Tag Archives: Agave celsii var. albicans ‘UCB’

the short but productive life of Agave mitis ‘Multicolor’

There’s something about an agave bloom that’s crazy-making. Emotions are as variegated as the leaves of this nomenclature-challenged agave. (Bought as Agave celsii ‘Multicolor,’ it might even be chiapensis*.) I’m thrilled, sad, awestruck, and a little dumbstruck, too, at having … Continue reading

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this week in plants

My Portland friend Loree at Danger Garden collects impressions of favorite plants at the end of the month, so I put together a contribution of what’s catching my eye this week. I’m enjoying how the Verbascum bombyciferum echoes the rosette … Continue reading

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sunday clippings 7/6/14

I think the conversation left off with brillantaisia, the salvia look-alike I stumbled upon at the local city college. Except it’s not really a salvia but a member of the acanthaceae family. I did go back for photos and also … Continue reading

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aftermath of a spring heat wave

Unseasonal, sudden onset heat, like cold, is similarly not in a plant’s best interests. The pristine good looks of Agave ‘Blue Flame’ took a hit last week. Poor thing didn’t have time to develop a base coat and suffered a … Continue reading

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elephant season

A few tropicals in pots can be a fine sendoff to summer. Here about a mile from the ocean, the big-leaved tropicals like colocasia, the “elephant ears,” bide their time until the temperatures start to really feel uncomfortable. By the … Continue reading

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anatomy of a late-summer road trip

Is there a tinge of desperation in the road trips of late summer? By the end of summer are we stuffing itineraries with an absurd number of places to see in the dwindling opportunities to experience daylight until 8 p.m.? … Continue reading

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InterCity Succulent Show and Sale August 17-18, 2013

Mr. Ripple and friends cordially invite you to that holy of holies in the world of desert plants, The InterCity Show and Sale next weekend, August 17 and 18, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. Agave ‘Mr. Ripple’ Agave potatorum … Continue reading

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Bloom Day July 2013

An extravagant display of blooms isn’t the overwhelming impression the garden is making this July, which is pretty typical. Though the Pennisetum ‘Skyrocket’ grasses are technically blooming. In the dimming twilight, the ferny leaves of Selinum wallichianum can just be … Continue reading

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Agave titanota (crush with eyeliner)

Let me change the holiday music channel, if ever so briefly, by sharing the soundtrack that plays every time I walk by this agave, my crush with eyeliner. Agave titanota hybrid ‘Lanky Wanky’ A silly, last-round-at-the-pub name for a sideways-leaning … Continue reading

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some cool customers

For a reliable dose of cool, deep greens and blues are the colors to choose. Yucca whipplei, Agave ‘Blue Glow,’ Elymus arenarius, Blue Lyme Grass Cool comes smooth, barbed, spiked, sometimes all at once, like the barbs of Furcraea macdougalii … Continue reading

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