Author Archives: Denise
Laurel Stutsman Design
I found this photo in a 2015 folder on my old photobucket account. The photo was tagged “wildlife-road-malibu2” with no accompanying description. I don’t normally keep unidentified garden photos, but something about it obviously grabbed me in 2015, and it … Continue reading
Posted in artists, design, driveby gardens, garden visit, inspire me
5 Comments
clippings 4/28/21
For Southern California gardeners: Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ was spotted at Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano this month, a single plant. After planting, try not to move it around too much; in zone 10, placement that avoids afternoon sun is … Continue reading
spring-blooming Aloe camperi
There are so many, many great aloes. A collector’s garden of aloes in zone 10 is a serious temptation. As are agaves. My desire skips like a stone across both these great groups of succulents, trying not to sink into … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents
3 Comments
April garden journal
Because the Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ I had previously tried to establish here had failed to thrive, I assumed that it was dead, not dormant, when I replanted this rocky area in November. Which was fine, because I was going in … Continue reading
Posted in journal, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents
10 Comments
Yucca ‘Magenta Magic’
Seems like only yesterday we were all very excited about Yucca aloifolia ‘Blue Boy,’ with enticing photos whizzing by with some regularity on blogs and public garden websites. So much exciting potential for dry gardens! In my garden, they never … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, succulents
8 Comments
introducing Nicotiana mutabilis
The back of the garden is a bit crazy right now, what with the miscanthus, the flowering tobacco, Eryngium pandanifolium, Roldana petasites, kangaroo paws and others jostling to claim their allotment of soil and sun. And if that wasn’t enough, … Continue reading
Posted in journal, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
5 Comments
the White Agave is in bloom again
Agave celsii var. albicans ‘UCB’? Agave mitis var. albidior? The nomenclature continues to be shifty with this agave, so let’s just call it the White Agave. I can’t think of another agave that can also claim that common name, but … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies
7 Comments
Coachella Valley Desert X Exhibition Extended to 5/16/21
Fantasizing about road trips is starting to move closer and closer to actually planning road trips. Here’s a possibility, a visit to the Desert X exhibition to coincide with California desert wildflower bloom. From Desert X’s website: “For Nicholas Galanin, … Continue reading
Posted in artists, garden travel, MB Maher
2 Comments
clippings 3/23/21
The poppies self-sown into the new gravel area have grown so tall I wasn’t sure if they were my old standbys, the smaller statured Papaver setigerum. Blooms opening this week confirmed that indeed they are, but just gaining a bit … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents
8 Comments
recent garden distractions
Does the world distract me from my garden or the garden distract me from the world? The balance has been different at various times in my life, so I like that the relationship is flexible. Spending most of my days … Continue reading