Category Archives: succulents

the week in plants 3/16/18

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Denise

I’m seeing Euphorbia rigida in bloom on all the garden blogs now, in my own garden, and here at the Entrance Garden at the Huntington Botanical Garden. The euphorbia is seen here with Sea Squill, Urginea maritima, a bulb that … Continue reading →

weekend plans

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Denise

Any big plans this weekend? We’re promised some rain, so it won’t be warm enough for pool parties. I’m meeting up with a friend this Sunday at the Huntington. While she’s traveling in Southern California, she’ll be visiting another garden … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, succulents | Tagged Ganna Walska, International Women's Day, Lotusland | 2 Comments

a much-delayed visit to Descanso Gardens

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Denise

I was determined to attend botanist Jeff Chemnick‘s talk on plant exploration in Oaxaca, Mexico, yesterday, 7 p.m., hosted by SoCal Hort, located in an auditorium within spitting distance of Griffith Park. I had just visited his home garden/nursery in … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, journal, succulents | Tagged California oak woodland, Descanso Garden, Jeff Chemnick, Mexico Nature Tours | 7 Comments

monday clippings 2/5/18

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Denise

There’s an unexpected addition to the container garden, and not one that I’d necessarily pick out of a lineup as an especially attractive succulent, like Agave ‘Kissho Kan’ in the foreground. I encountered this little space oddity on a walk … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Kissho Kan', Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass', Aloidendron 'Goliath', Euphorbia lignosa, Euphorbia xanti, Kalanchoe bracteata, Selenicereus anthonyanus | 5 Comments

the January report

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Denise

Another January gone. There have been nine reported on the blog. A lot has changed, but a lot is still weirdly the same. (For example, my obsession with poppies and agaves.) Inconsistent, ambivalent, flighty — those are the words that … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, blog, succulents | Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Acacia podalyrifolia, Agave guadalajarana, Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass', Aloe capitata var. quartzicola., Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca | 6 Comments

the week in plants 1/28/18

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Denise

Aloe striata is getting ready to bloom. The Coral Aloe is not an uncommon aloe in Southern California, but it is in my garden. Sometime during summer, as I bring plants home from nurseries and shows, this aloe inevitably loses … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, edibles, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Mateo', Aloe 'Jacob's Ladder', Aloe striata, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, annuals, Atriplex hortensis, Chiltern Seeds, Heliophila longifolia, Los Angeles Grand Park, Mangave 'Lavender Lady', Salvia 'Marine Blue', seeds, Wild Garden Seed, Women's March 2018 | 7 Comments

French chateau succulent garden

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Denise

There I was, biking through French chateau country, rounding a bend in the zig-zag roads stitched with Lombardy poplars. And just as I was brushing the wind-blown hair out of my face, doing my best impersonation of Jeanne Moreau in … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, driveby gardens, succulents | Tagged Aloe thraskii, COR-TEN steel, Echinocactus grusonii, Euphorbia ammak var. variegata, Euphorbia mauritanica, Euphorbia tirucalli, front gardens, Long Beach, Lophocereus schottii, Palo Verde (cercidium) | 11 Comments

summer is overrated

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Denise

Agave bracteosa ‘Monterrey Frost’ I know those are fighting words, especially depending on where you live and your opinion of winter in general, and I’m not trying to pick a fight. We all miss those long days that stretch luxuriously … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, Occasional Daily Weather Report, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aeonium balsamiferum | 19 Comments

autumn garden triage

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Denise

I spent most of October traveling, intermittently home just long enough to sweep up piles of ash and note that the customary accumulation of a summer’s worth of city grime on leaves had been augmented by heavy particulates from local … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aloe camperi, Dichondra sericea, Echeveria purpusorum, Euphorbia stygiana, Grevillea 'King's Fire', Grevillea 'King's Rainbow', Lephechinia fragrans 'El Tigre', Lobelia fistulosa, Phyllica pubescens, Senecio palmeri | 10 Comments

some upcoming dates October 2017

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Denise

I was at the Huntington last Sunday to attend a talk by author Andrea Wulf (“The Invention of Nature“) on Alexander von Humboldt. If Ms. Wulf has scheduled speaking engagements in your area, I urge you to attend. She is … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, clippings, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged "Natural Discourse", a, Andrea Wulf's The Invention of Nature, Artistic License Fair, Cornerstone Sonoma, Dr. Alejandro de Avila, Dustin Gimbel, Fullerton Arboretum, Huntington Botanical Garden, LA County Arboretum fall plant sale, Mediterranean Garden Society, Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative, San Diego Botanic Garden, Shirley Watts, Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery, U.C. Riverside Botanic Garden, Visual Voyages | 6 Comments