Author Archives: Denise
Need A House? Call Ms. Mouse!
Meet my heroine, Ms. Henrietta Mouse. “…she is an artist, a designer, a dreamer, a builder, a creator, all that and more too.†The Venice Garden Tour got me thinking about Henrietta Mouse again, a children’s book that was a … Continue reading
Esquisses Pour Le Boulanger
Spoke to MB Maher earlier this week as he edited a small road movie from his time in Northern California. He emphasized the throw-away nature of this piece, but also his embarrassing need to keep shooting, even with a 50-dollar … Continue reading
Posted in MB Maher
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The Succulent Lady
I kept telling everyone, “I’m going to a talk by the Succulent Lady!” Unlike my friends and family, most garden bloggers need no further description to know I’m talking about Debra Lee Baldwin, in Southern California promoting her new book … Continue reading
The Smoke Monster
You know what I’m talking about, and it’s not bronze fennel, though he does a pretty good impersonation.
The Shuffle
The annual summer pot shuffle. Which pots shall be plucked from the margins and take pride of place, beautiful specimens of their kind? Every summer brings a different answer. This Agave parryi’s spikes are kept well out of corgi eye … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden ornament, succulents
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On A Misty May Morning
Heavy mist, almost a full-blown drizzle. This has been one long, cool spring, with rain forecast for the weekend. Unheard of for May! Carex and Echevaria nodulosa Agave impressa, brought home from the Huntington Botanic Garden’s plant sale over the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies
Tagged Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Agave impressa, Carex glauca, Echevaria nodulosa, lespedeza
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The Angelic Ones
I’m so glad I planted this Angelica stricta ‘Purpurea’ (from Annie’s Annuals, of course) in a pot rather than dooming another angelica by trialing it in the garden. I’m not completely convinced the problem was soil (amended clay) but more … Continue reading
May Bloom Day
May is a heady month for gardens. Check them out at Carol’s host site for Bloom Day, May Dreams Gardens. The pale lavender heliotrope is responding to longer and warmer days, sprawling over Oxalis vulcanicola, both perennial in zone 10. … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Bloom Day, Calandrinia spectabilis, Calceolaria 'Kentish Hero', Canna 'Intrigue', cineraria, Lespedeza thunbergii, Lophomyrtus ralphii 'Red Dragon', Lysimachia purpurea, May Dreams Gardens, Mirabilis jalapa, Oxalis vulcanicola, Rose 'Bouquet d'Or', Salvia 'Waverly', Salvia chiapensis, Senecio stellata, Solanum rantonnetii, Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Teucrium fruticans azureum
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Summer Tryouts – Geranium ‘Dragon Heart’
Hybridized by Alan Bremner of Scotland, a hybrid of the Armenian cranesbill, Geranium psilostemon, which in itself is a big plant, if of abbreviated bloom duration according to the books. I’ve never grown the species. The selections generally tend toward … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Alan Bremner, Briza maxima, Geranium 'Dragon Heart', Geranium psilostemon, summer tryouts
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The Many Faces of Cobaea
Annual vine Cobaea scandens. Seems I still feel up to the challenge of including strong personalities in the garden. For two successive years in a row, I’ve had to launch emergency eradication efforts in early spring of overly boisterous and … Continue reading