Category Archives: driveby gardens

on the tour; chasing variegated chimeras

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Denise

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 →

Posted in driveby gardens, garden visit, Plant Portraits, science | Tagged Acanthus mollis 'Tasmanian Angel', alocasia, chimeral variegation, Fallopia japonica 'Variegata', Pinus wallichiana 'Zebrina', variegated leaves, variegated monstera | 4 Comments

green walls around town

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Denise

The Smog Shoppe, a special event venue in Culver City owned by Woolly Pocket creator Miguel Nelson, famously deployed the pockets on its cinder-block facade in 2009, which has since been regularly reported on by local media and blogs. I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged aeoniums, Agave attenuata, California, Crassula multicava, Culver City, designer Miguel Nelson, green walls, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, Singapore, the Garden City, The Smog Shoppe, Woolly Pockets | Comments Off

the new courthouse

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Denise

Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse, Long Beach, California The old, crumbling, brutalist-era courthouse where I did a lot of jury duty time was finally, mercifully shuttered, its broken escalators never to confound us again, and the new courthouse went up a … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged AECOM, artemisia, Berkeley Sedge, Carex tumulicola, COR-TEN steel, FASLA, Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse, Hesperaloe parviflora, ipe wood, Joseph E. Brown, landscape architecture, LEED buildings, miscanthus, raised planters, Senecio mandraliscae, Superior Court of Los Angeles County | 8 Comments

enter the dragons

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Denise

What they say about good bones for faces and houses applies to gardens too. Good bones will see you through some tough times. I’ve posted just a couple photos on this sweet little house and garden before. The front facade … Continue reading →

Posted in driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged butterfly chairs, desert garden, Dracaena draco, dragon trees, George Nelson bubble lamps, mid century modern, Yucca rostrata | 6 Comments

blooming kalanchoes

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Denise

Leaves, leaves, extravagantly shaped, juicy leaves. It’s all about the leaves with succulents. Or is it? There are a couple kalanchoes in bloom now I’ve been noticing around town, Kalanchoe luciae with striking vertical spires, and Kalanchoe orgyalis, with lime … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, driveby gardens, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged hell strips, Kalanchoe luciae, Kalanchoe luciae 'Fantastic', Kalanchoe orgyalis, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, parkways, San Marcos Growers | 3 Comments

driveby garden; LAPD headquarters, Downtown Los Angeles

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Denise

“The first five months of this year were the driest on record in California, with reservoirs in the state at 20 percent below normal levels.” – Arid Southwest Cities’ Plea: Lose the Lawn, The New York Times, August 11, 2013 … Continue reading →

Posted in design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged Beschorneria yuccoides 'Flamingo Glow, Cerastium tomentosum, Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy', Dianella tasmanica, downtown Los Angeles, Furcraea foetida 'Mediopicta', LAPD headquarters, Sedum rubrotinctum, Senecio mandraliscae | 7 Comments

driveby garden; AT&T Center, Downtown LA

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Denise

You’d be surprised how many “Angelenos” have never visited Downtown Los Angeles, even now that it is surging with vitality again. For decades it was right up there in ignominious competition as one of the most superfluous, neglected downtowns of … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers | Tagged Agave vilmoriniana, architect Julia Morgan, AT&T Center, Convolvulus sabatius 'Compact', Dichondra argentea., Dorycnium hirsutum, downtown Los Angeles, Gensler architects, Geranium X antipodeum, Herald Examiner building, mediterranean plants, Oreganum dictamnus, ornamental oreganoes, rosemary, South Park neighborhood | 5 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo 5/27/13

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Denise

Driving through California Heights for a recent garden tour, just before sunset I happened upon this house, seemingly fixed in amber during the rancho period of old California. This little house sits (as does ours) on the 300,000-acre tract that … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, driveby gardens, Occasional Daily Photo | Tagged California rancho period, Long Beach neighborhoods, Rancho Los Cerritos | 6 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

the disappearance of summer lawns

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Denise

Lawns are vanishing all over town. The chief ringleader and instigator is the Long Beach Water Department, with their irresistible Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program. Quite a few of my neighbors have already taken advantage of this program the past couple … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Achillea "Moonshine', Anigozanthos, architects Abramsom Teiger, Baja spurge, Calandrinia spectabilis, California, Euphorbia xanti, Gomphrena decumbens, Joni Mitchell's Hissing of Summer Lawns, Lawn-to-Garden garden tour 2013, Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program, Long Beach, Long Beach Water Department, mediterranean climate, nepeta, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia chamaedryoides, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, Stipa tenuissima, Teucrium azureum, Verbena 'Homestead Purple', Verbena lilacina | 12 Comments