Category Archives: garden visit
on the tour; chasing variegated chimeras
A garden I visited on Saturday decidedly belonged to a devotee of the variegated leaf. (It takes one to know one.) The infatuation wasn’t apparent at first glance. This was a mature garden, well-treed, bambooed and shrubbed. But after every … Continue reading
on the tour; Passiflora vitifolia
The self-guided Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour stretches from my hometown in Long Beach to about 50 miles south, as far as San Clemete and Mission Viejo. For much too short a span of time, but long enough for … Continue reading
waxflowers in bloom at Grand Park
The last time I worked at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse prompted this post on Grand Park*. Yesterday the waxflowers were in bloom, an Australian shrub that most likely passed completely unnoticed at my last visit. The waxflower, or chamelaucium, … Continue reading
the desert gardens of Steve Martino
I’m checking the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days website daily now, anxiously awaiting full publication of this year’s schedule. I’m expanding my radius to include Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Palm Springs, California, New Mexico, anyplace I’ll be likely to find some … Continue reading
soon now
Some visual encouragement from my garden today and gardens I’ve visited in the past. Just in case spring still seems impossibly far away. private garden, Los Angeles private garden, Los Angeles private garden, Los Angeles private garden, Los Angeles private … Continue reading
the Taft Garden
“Ancient geologic forces shaped the Ojai Valley that modern-day visitors find so attractive. This part of Ventura County lies in a region geologists call the Transverse Range Province. Transverse means “lying across,” and the mountains and valleys in these parts … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Aloe striata, aloes, Australian Native Plants Nursery, Australian plants, Brachychiton rupestris, cussonias, Jo O'Connell, leucospermums, Ojai Valley, Pacific Horticulture, proteaceae family, South African plants, Taft Garden, The Mediterranean Garden Society, Transverse Range Province, Ventura County, Xanthorrhoea
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Australian Native Plants Nursery
For just a two-hour drive up the coast, we ended up covering a lot of continents on Tuesday, botanically speaking, of course. Australia and especially South Africa were well represented. This was a much-anticipated trip to Jo O’Connell’s Australian Native … Continue reading
back at the ranch
All day long this past work- and appointment-filled Wednesday I clung to the idea of fitting in a short visit to Rancho Los Alamitos. I’d heard there were some changes with the barns, and there was a new foal, all … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave franzosinii, Alexander Cassatt, Beaumontia grandiflora, California rancho period, Ficus macrophylla, Florence Bixby, Florence Yoch, Frederick Law Olmstead, historical preservation, Huntington Desert Garden, Mary Cassatt, Moreton Bay Fig tree, Penn Station, Rancho Los Alamitos, Rosa banksiae 'Lutea', Shire draught horses, Solandra maxima, William Hertrich
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Modernism Week in Palm Springs
It’s Modernism Week in Palm Springs, so what architectural gem did I visit? A Wexler steel house? Maybe a Neutra? Nope, but I did visit a cactarium, the world’s first. The cactarium belongs to the Moorten Botanical Garden, a small, … Continue reading