Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Bloom Day May 2014
Thank goodness, unlike me, some like it hot, such as Dalea purpurea, the Purple Prairie Clover. Zoned only as far as 8* and not recommended too far south, so zone 10 was a gamble as far as lack of winter … Continue reading
on the tour; chasing variegated chimeras
A garden I visited on Saturday decidedly belonged to a devotee of the variegated leaf. (It takes one to know one.) The infatuation wasn’t apparent at first glance. This was a mature garden, well-treed, bambooed and shrubbed. But after every … Continue reading
Agave parryi ‘Cream Spike’
This is such a sweet agave for containers. Under a foot across in ultimate size, it is nevertheless a busy little mother. Just before its photo, I had cleaned out the offsets it produces so freely, which I’ll grow on … Continue reading
Schefflera actinophylla ‘Soleil’
I’ve recently added the houseplant section to my itinerary when visiting plant nurseries, a group of plants I’ve mostly been ignoring, so there’s basically no category of plants now that goes uninvestigated. Let me just say that this is an … Continue reading
on the tour; Passiflora vitifolia
The self-guided Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour stretches from my hometown in Long Beach to about 50 miles south, as far as San Clemete and Mission Viejo. For much too short a span of time, but long enough for … Continue reading
aftermath of a spring heat wave
Unseasonal, sudden onset heat, like cold, is similarly not in a plant’s best interests. The pristine good looks of Agave ‘Blue Flame’ took a hit last week. Poor thing didn’t have time to develop a base coat and suffered a … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Plant Portraits
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame', Agave celsii var. albicans 'UCB', Anigozanthos, Coprosma 'Plum Hussy', Eryngium pandanifolium, Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons', Harpochloa falx 'Compact Black, Lavandula multifida, Melanoselinum decipiens, Orlaya grandiflora, Pelargonium 'Golden Lemon Crispum', Plectranthus neochilus, Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia sclarea 'Piemont', Senecio leucostachys (vira-vira)
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isoplexis and digiplexis side by side
There’s no telling which of these, if either, will be around for photos next year, so now’s the time for a side-by-side color comparison.According to this article, it was Isoplexis canariensis that was crossed with Digitalis purpurea to give us … Continue reading
waxflowers in bloom at Grand Park
The last time I worked at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse prompted this post on Grand Park*. Yesterday the waxflowers were in bloom, an Australian shrub that most likely passed completely unnoticed at my last visit. The waxflower, or chamelaucium, … Continue reading
Bloom Day April 2014
A day late for the Bloom Day report, with the above photo of the back garden taken this overcast morning and most of the closeups taken the past couple days. It’s all shockingly rumpled and disheveled already, but I still … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, journal, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
Tagged Albizia 'Summer Chocolate', Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Coprosma 'Plum Hussy', Derry Watkins Special Plants Nursery, Digiplexis 'Illumination Flame', Euphorbia lambii, Far Reaches Farm, Gladiolus papillio, Kniphofia thompsonii, Lavandula multifida, Linaria reticulata, Melanoselinum decipiens, Olearia virgata v. lineata 'Dartonii, Orlaya grandiflora, Papaver setigerum, Pelargonium caffrum X 'Diana', Priory Plants, Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', Robin Parer's Geraniaceae plant nursery, Salvia curviflora, Salvia pulchella x involucratya, Senecio leucostachys (vira-vira), Stipa gigantea, Sue Mann, Tom Stuart-Smith's exotic meadow, Verbena bonariensis
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Iris a l’Orange
With certain heavily hybridized plants that people have been tinkering with for centuries, like irises, dahlias, and tulips, for instance, you only have to say Let there be orange, click the keys or fill in the catalogue order with your … Continue reading