Author Archives: Denise
Poppy Music
I’ve held on to these little poppies as long as possible, and tonight they were given a photographic bon voyage by MB Maher. When it’s twilight, magic hour, the garden becomes an open-air studio. I handled the linen backdrop. A … Continue reading
So I Go Out To Buy A Hosta
…and come home with an astelia. Astelia banksii. Hostas intrigue me because, in Zone 10 gardening manuals, they can reliably be found under the entry “When Pigs Can Fly.” Yet there’s always a few for sale at nurseries in spring, … Continue reading
Photo Dump
Not an elegant title, bordering on the indelicate, but that’s about all I can manage on Wednesday, just some shots from the past few days. Begonia ‘Bonfire’ and aeoniums. I was thrilled to carry this begonia over the winter, the … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged ' Salvia 'Waverly' solanums, aeonium, Begonia 'Bonfire
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Summer and Smoke
Starring Cotinus ‘Grace.’ Here glimpsed through a frame of chains (This Year’s Folly). A confusion of smoke trees. The tropical Euphorbia cotinifolia is in the foreground, just now leafing out in June, a self-sown seedling from previous E. cotinifolias. Multi-stems … Continue reading
Dendromecon harfordii (David’s Catalina Tree Poppy)
Driving by, I slow down to shout at David, who’s laying a recycled concrete paver/DG (decomposed granite) path in the front yard. Don’t you love neighbors who drive by slowly and shout at you while you’re hard at work? I’ve … Continue reading
Laughter in the Distance
Not a title to a pulpy romance novel but a snippet of Hinkley’s hilarious prose from his infamous Heronswood nursery catalogues. (The nursery was opened in 1987, bought by Burpee in 2000 and closed by them in 2006.) The catalogues … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, essay, Plant Portraits
Tagged Begonia grandis, Ceanothus thrysiflorus var. griseus 'Kurt Zadnik, Clematis recta, Dan Hinkley, Embothrium coccineum, Garden Cottage Nursery, Heronswood, Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Monrovia, Olearia 'Henry Travers', restios, Rhodocoma capensis, Roger Raiche, Roger's Gardens, Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain', Stiga gigantea, Vita Sackville-West, Windcliff
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Where are the Women Designers?
In the aftermath of this year’s Chelsea show, the dearth of entries by women is discussed in this provocative article from the Telegraph. The article quotes a Sue Hayward, who wonders if the deficit can be due to the fact … Continue reading
Posted in design, shop talk
Tagged Artemisia pedemontana, BBC radio, Chelsea Flower Show 2010, garden design, Sue Hayward, The Telegraph
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Mergers & Acquisitions
If nature abhors a vacuum, then I am nature’s willing handmaiden. By late May, the garden is stuffed, bursting at the seams like this potted Euphorbia tirucalli. Echevarias and sedums tucked into every available spot. Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ filling in … Continue reading
Posted in essay, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged 1970 Volkswagen bus, Atriplex hortensis, Debra Lee Baldwin, Ein the wonder corgi, Euphorbia rigida, Euphorbia tirucalli, Heuchera 'Southern Comfort', plant nurseries, Polygonum orientale, Roger's Gardens, Sticks on Fire, succulents, Teucrium 'Fairy Duster', Verbena bonariensis
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Small Moves
“Small moves, Ellie.” No, I didn’t read the book Contact by Carl Sagan but am quoting from the movie, where Jodie Foster as Dr. Ellie Arroway is advised as a child by her father to take it slow when scanning … Continue reading