay much attention to the various species of tillandsias (aka air plants, bromeliads adapted to a basically rootless life as epiphytic tree dwellers.) The darlings all curl … Continue reading →

Posted in plant nurseries, plant sales | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

French chateau succulent garden

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Denise

There I was, biking through French chateau country, rounding a bend in the zig-zag roads stitched with Lombardy poplars. And just as I was brushing the wind-blown hair out of my face, doing my best impersonation of Jeanne Moreau in … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Charles Jones, gardener & photographer

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Denise

“Jones, the son of a master butcher, was born in 1866 and trained as a gardener from an early age. At the age of 27, he began working at Ote Hall in West Sussex tending the estate’s fruit trees and … Continue reading →

Posted in books, photography | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Natural Discourse January 13-February 26, 2018: Living Proof; flora, fauna & fossil fuels

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Denise

“Radiant Flux,” Nami Yamamoto, 2009, hand-made paper leaves, engineered for phosphorescence “Living Proof; flora, fauna & fossil fuels,” opens Saturday, January 13, 2018, 5-8 p.m. Space 151 Levy Art + Architecture 151 Potrero Ave. San Francisco, California This month artist … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, science | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Potted’s Eternal Gratitude Sale – last weekend

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Denise

There it is, behind that gauzy curtain of Acacia iteaphylla. Potted’s City Planter, pretty much untouched since first planted. I really should trim back those lanky succulents, but overall I’m amazed at how unblemished and pristine the City Planter remains … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, plant nurseries, plant sales, pots and containers | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

clippings 1/3/18

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Denise

What do you think? Can 2018 possibly get any crazier than 2017? Early evidence certainly points to 2018 getting a running head start. Here’s my own personal, crazy-killing antidote. Finding landscapes like this. And this. And more of this. Elemental, … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, garden travel, garden visit | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments