Category Archives: succulents
beauty’s best bargain
for me will always be plants. 401ks and SEPs may crash and burn, but I’ll always be able to live on the cheap surrounded by some of the most gorgeous patterns and shapes on earth. Some of the results from … Continue reading
Bloom Day February 2013
I admit I’m a vulgarian, if there was any doubt left. By February I’m starved for brash and garish, even though it violates the subtle order of nature that has spring unfolding with a delicacy that builds by degrees to … Continue reading
exploring a coastal garden with Lili Singer
This Pacific Palisades garden was the final garden we visited 1/24/13 with Lili Singer via the LA County Arboretum Thursday Garden Talk series. Despite being firmly in the grasp of winter this January morning, or as firm a grasp on … Continue reading
Occasional Daily Photo 2/12/13
I just potted the Pelargonium echinatum into this chipped Bauer pot inherited from my grandmother. A chipped Bauer pot ceases to be a sacred cow and can definitely mix it up with the other garden pots. Just took me a … Continue reading
Aloes in Southern California
It’s that time of year again to catch the displays of these spectacular South African succulents in bloom around town. These photos were taken mid-day at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden 2/7/13. Aloe vryheidensis. Many were of … Continue reading
the scent of Michelia doltsopa
It’s a cold, blustery day, as Pooh would say, and I’m trying like mad to mentally recreate the scent of Michelia doltsopa from yesterday’s visit to the Los Angeles Arboretum. But, poof, it’s vanished beyond memory, just as it’s probably … Continue reading
admiring the lines (Euphorbia lambii)
First it was the lush, wavy growth and strong limber lines Euphorbia lambii acquired this winter that I stopped to admire just as the sun was coming up. Euphorbia lambii is another one from the land of all things tender … Continue reading
stealing the sun
and selfishly hoarding it all to myself a single cut flower can convince me I’m guilty of doing just that The long neck of this aloe bloom had been gradually listing, leaning, until it made a full, graceless face plant, … Continue reading
driveby garden; 1/31/13
Do you consider the color of your house and its role as a backdrop/canvas for the garden? I can’t believe the luscious, creamy, chlorophylly color on this house was an accident. The plants are positively strutting and preening against it. … Continue reading
comparative aeoniums
One of the perks of winter in a Mediterranean climate is stooping over plants, cup of coffee in hand, hair spangled and frizzed with rain, inspecting the beneficent aftermath of the previous night’s rainfall on the garden. Which are some … Continue reading