Category Archives: Plant Portraits

still life with castor bean plant

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Denise

The inspiration to include some seed pods from the castor bean plant in leftover Thanksgiving vases already filled with chamomile and hypericum came from this photo from thequintessentialmagazine. Nice touch with the alocasia leaf too. Like a bloody echinops, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits, science | Tagged castor bean plant, cut flowers, euphorbias, flower arrangements, holiday decorations, poinsettias, poisonous plants, Ricinus communis, thequintessentialmagazine, vases | 10 Comments

Plant portrait; Agave attenuata and St. Augustine grass

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Denise

Clean, bright simplicity. Agave attenuata underplanted with variegated St. Augustine grass, by garden designer Dustin Gimbel. This tough, subtropical grass works beautifully in holding this slope, and is allowed to grow long and shaggy or clipped and tidy, according to … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Agave attenuata, Dustin Gimbel, garden design, Second Nature Garden Design, St. Augustine grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum | 2 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo 11/14/12

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Denise

I planted this Hibiscus acetosella in a big, salvaged industrial tank in July, replacing some Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’ that finished unexpectedly early, and it grows so much better in the steadier conditions of a container than in the darwinian struggle … Continue reading →

Posted in Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged Hibiscus acetosella, red-leaved plants, summer annuals | 10 Comments

The Fall Color Project 2012

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Denise

Contributing to the The Fall Color Project this year, hosted by Dave at Growing the Home Garden, won’t be as easy as stepping out the back door and taking a photo of the smoke tree ‘Grace,’ now dearly departed since … Continue reading →

Posted in Plant Portraits | Tagged Cotinus 'Grace', George Nelson, Gingko biloba, Gulf muhly grass, International Space Station, Liquidambar styraciflua, living fossil, Muhlenbergia capillaris, Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', The Fall Color Project | 4 Comments

Gomphrena decumbens ‘Airy Bachelor Buttons’

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Denise

A space oddity of a gomphrena, is the Airy Bachelor Buttons. When it grew in my garden, I didn’t know its full name, only that it was a perennial gomphrena in zone 10 with a very lanky habit, that grew … Continue reading →

Posted in driveby gardens, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged Airy Bachelor Buttons, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, Gomphrena decumbens | 4 Comments

Occasional Daily Photo: corkscrews

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Denise

Reputedly a more restrained passion vine, a young Passiflora loefgrenii, the Garlic Passion Flower, gives an exciting, tightly coiled performance its first year even when not in bloom. Now imagine this with passionflowers. Hurry, summer 2013!

Posted in Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits | Tagged Garlic Passion Flower, Passiflora loefgrenii, vines | 1 Comment

under overcast skies at last

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Denise

We’ve been watching an old Swedish detective show, Wallander, which is subtitled in English. I’m crazy for that soft, muted Swedish light, which I can only imagine is similar to what we’ve been getting the past few days, creating a … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave desmettiana 'Joe Hoak', Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca, Echeveria imbricata, Eryngium padanifolium, Euphorbia lambii, Tetrapanax papyrifer, Wallander | 7 Comments

driveby agave garden

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Denise

I have the Long Beach Marathon to thank for finding this garden. No, I didn’t run the marathon, more like actively avoided it. The marathon barricades cut off much of my end of Long Beach on October 6, so trying … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, driveby gardens, garden travel, garden visit, Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged Aenoium 'Sunburst', Agave bovicornuta, Agave colorata, Agave ferdinandi-regis, Agave guiengola 'Creme Brulee', Agave lophantha, Agave potatorum, barrel cactus, Beaucarnia recurvata, Bismarckia nobilis, Colletia paradoxa, Echinocactus grusonii, Euphorbia ammak, Euphorbia tirucalli, Yucca rostrata | 32 Comments

Foliage Followup 10/16/12

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Denise

Hosted by Pam Penick at Digging Two of the great memes in garden bloggery, Bloom Day on the 15th and the Foliage Followup on the 16th. Pam’s photo above of an anole in her Austin, Texas garden suggests a third … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave americana var. striata, Agave attenuata 'Kara's Stripes', Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate', Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Canna 'Intrigue', Cussonia gamtoosensis, Macleaya cordata, Musa 'Siam Ruby', Sonchus canariensis | 12 Comments

Bloom Day October 2012

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Denise

A nice little rainstorm rolled into town last Thursday. For a sweet, brief moment, it almost seemed like autumn, but the heat has returned this week. Still, the garden has had a reasonable soaking, a rare thing for October, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits | Tagged Ceratostigma willmottianum 'My Love', Gerbera 'Drakensberg Carmine', Lotus jacobaeus, Melianthus major 'Purple Haze', Nicotiana 'Ondra's Brown Mix', Pedilanthus bracteatus, Persicaria amplexicaulis, Salvia 'Wendy Wish', Salvia chiapensis, Zaluzianskya capensis | 5 Comments