Category Archives: garden visit

A Texas shoe story as told by Ronald Rael (Prada Marfa)

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Denise

rac·on·teur /ˌrakˌänˈtər/ Noun A person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Synonyms narrator – storyteller Way back in January I breezily announced “ambitious plans to produce transcripts of the lectures” given by the illustrious group of artists … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden visit, succulents | Tagged Marfa, Mary Anne Friel, Prada Marfa, Rael San Fratello Architects, Ronald Rael, Shirley Watts, Sol House, Solyndra, Texas, UCBG "Natural Discourse", University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, yuccas | 8 Comments

Cross-Pollination July 2013

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Denise

Garden designer Dustin Gimbel hosted another of those fabulous mid-summer rave-ups that he calls “Cross-Pollination” at his home and garden, where “hikers, nursery professionals, beekeepers, home brewers, crazy plant people, artists, architects and designers” gather for food and conversation, slipping … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, garden ornament, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Acacia pendula, Adenanthos sericeus, Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold', Agave gypsophila, Aristolochia gigantea, Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers', bocconia, Chrysanthemoides incana, Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold, Cotyledon orbiculata var. flanaganii, Dodonaea viscosa, dyckias, Euphorbia 'Blackbird', Euphorbia cotinifolia, Farfugium japonicum Crispatum, Frankenia thymifolia, Gainey ceramics, garden designer Dustin Gimbel, Gomphrena 'Fireworks', Lessingia filanginifolia, Leucadendron argenteum, Russellia equisetiformis, Sedum rubrotinctum, St. Augustine grass Stenotaphrum secundatum | 17 Comments

consider the leaves

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Denise

We have Pam at Digging to thank for hosting this monthly celebration of foliage. This month I’m focusing on some of the leaves that impressed me during recent garden travels as well as examples from the back pages of AGO. … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Acacia pendula, Aloe striatula, Bernard Trainor, bromeliads, CA, conservatories, Garden Bloggers Fling 2013, garden designer Dustin Gimbel, garden designer Rebecca Sweet, Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers, Hakonechloa macra, Huntington Botanical Gardens, Landcraft Environments, landscape architect Jarrod Baumann, Long Island, Longhouse Reserve, Lysimachia nummularia, Muehlenbeckia axillaris, New York, Planting Fields Arboretum, San Francisco, Zingiber malaysianum | 12 Comments

the High Line in June

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Denise

For about five days in mid-June a small group of us toured gardens on Long Island, NY, with the last day, Sunday, dedicated to visiting the High Line and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which seemed a perfect ending to the … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit | Tagged Allium, astilbe, Baptisia alba, Dalea purpurea, Echinacea pallida, Eremurus, Knautia macedonia, New York gardens, Stachys 'Hummelo', The High Line Park | 16 Comments

a much anticipated visit to the garden of Shirley Watts

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Denise

I’ve been home for over a week, but I left my heart in….okay, not my heart, because that’s solidly esconced here at home in the LBC, but I think I may have left my sensorium in San Francisco. On the … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, garden ornament, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged "Natural Discourse", Bay Area gardens, Begonia grandis, Echeveria nodulosa, Leslie Bennett of Star Apple Edible Gardens, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Mathiasella bupleuroides, Mimulus naiandinus 'Mega', Nicotiana sylvestris, The Rose Grocery garden, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, verbascums | 1 Comment

scenes from the garden 7/6/13

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Denise

There’s an unspoken Upstairs/Downstairs, front garden/back garden dynamic at home, as I suspect there is with most hands-on gardens. Most of the front garden isn’t tinkered with much anymore, needs little attention, more of just keeping an eye on sizes. … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bulbs, garden travel, garden visit, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Calamintha nepeta 'Gottlieb Friedkund., Cuphea viscosissima, Digging Dog Nursery, Dymondia margaretae, eucomis, Euphorbia atropurpurea, Phormium 'Alison Blackman', proteaceae family | 7 Comments

Garden Bloggers Fling 2013; Matt Gil Sculpture Garden

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Denise

Second garden on Friday, designed for a work/live fabrication studio and sculpture display space in a light industrial neighborhood of San Francisco. We are an avid bunch, craning necks, snapping cameras, firing off questions (my bad habit). I have to … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Blue Glow', Agave americana var. medio-picta 'Alba', Agave parryi var. truncata, Aloe plicatilis, anigozanthos/kangaroo paws, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, California poppy, cussonia, Dan Carlson of Wigglestem Gardens, Dramm garden supplies, Eschscholtzia californica, Garden Bloggers Fling 2013 San Francisco, Geranium incanum, hillside garden, Matt Gil Sculpture Garden, protea | 6 Comments

our far-flung fling

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Denise

We move too quickly to keep up. There is much to say about the team at Organic Mechanics, photos to share of a vast and wine-fueled dinner at the Conservatory of Flowers, stories to tell of the city itself as … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, photography | 12 Comments

driveby gardens; more on the disappearing lawn

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Denise

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

Ethan Hawke fondles switchgrass at the High Line

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Denise

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