Tag Archives: Stipa gigantea

musing on Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden

Today I’m coveting this long water tank “rill” in British landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden flanked with bearded irises, Stipa gigantea, and astrantia, a scene possibly from late spring/very early summer? The first two I can grow here in zone … Continue reading

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planting details at the Reid garden

I went through my Reid garden photos again, looking for clear examples of the subtly layered plant communities that rose up around my feet as I followed the paths, scanning the garden like a hungry predator, looking down then quickly … Continue reading

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garden chairs

“A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous.” – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Continuing my monomaniacal, object-specific tour of Portland gardens, which brings us around to chairs. Because I’ve … Continue reading

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Bloom Day April 2014

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

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favorites 4/10/14

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

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Ethan Hawke fondles switchgrass at the High Line

There’s an attention grabber. No, that’s not a recent tabloid headline and, yes, I am being facetious, but I find it amazing that the High Line (and switchgrass!) is casually slipped into a bit of puffery about the current goings-on … Continue reading

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in love with my garden

It’s Earth Day. Or the day after, to be exact. Let’s hope being a day late is not a portent of things to come. So this morning after, I’m sending mash notes to Earth for making my little garden possible. … Continue reading

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Bloom Day April 2013

Spring is moving fast here in Southern California. I’ve already checked out some of the gardens on our host’s site for Bloom Day, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, and saw lots of traditional spring shrubs and bulbs and perennials like … Continue reading

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Bloom Day April 2012

April deserves a thorough Bloom Day post, but if I’m to get this in before midnight it’ll have to be brief. A big change here is that the poppies of Troy, Papaver setigerum, are over sooner than I’d like. I … Continue reading

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Under Trees

Should any part of your garden extend under a tree canopy, be joyful, for you will never lack for tasks to keep you busy. (Ha!) But if your garden is home to spiky plants, no amount of sweeping and raking … Continue reading

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