Author Archives: Denise
some dry garden plants
When I planted this slipper plant (Pedilanthus bracteatus, from Mexico) into the back garden last October, I knew that it would necessarily change the character of the plantings surrrounding it. Everything would have to become even more dry tolerant. For … Continue reading
Wednesday vignette
A couple of loose ideas came together this morning in a slowburn, sleepy kind of way. I’ve been envious of large stands of Agave attenuata around town, wishing I could grab a crown for dramatic inclusion in a large vase, … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, cut flowers, pots and containers
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame'
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Bloom Day November 2015
A blustery day for a change, this November Bloom Day. I hope it finds you safe and warm. Daytime temperatures dropping out of the 80s have forced the realization that summer is truly over. Yesterday we cleaned the house top … Continue reading
roll out the barrel(s)
I know spiky agaves in the garden make some people nervous, but lovers of architectural plants for the dry garden can get into a lot more trouble than an agave. The golden barrel cactus has recently gotten under my skin, … Continue reading
San Gabriel Valley CSS Show & Sale
I treated myself yesterday to San Gabriel Valley’s Cactus & Succulent Society‘s show and sale at the Los Angeles Arboretum. I bought no plants this time, just circled the show tables over and over, sometimes because the show plant was … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Snow Glow', Agave xylonacantha 'Frost Bite', Aloe melanacantha, Astrophytum capricorne var. niveum, Boophone disticha, Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanic Garden, San Gabriel Valley Cactus & Succulent Society, Urginea maritima
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Othonna cheirifolia
I just had a panicked moment, several of them actually, trying to recollect the name of this very good plant that has prospered through this very challenging summer. I could only remember that Heather had blogged about it blooming in … Continue reading
Greenlee Meadow Grass Fall Festival 2015
Fall has been stupidly busy, but I’m so glad I made it out to Pomona last Saturday for John Greenlee’s Meadow Grass Fall Festival, the second year it’s been held. Let’s cross our grubby, fall-planting fingers and hope for another … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, plant nurseries
Tagged ' Dalea capitata 'Sierra Gold, ' Eremophila glabra 'Mingenew Gold', ' Yucca pallida, Acacia redolens 'Desert Carpet, Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls', Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition', Cupressus guadalupensis, Daylily 'Salmon Sheen', Euphorbia antisyphilitica, Gossypium harknessii, Grant Lee Stevenson, Greenwood Garden, John Greenlee, John Schoustra, Melampodium leucanthum, Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, Pennisetum spathiolatum, Poa cita, Portulacaria afra minima, Scutellaria sp. 'Starfire, Senecio medley-woodii, The American Meadow Garden, Wendy Proud, Yucca rupicola
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“Emergency Prescriptions Kept Up One’s Sleeve.”
Congratulations, Artemisia annua (Sweet Annie, Sweet Wormwood), on your recent Nobel Prize in the sciences. photo found here And congratulations as well to Dr. Tu, who solved the problem of increasingly drug-resistant malaria with artemisinin extracted from Artemisia annua. Dr. … Continue reading
Bloom Day October 2015
Bloom Days are celebrated by May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of every month, and as far as I know, latecomers are welcome. If you’re perpetually late like me, you end up straddling Bloom Day on the 15th and the … Continue reading