Author Archives: Denise
driveby gardens; more on the disappearing lawn
I got a very late start on the self-guided Lawn-to-Garden tour Saturday, thirty gardens from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., just because Friday was an unusually odd workday and I lingered and wallowed far too long in the glory of … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, driveby gardens, garden visit, succulents
Tagged Agave desmettiana, Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor', Agave vilmoriniana, Calandrinia spectabilis, Dymondia margaretae, Helichrysum petiolare, Leonotis leonorus, Salvia leucantha, Senecio amaniensis, Senecio mandraliscae, Spanish Revival architecture
8 Comments
Bloom Day May 2013
It’s our blue period again, and not just ours. Jacaranda mimosifolia trees are painting the whole town blue. Spiky plants in the front garden will fly these pennants until July, when the blue period ends, and the trees in the … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day
Tagged Anigozanthos, Aristea ecklonii, Ballota acetabulosa, Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Diascia personata, Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis', Nepeta 'Walker's Low', Pelargonium caffrum X 'Diana', Penstemon 'Enor', Persicaria amplexicaulis, Senecio stellata, Sideritis syriaca, Verbascum 'Clementine'
11 Comments
unidentified fabulous grass/sedge (Chloris virgata)
I’ve gone through a couple online plant catalogues this morning and checked out the online index to John Greenlee’s Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses. Nada. Still no ID. I brought this grass home from Western Hills long ago, when Maggie Wych … Continue reading
Ethan Hawke fondles switchgrass at the High Line
There’s an attention grabber. No, that’s not a recent tabloid headline and, yes, I am being facetious, but I find it amazing that the High Line (and switchgrass!) is casually slipped into a bit of puffery about the current goings-on … Continue reading
Posted in creatures, design, garden visit
Tagged Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Ein the corgi, Ethan Hawke, Isoplexis canariensis, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', New York, panicum/switchgrass, Papaver rupifragum, pathways, public parks, Sideritis syriaca, Stipa gigantea, The High Line Park, The New Yorker
5 Comments
the disappearance of summer lawns
Lawns are vanishing all over town. The chief ringleader and instigator is the Long Beach Water Department, with their irresistible Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program. Quite a few of my neighbors have already taken advantage of this program the past couple … Continue reading
Posted in climate, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Achillea "Moonshine', Anigozanthos, architects Abramsom Teiger, Baja spurge, Calandrinia spectabilis, California, Euphorbia xanti, Gomphrena decumbens, Joni Mitchell's Hissing of Summer Lawns, Lawn-to-Garden garden tour 2013, Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program, Long Beach, Long Beach Water Department, mediterranean climate, nepeta, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia chamaedryoides, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, Stipa tenuissima, Teucrium azureum, Verbena 'Homestead Purple', Verbena lilacina
12 Comments
cleaning day
Any garden/home tour that incites me to clean out the office is money well spent. Cleaning for me has never been a daily spritz here, a light bit of dusting there, but a long-delayed, ferocious, all-out assault when conditions become … Continue reading
notes from the Venice Home & Garden Tour 2013
Postcards from Venice Home & Garden Tour 2013
tricks for the plant collector
A garden book among the many I’ve read that I’m reminded of almost daily is Pamela Harper’s “Color Echoes.” My synopsis goes like this: The eye is lonely and craves relationships, and will wander around restlessly to seek them out, … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal
Tagged ' Plant Delights Nursery, aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Flame', Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate', Anthericum saundersiae 'Variegata', Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Chlorophytum saundersiae 'Agristripes', echeverias, Eryngium pandanifolium, Euphorbia cotinifolia, Isoplexis canariensis, kniphofias, mangaves, Pamela Harper's Color Echoes, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', phormiums, Scrophularia aquatica 'Variegata', Tetrapanax papyrifer, Yucca recurvifolia
10 Comments
monday clippings 4/29/13
I was living large with orange marmalade on my bagel this morning, after trying it on some excellent shortbread Sunday afternoon. I first tasted then bought the marmalade from the Arlington Garden in Pasadena yesterday, where it’s made from their … Continue reading
fear of fava beans
I pulled the fava bean plants out yesterday and tossed them on the compost pile, after picking and filling another shopping bag full of beans that will ultimately be shelled, blanched, inner membrane peeled again, and thus be whittled down … Continue reading