Author Archives: Denise
a garden wedding
When someone who works in landscape design gets married, even the agaves are dressed for the occasion. Congratulations to Mary True and Cheryl Fippen on their recent wedding in Berkeley, California. Thank you both for your kind permission to use … Continue reading
streetside with grasses and succulents
Because of this house, I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon trying to source a flat of Sesleria autumnalis or Sesleria ‘Greenlee.’ No luck yet, but I will not be deterred.
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave attenuata, Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers', Bulbine frutescens, Dianella, Dymondia margaretae, Echeveria agavoides, Furcraea macdougalii, Ligularia tussilaginea, retaining walls, Senecio decaryi, Senecio vitalis, Sesleria autumnalis, Spanish style architecture, terraces, westringia
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backdrops for plants
Some interesting backdrops I found around town, some intentional, some borrowed, some just sheer serendipity. I’m wondering what came first here, the choice of color for the house and then the Lion’s Tail? Or did the Leonotis leonurus start the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave americana 'Variegata', Agave bovicornuta, Agave vilmoriniana, color in the garden, garden walls, Kalanchoe tomentosa, Leonotis leonorus, Muehlenbeckia_complexa, retaining walls, terracing
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fall planting notes 2014
The first second day of fall. Depending on who you talk to, summer was either glorious or it passed like a kidney stone. No in between. I’d describe summer 2014 and its occasional heatwaves as a cocktail that included plenty … Continue reading
Posted in journal, plant nurseries
Tagged Athanasia pinnata, Detour audio walks, Digitalis ferruginea 'Gigantea', Euphorbia characias 'Tasmanian Tiger', Euphorbia mellifera, Ferula communis ssp. glauca, Gnidia polystachya, Hymenolepis parviflora, Lavandula lanata, Leucadendron 'Pisa', Phylica pubescens, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', Santolina, Sphaeralcea 'Newleaze Coral'
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pandemonium revisited
The New York Times has a very nice article today on Pandemonium Aviaries (“362 Birds, and Unruffled“), which MB Maher visited and photographed in 2012. Since that time, bird rescuer Michelle Raffin has written a book “The Birds of Pandemonium; … Continue reading
streetside; your own personal prairie
When my job canceled today, I knew exactly where I wanted to go before breakfast, before even the first cup of coffee. The local neighborhood prairie. It’s something you don’t see everyday in my coastal neighborhood in Los Angeles County, … Continue reading
extraordinary leaves
All leaves are extraordinary in a basic, photosynthetic sense, and then there are those that push the point even further. Leaves perform infinite adaptive riffs and improvisations on variegation or curve, curl, and flounce. A couple examples in my garden … Continue reading
Bloom Day September 2014
I think I’m finally getting the hang of this heat wave business. I’m taking a cue from the plants: Hunker down and just wait it out. When I cut the melianthus back, this Gomphostigma virgatum found some needed breathing room. … Continue reading
Gastrolobium ‘Bronze Butterfly’
Before September turns the corner into fall, when my garden plans will predictably revive and become hopeful and catalogue-driven once again, it’s a good opportunity to take a clear-eyed look at the survivors. The survivors are once-treasured plants that slowly … Continue reading
mangaves, water bills, and other mysteries
I’ve been going over the monthly water bills, which this year give usage in 100-cubic feet per month instead of gallons per day. Beyond exasperated with the inscrutable tables and tiers on July’s bill, I made my very first cranky … Continue reading