Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Bloom Day February 2011
What was I thinking, sleeping in on Bloom Day? Getting straight to the point… Grevillea ‘Superb’ Pelargonium echinatum Abutilon Anigozanthus Salvia chiapensis Ammi majus Tulips The first flower of Salvia iodantha wagneriana in honor of Bloom Day. Thanks, Carol!
Second Look (Erodium pelargoniflorum)
Little plants like this erodium, that wouldn’t rate a second look in summer, for a brief time have the field to themselves in early spring. So many modest spring bloomers like this erodium are described as “charming,” which sounds like … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Erodium pelargoniflorum, Erodium trifolium, geraniaceae, Maxwell Perkins
4 Comments
Bromeliads in Winter
Bromeliads like this Vriesea gigantea are wintering outdoors in this frostless garden. Maybe this bizarro winter I should knock wood and say this historically frostless garden. This fast-growing vriesea from southeastern Brazil is temporarily kept in a small pot to … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged aeoniums, bromeliads, coprosma, Cordyline 'Pink Stripe', Vriesea gigantea
8 Comments
Eryngiums, House & Garden
Sometimes the house quietly slips into a “Grey Gardens” mode, such as when a vase full of eryngiums turn spidery and dessicated, and I still can’t bear to throw them away. These were bought at Christmas, when I splurged on … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Ellen Willmott, Eryngium giganteum, Miss Willmott's Ghost
10 Comments
That Corsican Hellebore
I hope I’m not becoming too tiresome about this hellebore… I may have mentioned it four times in the past two months, but I just cannot say enough good things about Helleborus argutifolius, zoned 7-10. Some resources zone it even … Continue reading
Plants That Bear Watching
Every garden probably has a few. Not exactly weeds, but tending toward the weedy, yet something about them holds you in thrall. Keeping these plants in the garden is flirting with disaster, but still you just can’t break it off. … Continue reading
Lobelia tupa/Yo-Yo Gardening
I’ve been in a digging mood, which probably dates back to this draft of a post I wrote but never posted on December 28, 2010. A brief shower last Sunday has been the only rain since the December storms, and … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Agave 'Blue Flame', Lobelia tupa, Mesogeo Gardens, Oxalis vulcanicola, The Patient Gardener
4 Comments
The Ideal
I haven’t seen the movie ‘Black Swan’ yet, but sometimes I wonder if my own search for the ideal plant isn’t reminiscent of the exacting standards of ballet.
A Year of Euphorbias
Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ is capable of an exceptionally long season in zone 10, basically year-round. And not just spitting out a few blooms, but flourishing. A cultivar of E. hypericifolia, it is a true perennial here in zone 10. Extremely … Continue reading
Friday, January 21, 2011
Today was a day of mathematical simplicity, nothing too complex. Like an abacus, disparate elements slid in and out of place, adding in then subtracting out throughout the day. Work lined up for the day cancelled. Subtraction. But being home, … Continue reading