Category Archives: clippings

orange in the garden

It’s February. How about another color study, this time in orange? Color theory has orange as vital, energetic, happy, but on this cold windy day I’m appreciating its warmth. I’ve promised Billie a walk but am procrastinating heading out into … Continue reading

Posted in clippings | 6 Comments

clippings 10/24/23

Mopping up the earlier report on blooms in October that was abridged due to technical issues…

Posted in Bloom Day, clippings | 10 Comments

clippings 7/24/23; new views

Some recent small changes at home. This stock tank held that incredibly generous friend to bees, Anisodontea ‘Strybing Beauty,’ that I brought up from the zone 10 garden. In its second season here, the unexpected girth and height now completely … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, Oregon garden | 9 Comments

garden miscellany 2/28/22

A quick garden report then we can all get back to doomscrolling. (Here’s a list of solid, experienced relief organizations that can help.) Another atmospheric river is hitting the Oregon coast, but here in coastal Long Beach we’re climbing into … Continue reading

Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers | 6 Comments

clippings 2/21/22

Seen on T-shirts and protest signs around the world, now multimedia artist Patrick Martinez has worked Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos’ words to electrifying effect in neon (which comes from the Greek word for “new”). A sign of and for the … Continue reading

Posted in artists, clippings | 3 Comments

clippings 9/30/21

A self-sown manihot made an exquisite canopy of uniform growth to 4 feet in its first summer — consolation for the loss of a similar but shorter-lived performance from a young Schefflera taiwaniana, which unlike the manihot had a strong … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents | 7 Comments

garden clippings 9/7/21

Yes, that is a box full of chrysanthemums. Let me explain why such a wildly uncharacteristic flower, for me, is blooming in my otherwise mostly austere and dryish garden. It’s part of the ongoing experiment of trying cut flowers in … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, cut flowers, journal, pots and containers, succulents | 10 Comments

Six on Saturday

‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading

Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 4 Comments

clippings 4/28/21

For Southern California gardeners: Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ was spotted at Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano this month, a single plant. After planting, try not to move it around too much; in zone 10, placement that avoids afternoon sun is … Continue reading

Posted in books, clippings, plant nurseries, plant sales | Tagged | 5 Comments

clippings 3/23/21

The poppies self-sown into the new gravel area have grown so tall I wasn’t sure if they were my old standbys, the smaller statured Papaver setigerum. Blooms opening this week confirmed that indeed they are, but just gaining a bit … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents | 8 Comments