Author Archives: Denise
hello, poppy
The first poppy opened this morning, Papaver setigerum. (Not that I was hovering nearby, waiting for the event or anything.) Of all the annual poppies I’ve grown, including the many varieties of the — shhh, ixnay — “opium” poppy, aka … Continue reading
ranunculus
I took this photo of ranunculus at the 2011 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show (which is coming up again this week, March 20-24.) Who knew ranuncs came tissue-petaled in cinnamon brown and pale peach? Last fall I tried like … Continue reading
day trip to Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden
It’s pushing the concept of a day trip to its limit when it takes five hours each way, there and back, but the DBG was having their spring plant sale and, dammit, I needed to go. So the math worked … Continue reading
Bloom Day March 2013
If it weren’t for the few stems of Scilla peruviana in bloom I’d feel completely out of step this March Bloom Day, when so many participating gardens are sending forth crocus and iris and so many other traditional spring bulbs … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, plant crushes
Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Anthemis 'Susanna Mitchell', Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca, Derry Watkins Special Plants Nursery, Diascia personata, Elizabeth Lawrence, Euphorbia lambii, Geranium maderense, Helicotrichon sempervirens, Helleborus argutifolius, Linaria reticulata 'Flamenco', Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', Russellia equisetiformis, Salvia africana-lutea, Salvia chiapensis, Scilla peruviana, Sedum confusum
7 Comments
passionflower progress
The garlic passionflower, P. loefgrenii, is supposedly one of the smaller, less-rampant species, described as a 10-footer, but that’s the size it’s reached in just its first year in my garden. The vine is planted against the eastern boundary fence, … Continue reading
Echeveria ‘Opal Moon’
I always check the succulent tables at plant nurseries for something new and/or bizarre, but the offerings have been much the same so far this year. Once the eye has been well-trained on the familiar, whenever something unfamiliar pops up, … Continue reading
be afraid: Frankenstein Petunia
OK, I find an old paperback of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the house a few days ago and haven’t been able to put it down. So maybe I’m sensitized to the book’s themes, but I really didn’t expect to find … Continue reading
when agaves become homebodies
I’m sure these images have been kicking around design blogs for some time, but if they have I’ve missed them. (Found here at Miluccia, via the magazine Ideat.) It’s easy to become numbed by the tsunami of photos of interiors … Continue reading
Jardin Majorelle, Morocco
What I know about Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion designer, as opposed to his enormous, well-known cultural celebrity, is limited to sewing up some of his “rich peasant” and stunning Russian collection designs off of Vogue patterns in high school. … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged bleu Majorelle, Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent, general director Jardin Majorelle, Hugh Johnson, Hugh Johnson's The Principles of Gardening, Jacques Majorelle, Jardin Majorelle, Madison Cox, Marrakesh, Morocco, Robert Pogue Harrison, Suzy Menkes, The Principles of Gardening
7 Comments
hidden mesoamerican palaces
not in Central America but here, in Los Angeles. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Sowden House, of textile-block construction, built for friend and photographer John Sowden in 1926. Renovations by a new owner in 2001 included restoring the stonework and the addition … Continue reading