Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Salvia macrophylla ‘Upright Form’
Large-leaved sage, Salvia macrophylla. Insistently, emphatically, imperially blue. And since I’ve officially entered the fall season of travel lust I tumble into every year, a more sinister association also comes to mind, that of Mayan Blue, a sacrificial blue. The … Continue reading
a monday collage
A new week, slightly out of focus. Feed the cats, make the coffee, read Paul Krugman’s column. Routines are the pitons hammered into the seams of blurry grey rock that is a Monday morning. A quick check on the garden. … Continue reading
Hebe ‘Western Hills’
Hebes are the kind of tidy plants so perfectly composed they can be accused of conveying a touch of smugness, of rendering a garden a little too safe and suburban. I take the personal position that it’s best to resist … Continue reading
Plant Hunting in Namibia
I didn’t need to know too much about the Crassula mesembryanthemoides I bought last week, just some elaboration of the nurseryman’s comment that the stem tips drop, root, and spread everywhere. Very few search hits available. Add its home, Namibia, … Continue reading
Plug & Play
I briefly escaped the desk yesterday and checked out a couple local nurseries. Fall is when some interesting plants start to appear again in Southern California nurseries, for planting in the cooler temps, to be settled in by winter rains. … Continue reading
Anemone japonica in Southern California
A rare sight in Southern California. There’s a garden on a bluff near a popular dog walking spot that has big, established clumps of this anemone blooming in fall, along with giant stands of Romneya coulteri, the Matilija poppy, in … Continue reading
Posted in MB Maher, Plant Portraits
Tagged Anemone japonica, Battery Park NYC, Beverly Hills, Piet Oudolf, Southern California
6 Comments
Foliage Follow-Up September 2011
I just noticed today that seedpods had formed on the little manihot tree. M. grahamii is hardier (zone 7b-10) than M. esculenta, which is grown for its starchy, edible tubers, with a possible future in biofuel. The Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ … Continue reading
Bloom Day September 2011
No use in dancing around the fact that my Bloom Day posts can be a bit repetitive. Seems it’s the same cast of characters every month. But if you’re in zone 10 and lack the space for big herbaceous drifts … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits
Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, Anigozanthos 'Yellow Gem', Athanasia acerosa, Crithmum maritimum, Dahlia 'Chat Noire', Echium gentianoides 'Tajinaste', Leycesteria formosa 'Golden Lanterns', Limonium peregrinum, Mirabilis jalapa 'Limelight', Rose 'Bouquet d'Or', Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia 'wendy's Wish', Teucrium 'Fairy Dust'
8 Comments
Grace Notes
I hadn’t noticed until last night that Bulbine frutescens was blooming again among the fallen seedheads of grasses and dyckia. Amazing how the outlines of plants can clarify a mood I’ve been in. I was just writing to my brother … Continue reading
Dahlia ‘Chat Noir’
I’m fairly certain now that the identity of the one and only dahlia I’m growing this summer is ‘Chat Noir.’ September’s heat has really kicked it into gear. Some additional support was added a couple days ago. Otherwise, as far … Continue reading