Category Archives: Plant Portraits
Mergers & Acquisitions
If nature abhors a vacuum, then I am nature’s willing handmaiden. By late May, the garden is stuffed, bursting at the seams like this potted Euphorbia tirucalli. Echevarias and sedums tucked into every available spot. Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’ filling in … Continue reading
Posted in essay, Plant Portraits, succulents
Tagged 1970 Volkswagen bus, Atriplex hortensis, Debra Lee Baldwin, Ein the wonder corgi, Euphorbia rigida, Euphorbia tirucalli, Heuchera 'Southern Comfort', plant nurseries, Polygonum orientale, Roger's Gardens, Sticks on Fire, succulents, Teucrium 'Fairy Duster', Verbena bonariensis
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Small Moves
“Small moves, Ellie.” No, I didn’t read the book Contact by Carl Sagan but am quoting from the movie, where Jodie Foster as Dr. Ellie Arroway is advised as a child by her father to take it slow when scanning … Continue reading
The Angelic Ones
I’m so glad I planted this Angelica stricta ‘Purpurea’ (from Annie’s Annuals, of course) in a pot rather than dooming another angelica by trialing it in the garden. I’m not completely convinced the problem was soil (amended clay) but more … Continue reading
May Bloom Day
May is a heady month for gardens. Check them out at Carol’s host site for Bloom Day, May Dreams Gardens. The pale lavender heliotrope is responding to longer and warmer days, sprawling over Oxalis vulcanicola, both perennial in zone 10. … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Bloom Day, Calandrinia spectabilis, Calceolaria 'Kentish Hero', Canna 'Intrigue', cineraria, Lespedeza thunbergii, Lophomyrtus ralphii 'Red Dragon', Lysimachia purpurea, May Dreams Gardens, Mirabilis jalapa, Oxalis vulcanicola, Rose 'Bouquet d'Or', Salvia 'Waverly', Salvia chiapensis, Senecio stellata, Solanum rantonnetii, Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold', Teucrium fruticans azureum
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Summer Tryouts – Geranium ‘Dragon Heart’
Hybridized by Alan Bremner of Scotland, a hybrid of the Armenian cranesbill, Geranium psilostemon, which in itself is a big plant, if of abbreviated bloom duration according to the books. I’ve never grown the species. The selections generally tend toward … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged Alan Bremner, Briza maxima, Geranium 'Dragon Heart', Geranium psilostemon, summer tryouts
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The Many Faces of Cobaea
Annual vine Cobaea scandens. Seems I still feel up to the challenge of including strong personalities in the garden. For two successive years in a row, I’ve had to launch emergency eradication efforts in early spring of overly boisterous and … Continue reading
Anatomy of a Plant Purchase
April 2010 Gardens Illustrated arrives in the mailbox. Two-page spread depicts in photographic splendor Carol Klein’s sumptuous spring-blooming choices to grow underneath Cornus controversa ‘Variegata.’ What’s this Prunella-like, spiky, dusky pink-flowered wunderkind with the lush foliage? A calamint maybe? Lamium … Continue reading
For the Vase
We had ferocious, 30-knot winds Wednesday. All night the old wooden house was buffeted and storm-tossed, creaking and groaning like she was about to slip her foundation moorings. The wind chimes clanged like alarm bells. I couldn’t sleep past 4 … Continue reading
Lysimachia atropurpurea
Some plants never live up to their catalogue descriptions. Never mind their growth habits or cultural needs, they simply fail to live up to the gushing prose that purports to describe what they actually, physically look like. This is my … Continue reading
Into White
A simple garden with acres of sky. Fearing I had carelessly brought in more white flowers than is sensible, it turns out it wasn’t much of a white-out after all, except maybe with the camera. For me, it’d be impossible … Continue reading