Category Archives: plant crushes
making the most of it
Emotionally, this summer feels like summers when I was 12 or 13 — when I stuck close to home because I wasn’t allowed yet to get in trouble with friends with cars. I’m regressing to the point that I’ve even … Continue reading
this week in the garden; more silver leaves
Silver plants have sneakily become a new obsession. I should qualify that as unfamiliar silver plants, ones I haven’t grown before, and I’ve grown a lot. (Last year’s silver crush was the Afghan fig ‘Silver Lyre,’ mail-ordered from Cistus, a … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, plant crushes
Tagged Agave celsii, Agave mitis var. albidior, Agave salmiana var. ferox 'Medio Picta', Bocconia frutescens, Centaurea ragusina, Dianthus caryophyllus 'Single Black', dry garden, Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum, Ficus afghanistanica 'Silver Lyre', Hazardia detonsa, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', Plectranthus argentatus, Salvia pachyphylla, silver leaves
7 Comments
a faithful February friend
The Cactus Geranium, Pelargonium echinatum, has been brightening my February for over a decade. And it just might be one of the most well-documented plants on the blog. This photo from February 12, 2013, is one of many over the … Continue reading
new and semi-new plants
perky pilocereus at OC Succulents What plants have grabbed your attention lately? Last week I was chasing down a hard-to-find compact form of one of California’s native buckwheats, Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum. The Grow Native nursery at Rancho Santa Ana … Continue reading
Posted in plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
Tagged Acacia 'Cousin Itt', Callistemon 'Bottle Pop', Ceanothus maritimus 'Valley Violet', Chilopsis linearis 'Desert Diva', Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum, Hesperaloe 'Pink Parade', Hesperaloe ‘Desert Flamenco’, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, Nicholas Staddon, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Salvia curviflora, Tagetes lemmonii 'Compacta', Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery, UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars, Village Nurseries
8 Comments
midsummer tuneup
July is usually the month my garden needs a tuneup, a jolt of the unfamiliar to keep me inspired all summer long. Checking out July Bloom Day posts back to 2013, this July has a lot of the same characters … Continue reading
at the Inter-City CSSA Show August 2016
The funny thing about hard-core succulent shows is there’s often non-succulent treasures on the sales tables too. On arrival, I made a quick circuit around the tables and immediately became fixated on these decidedly non-succulent leaves. And the mottling on … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant crushes, Plant Portraits, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Agave 'Tuxedo Mask', Agave bracteosa 'Monterrey Frost', Aloe branddraaiensis, Aloe camperi, Aloe melanacantha, Aloe sinkatana, Amorphophallus impressus, Astrophytum ornatum, Cylindropuntia ramosissima, Cylindropuntia tunicata, Dudleya palmeri, Echinocactus grusonii var. inermis, Euphorbia bongolavensis, Inter-City Cactus Show & Sale 2016, Matucana madisoniorum, Neoporteria nidus, Pachypodium namaquanum, Petra Crist, Rare Succulents Nursery, Stenocactus multicostatus, Sulcorebutia heliosa
16 Comments
the exacting requirements of pitcher plants
Growing sarracenia in a sink, as seen at Flora Grubb Gardens, is a not-too-subtle reminder of the one thing you must never forget to grow them successfully. Water, of course. These are bog plants after all. But there’s something else… … Continue reading
cussonia crazy
image found here Cussonias are a small genus from Africa and the Mascarene Islands There are maybe 25 species in the small genus known as the Cabbage Trees, and without trying too hard I’ve already brought home five of them. … Continue reading
Posted in plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials Nursery, Araliaceae, Cabbage Trees, Cussonia gamtoosensis, Cussonia natalensis, Cussonia paniculata, Cussonia spicata, Cussonia transvaalensis, pachycaul, South Africa, XOTX-Tropico Nursery
6 Comments
pod love
Garden bloggers have been giving it up for flowers, for leaves. How about some pod love? I know it’s a little early in the season for seedpods for a lot of gardens, but I happen to have dried-up, dessicated plant … Continue reading