Category Archives: succulents

the Taft Garden

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Denise

“Ancient geologic forces shaped the Ojai Valley that modern-day visitors find so attractive. This part of Ventura County lies in a region geologists call the Transverse Range Province. Transverse means “lying across,” and the mountains and valleys in these parts … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aloe striata, aloes, Australian Native Plants Nursery, Australian plants, Brachychiton rupestris, cussonias, Jo O'Connell, leucospermums, Ojai Valley, Pacific Horticulture, proteaceae family, South African plants, Taft Garden, The Mediterranean Garden Society, Transverse Range Province, Ventura County, Xanthorrhoea | 20 Comments

reprising a visit to the Huntington Desert Garden

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Denise

The recent storm surprisingly coaxed a bloom from my 6-inch Euphorbia atropurpurea, whose acquaintance I first made at the Huntington in 2011. That visit prompted a frustrating summer of scouring plant sales and nurseries for this rare, ruddy-bracted Canary Islander, … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, MB Maher, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Canary Islands, dyckias, Euphorbia atropurpurea, Golden Barrel Cactus Echinocactus grusonii, Huntington Botanical Gardens, Huntington Desert Garden, Nolina interrata | 5 Comments

agaves love company

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Denise

At least I think they do, because I’m forcing them to get along. It might be closer to the truth to admit that it’s me that loves the company of agaves. Because if that’s love Mr. Ripple is showing the … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Agave parrasana 'Fireball', Agave potatorum, Agave schidigera 'Black Widow', Echeveria agavoides | 4 Comments

parklets

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Denise

“The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks that can thus give back grace and delight to their … Continue reading →

Posted in design, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged California, Jane Jacobs, Long Beach, parklets, phormiums, Senecio mandraliscae, sidewalk bulb-outs, Studio One Eleven, urban planning | 4 Comments

back at the ranch

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Denise

All day long this past work- and appointment-filled Wednesday I clung to the idea of fitting in a short visit to Rancho Los Alamitos. I’d heard there were some changes with the barns, and there was a new foal, all … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave franzosinii, Alexander Cassatt, Beaumontia grandiflora, California rancho period, Ficus macrophylla, Florence Bixby, Florence Yoch, Frederick Law Olmstead, historical preservation, Huntington Desert Garden, Mary Cassatt, Moreton Bay Fig tree, Penn Station, Rancho Los Alamitos, Rosa banksiae 'Lutea', Shire draught horses, Solandra maxima, William Hertrich | 7 Comments

Modernism Week in Palm Springs

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Denise

It’s Modernism Week in Palm Springs, so what architectural gem did I visit? A Wexler steel house? Maybe a Neutra? Nope, but I did visit a cactarium, the world’s first. The cactarium belongs to the Moorten Botanical Garden, a small, … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, garden travel, garden visit, succulents | Tagged "Palm Springs-Style Gardening", Ace Hotel, cactus, desert plants, Maureen Gilmer, Moorten Botanical Garden, Palm Springs Modernism Week 2014, San Jacinto Mountains, Sunnylands | 4 Comments

Bloom Day February 2014

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Denise

I wonder if I’d get tired of a garden with nothing but chartreuse flowers for months on end. I suppose it’s possible. Helleborus argutifolius. Tough and beautiful, doesn’t complain, doesn’t expect any special treatment. All stellar attributes. Incredibly promiscuous in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, succulents | Tagged Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Brachysema praemorsum, dyckia, Echeveria agavoides, Euphorbia nicaeensis, Euphorbia rigida, Euphorbia seguieriana ssp.niciciana, Helleborus argutifolius, Lavandula multifida, Papaver rupifragum, Phlomis lanata, Salvia pulchella x involucratya | 10 Comments

echeverias in a vase

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Denise

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 →

Posted in cut flowers, succulents | Tagged echeverias, the Uncandle, Valentine's Day | 3 Comments

aloe, unidentified

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Denise

I foolishly took down a listing on the blog of “Recently Purchased Plants,” because its length was getting embarrassing. Now I find I’ve simply traded one annoying sensation for another, and that is chagrin at not knowing the name of … Continue reading →

Posted in succulents | Tagged aloes | 3 Comments

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