Category Archives: succulents
plants and rocks; the basics
If your idea of a good life means being surrounded by plants, chances are you love having a few rocks around too, even if only in a haphazard, barely intentional way. Perhaps small rock mementos from travels naturally seem to … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, creatures, design, essay, MB Maher, succulents
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revisiting the class of July 2014; (where are they now?)
I love massing one kind of echeveria in pots and letting them multiply like crazy. Echeveria lilacina has completely filled in at the base of the shaving brush tree, Pseudobombax ellipticum. One E. liliacina in bloom is a novelty; over … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
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a quick visit with garden designer Kelly Kilpatrick of Floradora Garden Design
Mitch’s note to me: These are the images from Kelly’s house call — she’s such a delight — thank you for producing this! I was super early and drove by her place on my way to Market Hall for coffee … Continue reading
Posted in artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents
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the greenhouses at Rancho Soledad Nursery
I have quite a history with commercial greenhouses. There was a large, abandoned greenhouse at the end of my cul-de-sac’d street, the mesh netting detached in places from the rickety structure and flapping in the breeze. Through the gap in … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Rancho Soledad Nursery
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Ray Valentine’s neighborhood botanical garden
In early April, as I was leaving a garden on the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden tour, I noted a hand-lettered “plant sale” sign in the neighborhood and swung around to have a look. I posted a photo of the … Continue reading
Posted in driveby gardens, garden visit, MB Maher, photography, succulents
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some recent driveby gardens
Documenting my enthusiasm for gardens seen on foot or driving through Los Angeles neighborhoods has migrated to Instagram, which seems more suited to a quick visual blast without background information on how such landscapes came to be. But I’m making … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, garden visit, succulents
7 Comments
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
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Ozothamnus diosmifolius
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spring surge
In what’s become a spring ritual, I thinned out a whole bunch of poppies today (my go-to poppy, Papaver setigerum, which has been reseeding for years). And yanked handfuls of branches from the bulging honeywort, Cerinthe major purpurascens, too. When … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, shop talk, succulents
10 Comments
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
scenes from Modernism Week garden tour
I’m going to leave you this Friday with a few images from the self-guided Modern Garden Tour put on by Modernism Week in Palm Springs this past Wednesday. Leaving Long Beach at 7:30 a.m., I arrived just before 10 a.m. … Continue reading
Posted in garden travel, garden visit, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Modernism Week 2019
6 Comments