Author Archives: Denise
wednesday vignette 3/21/18
When I last visited the Huntington a couple weeks ago, I mentioned to my friend that I had yet to visit the new Chinese Garden. (I should say “newish,” because the first phase was completed ten years ago!) That’s some … Continue reading
Monday clippings 3/19/18 (upcoming pop-up!)
On the heels of these most welcome, intermittent March rains, the poppies have exploded into growth and tumbled quickly into bloom. Papaver setigerum, a friend of the garden since at least 2010, like all annual poppies, ultimately transforms itself into … Continue reading
the week in plants 3/16/18
I’m seeing Euphorbia rigida in bloom on all the garden blogs now, in my own garden, and here at the Entrance Garden at the Huntington Botanical Garden. The euphorbia is seen here with Sea Squill, Urginea maritima, a bulb that … Continue reading
outdoor bias
I admit to a strong design bias towards how a dwelling interacts with the outdoors. An exterior focus, if you will. Don’t ask me why. I’ll whip through on-line home tours, acknowledge a nice chair or rug or staircase, and … Continue reading
Posted in artists, design, inspire me, pots and containers
Tagged Dwell, Nivaldo Tonon, Une Arquitetura
3 Comments
weekend plans
Any big plans this weekend? We’re promised some rain, so it won’t be warm enough for pool parties. I’m meeting up with a friend this Sunday at the Huntington. While she’s traveling in Southern California, she’ll be visiting another garden … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, succulents
Tagged Ganna Walska, International Women's Day, Lotusland
2 Comments
wednesday vignette
High up on a windy hill, on the site of an old quarry, two people level and plant and build and dig and move rock to mend a gouge in the earth. Each night cautious paws softly explore the smooth, … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, garden visit
6 Comments
this week in the garden; more silver leaves
Silver plants have sneakily become a new obsession. I should qualify that as unfamiliar silver plants, ones I haven’t grown before, and I’ve grown a lot. (Last year’s silver crush was the Afghan fig ‘Silver Lyre,’ mail-ordered from Cistus, a … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, plant crushes
Tagged Agave celsii, Agave mitis var. albidior, Agave salmiana var. ferox 'Medio Picta', Bocconia frutescens, Centaurea ragusina, Dianthus caryophyllus 'Single Black', dry garden, Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum, Ficus afghanistanica 'Silver Lyre', Hazardia detonsa, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', Plectranthus argentatus, Salvia pachyphylla, silver leaves
7 Comments
Kate Ballis’ Infra Realism; Palm Springs as you’ve never seen it before
In a sharp rebuke to my last post about how balmy the weather has been, this unexpected February cold front afflicting the West Coast has me and the cat cooped up in the garden hut/office as close to the space … Continue reading
Posted in artists, clippings, design, photography
Tagged Joshua Tree National Park, Kate Ballis, Palm Springs, Palms Springs Modernism Week 2018
2 Comments
friday clippings 2/16/18
dark background is the creeping fig wall (Ficus pumila covering 6-foot high CMU wall, extending 2 feet up from the top, for a privacy-enhancing 8-foot wall) It’s been an incredibly balmy week in Los Angeles, notwithstanding a teasingly insufficient bit … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, clippings, design, garden travel, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers
Tagged California, Jay Griffith, Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', Venice
8 Comments
a much-delayed visit to Descanso Gardens
I was determined to attend botanist Jeff Chemnick‘s talk on plant exploration in Oaxaca, Mexico, yesterday, 7 p.m., hosted by SoCal Hort, located in an auditorium within spitting distance of Griffith Park. I had just visited his home garden/nursery in … Continue reading