Author Archives: Denise
cussonia crazy
image found here Cussonias are a small genus from Africa and the Mascarene Islands There are maybe 25 species in the small genus known as the Cabbage Trees, and without trying too hard I’ve already brought home five of them. … Continue reading
Posted in plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials Nursery, Araliaceae, Cabbage Trees, Cussonia gamtoosensis, Cussonia natalensis, Cussonia paniculata, Cussonia spicata, Cussonia transvaalensis, pachycaul, South Africa, XOTX-Tropico Nursery
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thinning dyckias
If you asked me what I planned on doing when I woke up that morning a couple Saturdays ago, tackling the enormously overgrown clump of dyckias in the front garden was as remote a contender as washing the windows, which … Continue reading
Posted in design, journal, Occasional Daily Weather Report, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged bromeliads, dyckias, jacaranda debris
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echeverias runneth over
I work at this building a lot, where there are enormous pots planted with a central Sticks on Fire surrounded by echeverias. Lusty, thriving, insanely multiplying echeverias. They look to be Echeveria secunda. I swear, I get the worst case … Continue reading
a Mission Revival garden
I wasn’t exactly lost in Beverly Hills today, but traffic was terrible enough that I left the main arteries like San Vicente and dove into surrounding neighborhood streets, looking for a less congested way home. Around Sweetzer I found this … Continue reading
Bloom Day November 2014
I’ve really had a come-to-jaysus moment, as far as my little garden. No more ambitious planning for seasonal blooms, emphasis on summer. No more planning for strictly blooms at all. Now I’m viewing my little space as more of an … Continue reading
agaves take Los Angeles
About a year ago I was told by a nurseryman that aloes have replaced agaves in popularity, because people have gotten wise to the approximate 8-year death spiral of agaves, the bloom-and-doom cycle, which isn’t the case with aloes, reliably … Continue reading
memorable Aloe scobinifolia
I’m terrible with aloe names. So many unnamed and/or forgotten hybrids brought home from plant shows. But there’s one aloe I’ve recently acquired whose identity I’m betting will be unforgettable. And it happens to be in bloom, so let’s have … Continue reading
autumn sun
I tell you, since sunlight has once again become transformed from merciless enemy into the most charming and distracting friend, I can’t sit at my desk for more than five minutes without jumping up to watch it play on leaves, … Continue reading
blue fence
Double-sided, dog-eared redwood fence, you win. Smug, aren’t you? You know I can’t afford to replace you. Over the years I’ve stained you blue (twice), stenciled you in scrolls, but to no avail. There you stand, a blue, stenciled, dog-eared … Continue reading
Posted in design, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Beaucarnea recurvata, bromeliads, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', cussonia, dog-eared redwood fencing, fences, graptoveria, Hardiebacker cement board, Ponytail palm, Potted's City Planter, rhipsalis, salvage, Schefflera actinophylla 'Soleil'
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Natural Discourse: Light & Image 2014, an epilogue
Ever wonder when our buildings are going to have the photosensitivity and photoreactivity of plants? Dale Clifford, with his focus on biomimetics applied to architecture, is on the case, investigating the possibility of designing a photoreactive brick inspired by the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, Department of Instruction, MB Maher, photography, science, succulents
Tagged Dale Clifford, Folly Bowl, Garden designer Sue Dadd, glass artist Christian Thornton, Harvard's Ware Collection of Glass Plants, interactive computer programming, Interactive Programmer John Carpenter, James Griffth, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Marion Brenner, MB Maher, Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, Natural Discourse: Light & Image, Richard Schulhof, Roger Hangarter, Shirley Watts, Silverlake Farms, terraced gardens, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Ware Collection Manager Jenny Brown, Xaquixe Glass Innovation Studio
7 Comments