Author Archives: Denise

the exacting requirements of pitcher plants

Growing sarracenia in a sink, as seen at Flora Grubb Gardens, is a not-too-subtle reminder of the one thing you must never forget to grow them successfully. Water, of course. These are bog plants after all. But there’s something else… … Continue reading

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busy, busy

It’s spring. Feeling a little pressed for time yet? Join the club. Some of what I’ve been up to the past few weeks include: Cutting sweet peas from my mom’s vines. Buckets and buckets. Mine planted at the community garden … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, cut flowers, Plant Portraits, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

an abbreviated look at the 4/17/2016 Los Angeles APLD tour

Of the eight gardens on the tour, divided into four in the morning, four in the afternoon, I visited six and drove by all of them. I’m including photos of just three gardens from this tour themed “The Watershed Approach … Continue reading

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a garden by Urbafloria

It’s a rare opportunity for me to be able to provide before-after photos of a dramatic garden transformation Garden designer Jacky Surber of Urbafloria sent me this “before” photo after touring this garden on the Greater Los Angeles APLD Garden … Continue reading

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status update Rudbeckia maxima 5/2/16

Another example of the odd juxtapositions that occur in my garden from year to year, due to an unremitting curiosity about plants I just don’t get to see locally: Lights, laundry shed, giant coneflower! The cabbage coneflower, Rudbeckia maxima, known … Continue reading

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some upcoming events this weekend 4/30-5/1/16

Tillandsias can perch just about anywhere with the right conditions, including on other plants. This weekend brings the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden tour. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, so if you go, link back here … Continue reading

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an hour in San Francisco Botanical Garden in April

At the Friend Gate, Ageratum corymbosum Bartlettina sordida (thanks, Mr. Feix!) with a Fuchsia magellanica. Or maybe thymifolia. I didn’t check. No time! A few weeks ago I had the rather condensed pleasure of visiting San Francisco’s Botanical Garden in … Continue reading

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Bloom Day hangover/Foliage followup April 2016

The distinctive measured pace of a garden this time of year, compared to the frenetic pace outside my front gate, is what I find so compelling: the syncopated intervals between birdcalls, the varying rhythms of arrival and departure of hummingbirds, … Continue reading

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Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’

Love it or hate it, Fatsia ‘Spider’s Web’ can now be found locally in Southern California. Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar is carrying it in affordable one-gallons. Fatsias grow like weeds here in dry shade, so when Southern California … Continue reading

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Greater Los Angeles APLD GardenTour 4/17/16

On the tour: A garden designed by Joel Lichtenwalter and Ryan Gates of Grow Outdoor Design embodies the tour’s theme: “The Watershed Approach to Landscape Design” photo by MB Maher The garden I posted about here in 2013 will be … Continue reading

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