Author Archives: Denise
some quiet plant conversation
I suggest we leave the main table with its overturned wine glasses, scattered pie crumbs, gravy stains and increasingly madcap discussions and gather in an out-of-the-way corner to quietly talk plants. A kind of horticultural digestif. A couple weeks ago … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, creatures, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Anthericum saundersiae 'Variegata', Armstrong Nurseries, Aster Frikartii 'Monch', Chlorophytum saundersiae, Echeveria ciliata x nodulosa, Gerbera 'Drakensberg Carmine', Graham Rice, Hayefield, Lilium 'Lankon', Monterey Bay Nursery, Nan Ondra, pollinators, Salvia littae, The TransAtlantic Plantsman
2 Comments
Desk Diversions
The past few days have been misshapen, unwholesome things, misspent in a prolonged bout of desk duty. Sporadic but sweet relief and diversion came in the form of The Paris Apartment. Claudia has been shopping the Paris flea markets(!) The … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden ornament, pots and containers
Tagged Colette, Irving Penn, Paris flea markets, Parisian florists
4 Comments
Bloom Day November 2011
It can’t be November already. But the winter-blooming salvias don’t lie. Rosebud-like blooms are forming on Salvia wagneriana, and the slender wands of Salvia littae from Oaxaca, Mexico are budding up. The latter’s tall, lanky growth habit is very reminiscent … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged ' Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost, Aechmea recurvata ‘Aztec Gold', Crassula sarmentosa, Hakonechloa macra ‘Emerald Glow’, Linaria maroccana, Passiflora sanguinolenta, Salvia chiapensis, Salvia littae, Salvia madrensis, Salvia wagneriana, Tetrapanax papyriferus, Thunbergia alata, Vriesea gigantea
12 Comments
Lunaria annua
I’ve finally discovered the identity of the little clutch of seedlings under the smoke tree. Lunaria annua, which I saw lining the pathways of *Western Hills, the former plant nursery in Occidental, California. Western Hills photo by MB Maher. I’ve … Continue reading
pieces of Rancho Reubidoux
The inaugural Rancho Reubidoux Bazaar took place this weekend, a truly one-of-a-kind experience amounting to a physical journey through Reuben’s blog posts, a kind of dimension-pushing experience with flash mob overtones. Blogging in 3-D, so to speak. At my last … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit, pots and containers
Tagged assemblage, flea market, garage sales, Rancho Reubidoux, Reuben Munoz, salvage
6 Comments
Villa Mundo Nuevo
This fall photographer MB Maher revisited this Northern Californian residential garden designed by landscape architect Jarrod Baumann of Zeterre Landscape Architecture and built by contractor Jim Everett of EvLand LLC that won the 2010 California Landscape Contractors Association Trophy Award. … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, edibles, garden ornament, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged 2010 CLCA Trophy Award, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Evland LLC, formal gardens, Interleafing, Jarrod Baumann, Jim Everett, landscape architecture, Laura Livengood Schaub, mediterranean climate, Northern California, Villa Mundo Nuevo, Zeterre Landscape Architecture
9 Comments
Occasional Daily Weather Report 11/2/11
“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch.” — Raymond Chandler, … Continue reading
this week on AGO
A new garden in Los Gatos, California, by Jarrod Baumann of Zeterre Landscape Architecture, re-explores formalism in the landscape and proposes that modern materials like steel do not necessarily equal chilly results. Not when forged with a plant lover’s sensibility. … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit, MB Maher
Tagged California, Jarrod Baumann, landscape design, Los Gatos, MB Maher, Zeterre Landscape Architecture
1 Comment
seeing double
At Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery in West Los Angeles yesterday, I was surprised to find double blooms on a couple of popular summer tropicals, abutilon and mandevilla, something to keep in mind for next summer’s containers. (Abutilon for shade, mandevilla for … Continue reading
Posted in plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents
Tagged Abutilon 'Victorian Lady', bonsai, Ginkgo biloba, Hashimoto Nursery, Mandevilla 'Tango Twirl', Monrovia, sempervivums, Support Your Independent Nursery Month, The Jungle, West Los Angeles, Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
6 Comments
Occasional Daily Weather Report 10/28/11
Days in the mid to high 70s (Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion), nights in the low to mid 50s. Finding just the right angle of morning sun and then holding absolutely still for maximum absorption is a morning’s work for Evie. … Continue reading