Author Archives: Denise
Sherman Gardens & Library under renovation March 2026
With the heat wave mostly over, yesterday I drove south to Newport Beach for some garden time. Bathed in the cool coastal conditions at the Pacific Ocean, the Sherman Gardens & Library are a genteel lunch and garden destination that … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, journal, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents
4 Comments
notes on the March heatwave
Monday morning dawned fresh and cool with a minor epiphany. Stepping out the backdoor, the opening of the first poppy scrambles a sleepy brain with the sensation of a delicate jellyfish floating over the garden (upside down). This week’s West … Continue reading
modern picnic table
With temps in Los Angeles unable to stay out of the 80s°F for long, the absence of a picnic table in my life rose to the level of an all-consuming void. Marty knows this fixation of mine well and has … Continue reading
Posted in climate, Los Angeles garden post 2024
7 Comments
thinking of Kris
When the blog Late to the Garden Party, a steadying presence appearing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, abruptly stopped at Monday, I wrote yesterday: “Hi Kris — what a disturbance in my world when there’s no Wed/Friday posts by you. … Continue reading
Posted in clippings
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another spiral aloe
Some plant failures just don’t let go. Three tries is generally considered reasonable, but after that? After that, reason doesn’t have much to do with it anymore. At my local nursery, coming upon a few gallons of the spiral aloe, … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024, succulents
4 Comments
rain journal; Year of the Horse
Because so rare, rain is a big deal in Southern California and stirs up intense feelings. Will it be too much? Not enough? Will the roads flood? Will there be mudslides? Will it be more than we can handle or … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024
5 Comments
Star of the dry garden, my awkward Grevillea ‘Moonlight’
Within a day or two before leaving the Long Beach garden last spring, Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ sheared off an enormous middle branch, violently bifurcating that luminous, stately canopy into goofy ears. The tear was rough and I assumed possibly fatal, but … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024
10 Comments
A quick ‘Hallelujah’
A couple years ago I gave a friend’s new garden some Bilbergia ‘Hallelujah,’ which were recently returned to me, fattened up but congested with conifer debris. Too messy to deal with, was the verdict. Too true. I let the bromeliads … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Los Angeles garden post 2024
7 Comments
my museum rats
In a completely unexpected twist, both my granddaughters have parents who work in museums. In terms of time spent, both kids are bonafide museum rats. In Oregon we volunteer at a small museum, and in Los Angeles we’re constantly exploring … Continue reading
Posted in artists, journal
6 Comments
a cautious welcome to 2026
A pot of posole bubbles on the stove as the garden soaks up last night’s downpour. I’ve moved on from coffee to green tea to quiet a scratchy throat. The spicy posole will be therapeutic as well. Then maybe a … Continue reading