Category Archives: agaves, woody lilies

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

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

cowboy corgi and the giant hesperaloe

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Denise

The corgi got a bath, the hesperaloe got away. Bathed and brushed and made to wear a silly bandana, which he bears with his usual dog grace. Just like cowboys, everybody gets a bath here for the weekend. A recent … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, creatures | Tagged Giant Hesperaloe, Hesperaloe funifera | 8 Comments

Asparagus virgatus

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Denise

There’s not a lot of fern action in my dry, sunny garden, much to my regret, but in the front garden on the north side of the house, planted in the parched gloom at the foundation line, a fern is … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | Tagged ' Plant Delights Nursery, African Broom Fern, Agave attenuata, Asparagus virgatus, Astelia nervosa, dry shade, San Marcos Growers | 5 Comments

garden notes 12/30/13

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Denise

Over the holidays, daytime temps have been hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering my sister-in-law’s flight into Los Angeles from Cody, Wyoming, was delayed by storms for four days, it seems churlish to complain about the warm weather. I’ll just … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, journal, Occasional Daily Weather Report | Tagged Agave desmettiana 'Variegata', Agave guadalajarana 'Leon', Cussonia gamtoosensis, Cussonia paniculata, Cyrus Pringle, Dymondia margaretae, Echeveria agavoides, RHS Award of Garden Merit, South African mountain cabbage trees | 3 Comments

ghosts of gardens past

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Denise

Cleaning out old photo albums releases lots of ghosts of gardens past. Do I feel guilty and as greedy as Scrooge over all the plants that have come and gone? Not a bit. I do notice that I’ve become more … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant crushes, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Anemanthele lessoniana, Centranthus ruber 'Alba', Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Echeveria 'Black Prince', Geranium 'Dragon Heart', Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis', Libertia peregrinans, Lophomyrtus x ralphii 'Red Dragon', Persicaria amplexicaulis, Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Golf Ball', Rose 'Chromatella', Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain', Sedum nussbaumerianum, Stipa arundinacea, Stipa tenuissima, Vitis vinifera 'Purpurea' | 11 Comments

blooming kalanchoes

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Denise

Leaves, leaves, extravagantly shaped, juicy leaves. It’s all about the leaves with succulents. Or is it? There are a couple kalanchoes in bloom now I’ve been noticing around town, Kalanchoe luciae with striking vertical spires, and Kalanchoe orgyalis, with lime … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, driveby gardens, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged hell strips, Kalanchoe luciae, Kalanchoe luciae 'Fantastic', Kalanchoe orgyalis, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, parkways, San Marcos Growers | 3 Comments

the awkward age

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Denise

My garden has lived through lots of them and will most likely continue to do so while I’m in charge. The latest awkward age involves a flowering agave and a young tree. Or maybe it will be a shrub. Neither … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Acacia podalyriifolia, Agave desmetiana 'Variegata', aloes, Pearl Acacia | 4 Comments

Bloom Day November 2013

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Denise

By November my garden has turned into a curiosity shop of oddities and seedpods. Like the racks of antler-like blooms on tetrapanax, seemingly more blooms than leaves this years after I clipped away some of the sunburnt foliage. Limbing it … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged dyckias, mangaves, Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', Pennisetum 'Sky Rocket', Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia curviflora, Tetrapanax papyrifer | 14 Comments