Author Archives: Denise
August fidgets part 2
So I did act on those August fidgets and started work on a path through the back garden. The planted back garden encompasses roughly a 14X40′ rectangle, and I’ve been inclined to keep every inch of it available for planting, … Continue reading
Posted in journal
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tying up the blooming bromeliad
To continue with the hyper-journaling of the back garden, Alcantarea odorata has been tied upright to the tetrapanax and hummingbirds are able to visit the opening flowers safely and regularly again. That was done last week. Lovely heavy mist this … Continue reading
Posted in journal
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the path not taken (August fidgets)
There are as many ways and reasons to design a garden as their are gardeners — but Im with Billie. Its all about the feet (and paws). I love to play with the varying scale that moving through a garden … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers, succulents
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while I was away
We have a new member of the family, so of course I had to immediately become acquainted with little Hannah, who resides in a foggy coastal Oregon town. And even though she’s only days’ old, I began deliberating before leaving, … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, succulents
4 Comments
July 2021 garden report
With the drought tightening its grip, Californians have been asked to cut water use by 15 percent compared with last year. Even so, yesterday I let a hose trickle to deep-water parts of the garden, which was getting by on … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Bulbs, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers
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more lilies
All these lilies were planted fall 2020 in my zone 10b, about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. We had very little winter rain, but the bulbs managed to grow and bloom on mostly hand watering and careful mulching. Bulbs … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, cut flowers
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Six on Saturday
‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
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dwarf statice and what else is new in June
The dwarf statice, Limonium minutum, are new this June. Planted along the spine of rocks laid down last November, their tight cushions send out slender stems that branch upward to hold aloft sparkling clouds of everlasting blooms, creating a gauzy … Continue reading
Posted in journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents
11 Comments
dragon trees
A few years ago I had the opportunity to help with a small front garden, that was designed to receive only occasional hand watering. I planted agaves and other succulents, dymondia, some bromeliads, three Hesperaloe ‘Brakelights,’ (all of which withered … Continue reading
the mysterious island in my back garden
One of the movies on heavy VHS-cassette rotation when my boys were young was Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island. Hot air balloon escape from a Civil War-era prison, crash landing near an uncharted island to fight for survival against monster-size crabs, … Continue reading