Category Archives: clippings
a garden’s long-term care
My mother turned 90 yesterday, and we celebrated this momentous occasion at her new living arrangement in a nearby board-and-care. Getting her here took months of medical, legal, financial, and familial wrangling, all while taking care of her as she … Continue reading
clippings, holiday edition 12/11/19
The brick-red thunbergia vine that I was training up to the roof eaves was blown off its fishing line support during a Santa Ana wind event and collapsed on itself, losing about 4 feet of height in the bargain. With … Continue reading
escape from the heat
Ecstatic, delighted, defeated, miserable? I probably cycle through all of those emotions in a single September day. I think a hot day’s super power is in how all-encompassing and omnipresent it can feel, blotting out memory and awareness of anything … Continue reading
friday clippings 8/16/19
The LA Times wrote a glowing review of the recent Inter-City Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale, and it was my impression as well that this event was an enormous success over past years. I was told by a cashier … Continue reading
friday clippings 7/12/19; shapes of things
With this July being the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, it’s been nonstop space coverage here at home. I doze off and on, but Marty is absolutely rapt, so I can always quiz him afterwards on what I missed. … Continue reading
tuesday clippings 4/23/19
The pitcher plant Sarracenia ‘Scarlet Belle’ is sending out more flowers than leaves this spring. I have no idea if this is usual, unusual, a sign of imminent demise, or what exactly. But at least the pitcher plants made it … Continue reading
garden notes 3/20/19
Yesterday I removed the diseased carcass of Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ which lived its brief but spectacular life – until this rainy winter – under the acacia tree in the far southeast corner. You’d think having to battle for resources … Continue reading
friday clippings 2/8/19; Modernism Week 2019
Next week brings some welcome warmth to this chilly February with the start of Modernism Week in Palm Springs (February 14-24, 2019). Long Beach garden designer and ceramicist Dustin Gimbel, some of whose recent work is pictured above, will give … Continue reading
friday clippings 1/18/19
I find this brickwork for the studio of photographer Graciela Iturbide utterly mesmerizing, taking a pedestrian building unit like the brick to new heights — three-story heights, in fact. The architects Mauricio Rocha (Iturbide’s son) and Gabriela Carrillo (of the … Continue reading
garden clippings 1/15/19
I feel like I’m posting on my little garden all the time, but that’s predominantly on Instagram these days and less so on the blog. So since the 15th of each month traditionally calls for a Bloom Day report among … Continue reading