Author Archives: Denise

succulents around town

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Denise

I’ve been accumulating photos of the ever-present succulent arrangements I see all over town. All over town might be an exaggeration. It’s just possible that I tend to gravitate to places where there will be succulents. But there’s no denying … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aeonium 'Kiwi', Aeonium balsamiferum, Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave americana 'Variegata', Culver City, dyckias, Echeveria agavoides, Echeveria cante, Echeveria peacockii, Echeveria prolifica, Echeveria subsessilis 'Variegata', Euphorbia tirucalli, Furcraea macdougalii, Inner Gardens, knotwork, Portulacaria afra, Rolling Greens Culver City, Sedum morganianum, Senecio radicans, Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza | 5 Comments

Filming James Griffith’s Tar Paintings

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Denise

I just voted for tar, and I know you want to as well, which is why I’m making it easy. Click, click here and it’s done. Your reward? Should James win the vote, our reward is getting the full story … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, science | Tagged James Griffth, KCET public television, La Brea Tar Pits, Natural Selection paintings | Leave a comment

in love with my garden

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Denise

It’s Earth Day. Or the day after, to be exact. Let’s hope being a day late is not a portent of things to come. So this morning after, I’m sending mash notes to Earth for making my little garden possible. … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, science | Tagged "In Love With My Planet" by Dominique Browning, Argemone munita, Earth Day, landscape restoration, Pelargonium caffrum X 'Diana', Sebastião Salgado, Senecio leucostachys (vira-vira), Stipa gigantea, The New York Times | 4 Comments

Rick Frausto’s Kitchen Window With Beakers

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Denise

When photographer MB Maher was in town a couple days ago, I told him that I keep bumping into one of his images in my travels through blogs and Pinterest boards. It’s one he took many years ago of Los … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, MB Maher | Tagged beakers, MB Maher, Rick Frausto | 7 Comments

sweet peas at the community garden

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Denise

Seems all I bring home from my little 10 X 10 plot lately is sweet peas and fava beans. Not exactly a practical daily diet, but nourishing enough each in their own way. More on the mysteries of fava beans … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits | Tagged community gardens, cut flowers, Lathyrus odoratus 'Nimbus', Lathyrus odoratus 'Velvet Elegance', Renee's Garden Seeds, Sweet peas | 9 Comments

Bloom Day April 2013

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Denise

Spring is moving fast here in Southern California. I’ve already checked out some of the gardens on our host’s site for Bloom Day, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, and saw lots of traditional spring shrubs and bulbs and perennials like … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Albuca maxima, Anigozanthos, Argemone munita, begonia, Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Chionanthus retusus, Digging Dog Nursery, Erodium pelargoniflorum, Euphorbia lambii, flowering tobaccos, Isoplexis canariensis, kniphofia, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', Nicotiana langsdorfii, poppies, Prostranthera ovalifolia 'Variegata, Ricinus communis 'New Zealand Purple', Salvia chiapensis, Senecio anteuphorbium, Senecio stellata, Stipa gigantea, Tweedia caerulea, Zaluzianskya capensis | 9 Comments

Rolling Greens Culver City (tillandsia porn)

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Denise

A fresh shipment of tillandsias had just arrived when I visited Rolling Greens yesterday for their 75 percent-off sale, which ends today. Almost all of these little bromeliads were in bloom or about to bloom. Lordy. Like agaves, most tillandsias … Continue reading →

Posted in design, plant nurseries | Tagged bromeliads, monocarpism, Rolling Greens Culver City, tillandsias | 2 Comments

Lili Singer’s Thursday Talk with Isabelle Greene

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Denise

“Sixteen years ago I was writing only prose and what I consider now traditional garden writing for magazines. And then one day I was in my office looking at a landscape architecture magazine, turned the page, and there was an … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit | Tagged Greene & Greene, Hazel White, Isabelle Greene, landscape architecture, Lili Singer, Longwood Gardens, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, The Gamble House, UCBG "Natural Discourse", Women in the Dirt | 2 Comments

more poppy drama

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Denise

Ferocious winds all day Monday left the poppies leaning, some struck down entirely by Tuesday morning. I was clipping off broken branches and thinning, trying to trim their sail should the winds return, when Marty walked through noting, “Hey, that … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, annual poppies, bees, Papaver setigerum | 7 Comments

squirrel week

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Denise

I didn’t know that the Washington Post’s squirrel week has been an ongoing tradition, but I’m glad to see squirrels getting their due. Maybe we fawn and make too much over what wildlife manages to get a toe-hold in our … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures | Tagged Fox squirrel, Sciurus niger, squirrels, The Washington Post's Squirrel Week | 2 Comments