Category Archives: cut flowers
Wednesday vignette
A couple of loose ideas came together this morning in a slowburn, sleepy kind of way. I’ve been envious of large stands of Agave attenuata around town, wishing I could grab a crown for dramatic inclusion in a large vase, … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, cut flowers, pots and containers
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame'
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my mom’s sweet peas
thanks, Mom, for sending me home with sweet peas last night. As insurance, in the fall I planted sweet peas at my mom’s house as well as my community garden plot. I neglected to water the sweet peas at my … Continue reading
Toyon, California Holly
This sturdy evergreen shrub native to California, Heteromeles arbutifolia, is also known as the Christmas Berry or California Holly. Here’s why: There’s an old urban legend that early European settlers in Los Angeles, where this holly lookalike grew especially abundant, … Continue reading
Posted in cut flowers, Plant Portraits
Tagged California native plants, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Citriodora', eriogonum, Grow Native Nursery, Heteromeles arbutifolia, holiday berries, Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery, lemon cypress, Olea europaea 'Little Ollie', Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery, Toyon
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a garden wedding
When someone who works in landscape design gets married, even the agaves are dressed for the occasion. Congratulations to Mary True and Cheryl Fippen on their recent wedding in Berkeley, California. Thank you both for your kind permission to use … Continue reading
isoplexis and digiplexis side by side
There’s no telling which of these, if either, will be around for photos next year, so now’s the time for a side-by-side color comparison.According to this article, it was Isoplexis canariensis that was crossed with Digitalis purpurea to give us … Continue reading
waxflowers in bloom at Grand Park
The last time I worked at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse prompted this post on Grand Park*. Yesterday the waxflowers were in bloom, an Australian shrub that most likely passed completely unnoticed at my last visit. The waxflower, or chamelaucium, … Continue reading
sweet peas and orlaya
Finally made it to the garden plot, where mountains of old chard running to seed were thrown on the compost pile, aged horse manure was dug in, and all was raked and watered. After two weeks of pure neglect, I … Continue reading
community garden 2/26/14
After sowing some borlotti beans late afternoon in anticipation of rain, I tracked down all the sweet peas in bloom in neighboring plots. The results of my sweet pea safari: And I always stop to admire how Scarlet Flax has … Continue reading
echeverias in a vase
Valentine’s Day quiz: A small vase holds the short stem of a ruffly rosette that’s not a flower. What can it be? a) some kind of kale b) I don’t know, but whatever it is it’s monstrous and obscene c) … Continue reading
tropical leaf under glass
Cleaning up the tropicals for their winter rest in early November, there remained an absolutely perfect leaf on Colocasia ‘Blue Hawaii.’ I cut it for a vase, and when the water had evaporated and the leaf was still in good … Continue reading