Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Samphire
You’d think selecting plants based on leaves, flowers, bark, and berries would be more than enough criteria to consider, but occasionally the quest for plants takes in other, less tangible considerations, at least for me, and certain plants can edge … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Annies Annuals, Crithmum maritimum, samphire, umbellifer
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Weather Report
A couple days of over 90-degree heat woke the tropicals up. Tibouchina heteromalla But we’re back to overcast skies and drizzle, lovely for late July. In the Tom Waits-inspired, emotional weather report category, we’ve been frantic about a baby mockingbird, … Continue reading
July 2010 Bloom Day
I’m late, I’m late… for a very important date…(yeah, right. It’s called a job.) No time to say hello/goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late! Now scurry over to our host’s site “May Dreams Gardens, for a perusal of Carol’s … Continue reading
Dahlias, Dahling
I have this one dahlia that came back this spring. Bought at a spring 2009 garden show. I’ve pored over the skimpy 2009 garden notebook but apparently didn’t write down the name, if it was even labeled. A font of … Continue reading
Monkey Business
The monkey flower planted into the ground has clambered up into the arms of a potted helichrysum. I like promoting such intimate relationships between the grounded and the potted. The mimulus thrives in the slightly heavy clay of the garden. … Continue reading
June 2010 Bloom Day
A 2-year-old mossed basket with sedums, agave, and oregano ‘Kent Beauty.’ I was surprised to see the oregano return this year. Life in a mossed basket can be rough. The urns of arctoctis. Hopefully, the next time I replant the … Continue reading
Posted in Bloom Day, Plant Portraits
Tagged ' Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow', Atriplex hortensis, Bloom Day, Buddleia 'Silver Anniversary', Calindrinia spectabilis, Catanache caerulea, crocosmia, Cupid's Dart, Diascia 'Ice Cracker', Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons', heliotrope, kniphofia, Libertia peregrinans, Lysimachia atropurpurea, May Dreams Gardens, Mirabilis jalapa, Oreganum 'Kent Beauty', phygelius, purple orach, Rehmannia elata 'Snow Glow', Salvia 'Waverly', Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain', Senecio rowleyanus, String of Pearls, Trachelium caeruleum, Verbena bonariensis
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So I Go Out To Buy A Hosta
…and come home with an astelia. Astelia banksii. Hostas intrigue me because, in Zone 10 gardening manuals, they can reliably be found under the entry “When Pigs Can Fly.” Yet there’s always a few for sale at nurseries in spring, … Continue reading
Photo Dump
Not an elegant title, bordering on the indelicate, but that’s about all I can manage on Wednesday, just some shots from the past few days. Begonia ‘Bonfire’ and aeoniums. I was thrilled to carry this begonia over the winter, the … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged ' Salvia 'Waverly' solanums, aeonium, Begonia 'Bonfire
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Dendromecon harfordii (David’s Catalina Tree Poppy)
Driving by, I slow down to shout at David, who’s laying a recycled concrete paver/DG (decomposed granite) path in the front yard. Don’t you love neighbors who drive by slowly and shout at you while you’re hard at work? I’ve … Continue reading
Laughter in the Distance
Not a title to a pulpy romance novel but a snippet of Hinkley’s hilarious prose from his infamous Heronswood nursery catalogues. (The nursery was opened in 1987, bought by Burpee in 2000 and closed by them in 2006.) The catalogues … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, essay, Plant Portraits
Tagged Begonia grandis, Ceanothus thrysiflorus var. griseus 'Kurt Zadnik, Clematis recta, Dan Hinkley, Embothrium coccineum, Garden Cottage Nursery, Heronswood, Melianthus 'Purple Haze', Monrovia, Olearia 'Henry Travers', restios, Rhodocoma capensis, Roger Raiche, Roger's Gardens, Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain', Stiga gigantea, Vita Sackville-West, Windcliff
6 Comments