Author Archives: Denise
Garden Tasks, Dogs & Productivity
I work at home most days of the week and keep this guy fairly close all day. Working alone all day with a dog instead of people has some interesting ramifications. I’m not sure if it makes me any more … Continue reading
Hortus Chaotica
So many contradictions, so little time. A love of spare, austere, sculptural plantings. Yet every summer I still invite the circus to camp in my garden.
Bloom Day June 2011
I missed yesterday’s Bloom Day post, hosted by May Dreams Gardens, but now need a photo for Digging’s Foliage Follow-Up, always held the day after Bloom Day. Let’s see….blooms and great leaves. Oh, of course. Cannas can do double-duty for … Continue reading
How To Set A Picnic
Yes, I’m being ironic, since I hadn’t anticipated lavish tableware displays from the outdoor-themed “The Art of Entertaining,” a one-day event held June 15, 2011, at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California. Work had me on the freeways, so … Continue reading
Posted in design
Tagged Emmo, Hermes, Lalique, outdoor dining, table-top grill, tableware, Villeroy & Boch
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Random Senecio
Composite flowers of senecio come paired with an incredible range of leaf forms. A few portraits from one of the largest genera of flowering plants, taken at recent plant shows Senecio fulgens with an Emilia javanica-like flower Senecio tropaeolifolius Senecio … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged Emilia javanica, Senecio fulgens, Senecio jacobsenii, Senecio tropaeolifolius
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Succulent Sunday
The nice man who I gave all my cash to, talking about a miniature agave from Japan he called ‘Shoji.’ (Unlike many of the Japanese A. potatorum hybrids, this one supposedly grows not much bigger than a poker chip.) Cleaned … Continue reading
Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana “Pink Butterflies”
The entire name wouldn’t even fit in the post title: Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana ‘Pink Butterflies.’ How fitting that a hybrid with a parent commonly known as ‘Mother of Thousands’ would have a name involving syllables of thousands. I’ve had … Continue reading
June Leans In
Look away briefly, and June overwhelms winter’s carefully laid plans. Since spring in Southern California really gets going in March, by June plant growth is at full throttle. The agaves, succulents, and Mediterranean evergreen shrubs have presented a sedate, enchanting … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Agave titanota, Briza maxima, Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga, crocosmia, Gaura linheimeri, Geum magellanicum, Haloragis erecta, Lobelia tupa, perovskia, Persicaria amplexicaule, Salvia 'wendy's Wish', Salvia cacaliifolia, Teucrium 'Fairy Dust', zone 10 Southern California
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Garden Attire From Koreatown
I saw something tangentially related to gardens in the window of a golf shop in Koreatown recently, UV-protective clothing, which gives me the barest of opportunities to write about one of my favorite LA neighborhoods. Los Angeles’ most densely populated … Continue reading
The Kitchen Garden Contained
Is it possible for a vegetable to reach celebrity status? Tuscan kale has seemingly reached a kind of stardom with both ornamental and vegetable gardeners. Brassica oleracea var. acephala, aka Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, black kale, dinosaur kale. I grow … Continue reading
Posted in design, edibles, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged black kale, Brassica oleracea var. acephala, climbing squash Trombetta di Albenga, Deborah Silver, dinosaur kale, Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, Noel Kingsbury, pole bean Trionfo Violetto, small garden, urban garden, Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea'
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