Author Archives: Denise
sunday clippings 7/1/18 (it’s a small world after all)
I bought this Echinopsis ‘Arizona Sunset’ at a San Diego garden visit a couple weeks ago sponsored by the San Diego Horticultural Society. The echinopsis was among plants for sale at the entrance to the private home and garden, all … Continue reading
new entry gardens at the Huntington; form, color, texture & time
On the 14th of this month I attended a lecture by Huntington Botanical Gardens head gardener Seth Baker entitled “The 4D Garden; Landscape Design Using Form, Color, Texture, and Time.” If I understood correctly, it was his first such public … Continue reading
bloom day june 2018, an abridged report
Looking out from the back porch this morning through the pergola which frames this view, my eye easily cut through the congestion like a laser to zero in on my June crush. Do you see it? No? I know it’s … Continue reading
prepare yourself for summer plant sales
Dyckia ‘Uncle Ray,’ Exhibitor Bryan Chan, (San Fernando Valley Bromeliad Society) won best in its class at the recent World Bromeliad Conference in San Diego, or so I was told by a docent at the Los Angeles Cactus & Succulent … Continue reading
small taste of summer
For summer, valerian and nicotiana light up what’s mainly a planting of shrubs and succulents the remaining seasons. As much as I love intoxicating displays of summer abundance, this little garden has to remain sober and on duty all 12 … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, journal, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave filifera ssp. schidigera 'Shira ito no Ohi', Angelica stricta 'Purpurea', Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Eryngium pandanifolium, Pennisetum 'Karley Rose', Phlomis 'Sunningdale Gold', Plectranthus argentatus, Puya laxa, salvia, Senecio medley-woodii, Senecio palmeri, Solanum valerianum 'Navidad Jalisco'
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revisiting Nancy Goslee Power’s private garden
The Los Angeles Times ran a profile on Ms. Power this weekend (“She spent decades transforming Southern California landmarks. Go inside Nancy Goslee Power’s private garden,” so I’m grabbing the opportunity to repost a visit I made to her garden … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit
Tagged Nancy Goslee Power, Southern Californnia, summer dry climate
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friday clippings 6/1/18
I’ve been in somewhat of a torpor since cracking a rib earlier in the week. Planting, digging, relocating potted plants, shoving heavy things around, in other words, my favorite pursuits — very little of this is possible at the moment. … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, garden travel, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Derry Watkins Special Plants Nursery, Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, Flowers By The Sea, RHS Wisley, Salvia bullulata 'Pale Form', Salvia guaranitica 'Jean's Jewel'
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Hawaii on my mind
Because my oldest brother on the Big Island, near Hilo, has been waffling over staying, going, staying, going — what to do with the dogs? — for most of May, that’s why Hawaii is on my mind these days. I … Continue reading
Dustin Gimbel’s garden in May
I’ve talked about Dustin’s ceramics a lot lately, but how’s his garden growing this very grey-skied May? Last week Shirley Watts was in town for talks on the next installment of Natural Discourse’s installation at the LA Arboretum in spring … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers
Tagged Acacia pendula, Agave mitis var. albidior, Anthericum saundersiae 'Variegata', Bilbergia 'Hallelujah', Dustin Gimbel Second Nature Garden Design, garden designer Shirley Watts, Natural Discourse 2018, Russelia equisetiformis, Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Ogon Nishiki'
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the Nino garden gnome
You either embrace kitsch or you don’t (i.e. run away screaming). Or, in the case of Rome-based Plato Designs, you turn kitsch on its red-hooded head and recast it in cubist contours. “Garden gnomes: love them or hate them, there … Continue reading