Category Archives: Plant Portraits
garden notes 3/20/19
Yesterday I removed the diseased carcass of Agave ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’ which lived its brief but spectacular life – until this rainy winter – under the acacia tree in the far southeast corner. You’d think having to battle for resources … Continue reading
APLD + Arboretum Plant Fair 2018
Leave it to the landscape designers to build one of the best plant fairs I’ve attended — relaxed, convivial, informative, great flow, pacing, and easy accessibility to the plant vendors, multiple ongoing activities seamlessly integrated — all qualities found in … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, plant sales
Tagged APLD + Arboretum Plant Fair 2018, APLD Greater Los Angeles District, Calscape, Chilopsis linearis 'Burgundy', dwarf Banksia ashbyi, Halimium atriplicifolium, landscape design, Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Princess', Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', Mangave 'Mayan Queen', Muhlenbegia pubescens, plant fair, PlantMaster, Quercus rugosa, Salvia 'Love Child', Tulbaghia 'Big Amethyst'
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summer plant report 2018
Imposing title for a modest report on a handful of new plants, right? Regardless of the size limitations of a small garden, I’m always trialing new plants, but I’m hesitant to report on results that might give a false impression … Continue reading
a faithful February friend
The Cactus Geranium, Pelargonium echinatum, has been brightening my February for over a decade. And it just might be one of the most well-documented plants on the blog. This photo from February 12, 2013, is one of many over the … Continue reading
new and semi-new plants
perky pilocereus at OC Succulents What plants have grabbed your attention lately? Last week I was chasing down a hard-to-find compact form of one of California’s native buckwheats, Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum. The Grow Native nursery at Rancho Santa Ana … Continue reading
Posted in plant crushes, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
Tagged Acacia 'Cousin Itt', Callistemon 'Bottle Pop', Ceanothus maritimus 'Valley Violet', Chilopsis linearis 'Desert Diva', Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum, Hesperaloe 'Pink Parade', Hesperaloe ‘Desert Flamenco’, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, Lavandula 'Silver Anouk', Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, Nicholas Staddon, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Salvia curviflora, Tagetes lemmonii 'Compacta', Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery, UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars, Village Nurseries
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fall planting: what happened to my phlomis?
It’s fall planting time in Southern California, and I’m planting phlomis. And it’s deja vu all over again. I like to think that the blog functions at least as a personal resource, a planting reference that at a minimum chronicles … Continue reading
Posted in plant nurseries, Plant Portraits
Tagged Cistus Nursery, Digging Dog Nursery, phlomis, Phlomis lanata
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golden gardens
Doing some blog research for fall planting, I was surprised to find what a luminous phase the garden entered briefly around 2014. I’ve always been drawn to bright-colored leaves, but in this period the garden glowed as if irradiated. Chief … Continue reading
friday clippings 7/28/17
I’ve been in an insatiable mood for plant shopping lately. I found this variegated form of Salvia ‘Berggarten’ yesterday at Roger’s Gardens and am putting up its portrait immediately because it may be its last. This salvia and my soil … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged "Maybe This Time", Aristida purpurea, Dahlia 'Twyning's after 8', Gymnocalycium ragonesei, Native Sons plant nursery, Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial', Pelargonium gibbosum, Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten Variegata', sideritis
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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