Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Kalanchoe luciae ‘Fantastic’
Yes, I finally succumbed to the newest incarnation of the paddle plant/flapjacks plant, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, a flashy variegated variety that’s actually a cultivar of K. luciae. I first saw this succulent a few months ago, in January, at the Terra … Continue reading
Echium gentianoides ‘Tajinaste’
Last time I wrote about this echium was for a March Bloom Day post, cursing myself for having transplanted it while it was just beginning to show flower buds. I am now relieved to report it has made a full … Continue reading
Wispy Spring Annuals
Along with the linaria I mentioned recently, some of the other wispy spring annuals I’ve been experimenting with in pots are this Anagallis. A. monelii, the Blue Pimpernel. And a little nemesia with long spurs, N. cheiranthus ‘Shooting Stars.’ The … Continue reading
Warming Up
Edging into the high 80’s the next couple days here at the coast, about a mile from the Pacific, in the 90’s for the inland cities like Pasadena. The castor bean plant and Salvia canariensis are reveling in the heat, … Continue reading
Sudden Mediterranean Plant Collapse Disorder
I made that name up. But it’s true, collapse and then a swift death does come suddenly to mediterranean plants in lusty health mid-summer. Which is why I’m ecstatic that this one cutting of Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca ‘Variegata’ has … Continue reading
Urbane Nasturtiums
I’ve been transplanting a few self-sown nasturtiums and tucked a couple in with some eucomis bulbs to spill out of an ancient cast-iron sewer pipe that somehow made its way here years ago. I wonder which previous car’s shocks had … Continue reading
Pelargonium ‘Splendide’
From Robin Parer’s nursery Geraniaceae “A scandent shrub; leaves are pinnate, grey and hairy; a truly splendid hybrid with red upper petals, a dark center and almost white lower petals; do not leave outside in rain and prune very carefully.”
The Kashmir Cypress
A pre-dinner garden tour at Dustin’s. “What is it?” I asked. “You asked me that last time,” he answered patiently. “It’s psoralea.” “Oh, the Kool-Aid something or other?” (Strange, how memory works.) “Right,” he explained, “from Annie’s.” His psoralea is … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden visit, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged Annies Annuals, bocconia, Cedrus deodara 'Feelin' Blue', Cupressus cashmeriana, Dustin Gimbel, Echeveria agavoides, Huntington Botanical Garden, Kashmir cypress, Nancy Goslee Power, Orostachys iwarenge, Power of Gardens, Psoralea pinnata, San Marcos Growers
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Bloom Day April 2011
Southern California, a mile from the ocean, zone 10, spring a couple months ahead of most of the country. With the grasses joining the frothy euphorbias in bloom, there’s now a supercharged atmosphere that animates the garden. I love it … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits
Tagged ' Amicia zygomeris, ' Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow', Aloe thompsonii, Annies Annuals, Bloom Day, Euphorbia characias 'Silver Swan', Fuchsia 'Hawkshead', Geranium maderense 'Alba', Geum magellanicum, Libertia peregrinans, Luzula sylvatica 'Aurea', May Dreams Gardens, Patersonia drummondii, Pennisetum spathiolatum, Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain'
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Sage Vice
Who can say at what number an enthusiasm or “keen interest” ends and a collection of plants begins? 20 hostas? 6 agaves? 114 daylilies? When the genus is as diverse in leaf and flower as salvia, a collection interspersed throughout … Continue reading