Category Archives: shop talk

time to sow biennials

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Denise

Just one seed of this angelica germinated out of a packet sown February 2024, and to be honest, one angelica is all I have room for, but a couple of backups for insurance would have taken off the pressure of … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits, shop talk | 6 Comments

APLD Plant Fair 10/2/21 at LA Arboretum

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Denise

The Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers puts on a helluva fall plant fair, and against some impressive odds they have managed to deliver another one for 2021 on October 2nd. And hooray for autumn plant … Continue reading →

Posted in plant nurseries, plant sales, shop talk | 9 Comments

spring surge

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Denise

In what’s become a spring ritual, I thinned out a whole bunch of poppies today (my go-to poppy, Papaver setigerum, which has been reseeding for years). And yanked handfuls of branches from the bulging honeywort, Cerinthe major purpurascens, too. When … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, shop talk, succulents | 10 Comments

scenes from the popup (big thank you!)

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Denise

photos by MB Maher Here’s a look at the tables as they were first set up, before the sale. Dustin Gimbel’s footed “log” pots were a big hit and sold out. (Luckily, you can find the “Gimbel Marbelized Trunk Planter” … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, commerce, design, garden ornament, MB Maher, photography, plant nurseries, plant sales, pop-up, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

discovering The Potting Shed on a Lark at Sourced Collective

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Denise

There’s retail that does vintage and architectural finds well, and there’s retail that does plants well. Haven’t you wished somebody with a passion for both would combine them under one roof? I know I have. Consider it handled by The … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, commerce, cut flowers, design, edibles, garden ornament, MB Maher, photography, plant nurseries, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bloom Day May 2017 (and assorted garden projects)

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Denise

Photo taken last night, when I still hoped I could squeak this post in under the Bloom Day deadline, the 15th of every month, and be righteously on time, but it was not to be. Flash of red is from … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, climate, creatures, cut flowers, design, MB Maher, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Natural Discourse: Fire! 9/30 & 10/1/16

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Denise

I’ve lived long enough to have experienced the dispersal of information about plants move from paper to the computer screen, and it seems I rarely have the sense anymore that I’m cut off from an essential stream of information on … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, climate, Department of Instruction, design, garden travel, garden visit, science, shop talk | Tagged , | 6 Comments

friday clippings 6/5/15

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Denise

Late spring conversation at our house sums up living in a “mixed” household (gardeners/nongardeners): Duncan, from the back porch: Whatcha doin’ out there? Me, from deep in the garden: Sitting in a field of poppies. Duncan (scanning for alleged field … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, Bulbs, clippings, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

compound interest

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Denise

Image found here I don’t have a lot of botanical vocabulary at my fingertips anymore, but I do know a compound leaf when I see one*, since I’ve always had a pronounced weakness for them. If you’ve got a potted … Continue reading →

Posted in design, Plant Portraits, science, shop talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

elephant season

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Denise

A few tropicals in pots can be a fine sendoff to summer. Here about a mile from the ocean, the big-leaved tropicals like colocasia, the “elephant ears,” bide their time until the temperatures start to really feel uncomfortable. By the … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments