Author Archives: Denise
clippings 2/21/22
Seen on T-shirts and protest signs around the world, now multimedia artist Patrick Martinez has worked Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos’ words to electrifying effect in neon (which comes from the Greek word for “new”). A sign of and for the … Continue reading
Posted in artists, clippings
3 Comments
Grevillea ‘Poorinda Blondie’
One of the so-called “toothbrush” grevilleas, I planted ‘Poorinda Blondie’ in November 2020, and its wingspan is now just over 6 feet. Height is roughly 4 feet, approximating a V-shape. (I can’t remember if I bought it in a gallon … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Plant Portraits
4 Comments
catching up with the zone 10 garden
We arrived last Friday, and other than sleeping, I don’t think a broom has left my hand since. The informal team of neighbors and friends who took turns watching over the garden since we left the second week of October … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
6 Comments
new garden update
about the soil: “The Tillamook Series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in mixed alluvium on stream terraces. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 90 inches and the mean annual temperature … Continue reading
Posted in climate, garden travel, garden visit, journal, plant nurseries
Tagged Dancing Oaks Nursery, Euphorbia stygiana, Wonder Garden
6 Comments
crushed oyster shells and chanterelles
My new mantra, apparently borrowed from an old Swedish proverb, loosely translated: There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. To put it in gardener’s speak, we left frostless, drought-ridden zone 10b in early October and are … Continue reading
Posted in climate, journal, MB Maher
11 Comments
dispatch from the Oregon coast
We’ve been at the Oregon house a little over two weeks, and this Tillamook Rainforest coastal area is now settling into a comfortable steady rain. Late October and November bring some of the heaviest rainfall to the yearly total over … Continue reading
Posted in climate, journal, plant sales
7 Comments
clippings 9/30/21
A self-sown manihot made an exquisite canopy of uniform growth to 4 feet in its first summer — consolation for the loss of a similar but shorter-lived performance from a young Schefflera taiwaniana, which unlike the manihot had a strong … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents
7 Comments
APLD Plant Fair 10/2/21 at LA Arboretum
The Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers puts on a helluva fall plant fair, and against some impressive odds they have managed to deliver another one for 2021 on October 2nd. And hooray for autumn plant … Continue reading
Posted in plant nurseries, plant sales, shop talk
9 Comments
garden clippings 9/7/21
Yes, that is a box full of chrysanthemums. Let me explain why such a wildly uncharacteristic flower, for me, is blooming in my otherwise mostly austere and dryish garden. It’s part of the ongoing experiment of trying cut flowers in … Continue reading
Little Island
There is a new waterfront reclamation project in New York City that will take some heat off the 12-year-old High Line as the punching bag for unintended urban renewal consequences. The old elevated railway reimagined by James Corner for plants, … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit, MB Maher
10 Comments