Category Archives: Plant Portraits
growing up with palms
After checking out the CSSA sale at the Huntington recently, per usual, I roamed around the botanical gardens for a while, clutching my little box with the newly acquired Euphorbia clavigera. I must have juggled that euphorbia and my camera … Continue reading
leaning cussonias
Right up there with rampant vines, another example of one of my current garden anxieties is the sharp northward lean on my Cussonia gamtoosensis. Will it ultimately do a face plant or won’t it? And if it does, will it … Continue reading
Solanum valerianum ‘Navidad, Jalisco’
I just don’t know what to think about this vine. First of all, let me be clear that I love the opulence of this solanum’s pendulous, grape-cluster-like performance. With its ropy swags of purply bloom, it is truly like living … Continue reading
Salvia ‘Desperado’
There’s an irresistible momentum that sweeps me up every time I see a great-looking but unfamiliar plant. If at all possible, it must be tracked down and brought home. And then the game begins: Where to plant it? Garden designer … Continue reading
Tillandsia Tuesday
* Tillandsia duratii has the most fragrant flower over the longest period of time. There is currently more demand than supply. * Tillandsia xerographica’s inflorescence can last up to a year. It has been overcollected in its home of Guatemala. … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits
Tagged air plants, bromeliads, California, Rainforest Flora, tillandsias, Torrance
7 Comments
rainy day schedule and its effects on big, jagged leaves
That makes two drizzly Mondays in a row. Did our collective obsession with California winter rain last year have the unintended and adverse effect of scaring it away? Drought does bring out magical thinking in me. I’ve given up on … Continue reading
TBT: Shocking Pink
October seems a little early for the Cactus Geranium to start blooming after its summer dormancy, but it is, which occasions bringing up this old post from January 2011 in its honor. Sometime during the night, the buds of Pelargonium … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers
Tagged Cactus Geranium, Pelargonium echinatum, Throwback Thursday
4 Comments
Wednesday Vignette 9/21/16
The aeoniums are losing that shriveled and squinty, “Anybody seen my sunglasses?” look they acquire over summer, plumping up again for their favorite season that’s just ahead. An old post from January 2013 “comparative aeoniums” shows them at their happiest. … Continue reading
Posted in Plant Portraits, succulents
5 Comments
Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Fast Forward’
I recently picked up a gallon of Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Fast Forward,’ which may or may not be the answer to a pink muhly lover’s prayers. The PR is it’s more uniform and blooms earlier, possibly as early as August, depending … Continue reading