Author Archives: Denise
Nameless
Among the minor reasons I took up blogging was to simply make an effort to retain plant names again. I’ve got shelves of old garden notebooks, in which I kept copious notes of plants desired, plants purchased, when they were … Continue reading
Garden Show Road Trip
Can there exist a more potent rite of spring than the garden show road trip? Can’t think of any offhand. This week’s road trip was up to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, continuing through this weekend. Driving up … Continue reading
Poppies of Spring
Visual kief, intoxicating to the eye, O’Keefian, the ephemeral poppies of spring. These are not the flamboyant Oriental poppies immortalized by the painter Georgia O’Keefe. The Orientals won’t grow in Southern California, requiring more winter chill hours than we have … Continue reading
All In A Day’s Work
The desultory, unfocused morning stretched into the same kind of afternoon, and I gave up the pretense of attempting to accomplish anything and headed for a bath. With an unread December Gardens Illustrated issue propped on the reading stand (often … Continue reading
Posted in Ephemera, essay
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From Ants to Squills
This fantastic architecture must have an equally fantastic pollinator, yes? The Giant Fork-Tongued Moth maybe? Well, let’s leave out mythical insects. What’s left would be the usual garden-variety pollinators, and possibly just ants. Just ants? Don’t let E. O. Wilson … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, creatures, Plant Portraits
Tagged ants, Argentine ants, creatures, E.O. Wilson, Scilla peruviana, The Naturalist
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Who’s Zoomin’ Who?
With salvias planted just a few feet away from windows and doors, humans and hummers are in constant close proximity here. This is by necessity, the constraints of a small garden, rather than by design. The fact is, hummers and … Continue reading
Spring?
Seems impossible that just two days ago I was having that tender moment about spring. Yesterday and today heat records were broken, and now everyone is grousing that it’s hotter than Jakarta (really only mid 80’s but we’re a delicate … Continue reading
Posted in Ephemera, MB Maher
Tagged ' Phlomis italica, bronze fennel, MB Maher, Prostranthera ovalifolia 'Variegata
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And So It Begins Again
Yes, phrases do bubble up from the depths unbidden until I find myself saying them aloud on a day such as this, about 75 degrees, neither cold nor warm, more like an amniotic bath, birds and insects attending to their … Continue reading
Boundaries
I’m constantly accused of not respecting boundaries, of letting plants take over spaces which some people feel should properly remain under the control of humans and not the plant kingdom. That a sight which gladdens my heart, a pathway seeded … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, MB Maher
Tagged Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Agave salmiana, MB Maher, Papaver rupifragum
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Type G Personality
Although the science behind the Type A and B personality theory seems to have become largely discredited, I believe there is a strong case to be made for the Type G personality. (Type G’s, you know who you are. Don’t … Continue reading
Posted in essay, garden ornament
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