Category Archives: Plant Portraits

The Gospel According to San Marcos

The devoted gathered to hear Mr. Baldwin of the premiere West Coast nursery San Marcos Growers give a talk at Roger’s Gardens last Saturday on new plant introductions. Be warned that this post will be plant-wonkish in the extreme.

Posted in garden travel, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Solanum marginatum

Cable TV was turned back on in our house after an absence of about a year of no TV other than Netflix. Fiberoptic cable was laid on our street, so a package deal with faster internet, cable TV, and phone … Continue reading

Posted in garden visit, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Garden Tasks, Dogs & Productivity

I work at home most days of the week and keep this guy fairly close all day. Working alone all day with a dog instead of people has some interesting ramifications. I’m not sure if it makes me any more … Continue reading

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hortus Chaotica

So many contradictions, so little time. A love of spare, austere, sculptural plantings. Yet every summer I still invite the circus to camp in my garden.

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Bloom Day June 2011

I missed yesterday’s Bloom Day post, hosted by May Dreams Gardens, but now need a photo for Digging’s Foliage Follow-Up, always held the day after Bloom Day. Let’s see….blooms and great leaves. Oh, of course. Cannas can do double-duty for … Continue reading

Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits | Tagged | 4 Comments

Random Senecio

Composite flowers of senecio come paired with an incredible range of leaf forms. A few portraits from one of the largest genera of flowering plants, taken at recent plant shows Senecio fulgens with an Emilia javanica-like flower Senecio tropaeolifolius Senecio … Continue reading

Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana “Pink Butterflies”

The entire name wouldn’t even fit in the post title: Kalanchoe delagoensis x daigremontiana ‘Pink Butterflies.’ How fitting that a hybrid with a parent commonly known as ‘Mother of Thousands’ would have a name involving syllables of thousands. I’ve had … Continue reading

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , | 46 Comments

June Leans In

Look away briefly, and June overwhelms winter’s carefully laid plans. Since spring in Southern California really gets going in March, by June plant growth is at full throttle. The agaves, succulents, and Mediterranean evergreen shrubs have presented a sedate, enchanting … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Kitchen Garden Contained

Is it possible for a vegetable to reach celebrity status? Tuscan kale has seemingly reached a kind of stardom with both ornamental and vegetable gardeners. Brassica oleracea var. acephala, aka Italian lacinato, Nero Toscano, black kale, dinosaur kale. I grow … Continue reading

Posted in design, edibles, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Manly Plants

I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay. I sleep all night and I work all day. (Manly chorus: He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay He sleeps all night and he works all day) I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. … Continue reading

Posted in garden travel, Occasional Daily Photo, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments