Category Archives: journal
notes from the December garden/Los Angeles
December temps have been in the 80’sF, astonishing even to this lifelong Angeleno. Fairly quickly I’ve re-adapted to the prevailing attitude that keeping track of the weather is mostly irrelevant here. I left checking hourly weather forecasts behind in Oregon … Continue reading
resuming rambles around town
Spending winter in Los Angeles means I get to indulge a lifelong passion for looking at old stuff that goes way back to thrift-shopping in high school. (Seriously, we were dressing like Annie Hall before the movie came out.) Other … Continue reading
cleaning up the zone 10 summer garden
Checking in on the Long Beach garden, it feels a little like cleaning up after a party that you weren’t invited to. In summer’s aftermath, it’s all about reading the seedpods and dessicated growth for clues of what vegetative frivolity … Continue reading
front garden fills out
The front garden is developing the low-growing, evergreen shrubby chops capable of withstanding the windy rainstorms of winter. We had a fine example of such a storm just a few days ago. Planted much later than the back garden, even … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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first frost October 15, 2025
The morning of October 15 the roofs were frosted, the grass crunchy underfoot. First frost. Near a small park where I take Hannah and Billie for their “running game,” a neighbor grows assorted dahlias and zinnias, and I always check … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, journal, Oregon garden
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into October
The morning routine in October is now two-fisted, coffee in one hand, fly swatter in the other to dispatch the spider webs that proliferate overnight. I appreciate their predatory contributions and only knock down webs directly across paths, which seems … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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West Coast views from a train in spring
Late May 2025, Los Angeles to Portland. Though I’ve taken lots of trains in Europe, this was my first long-distance train trip in the U.S., working out to roughly 29 hours. My companions were game as they come, charming 2-year-old … Continue reading
Posted in journal
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the littles
This longer east view of sunrise-haloed Chionochloa rubra was not available two days ago. Stipa gigantea spilled onto the rock at the west end making the path impassable, comprising overall about 5′ in circumference with half of that path obstruction. … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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town and garden
Sometimes I get the sense from an offhand comment that gardens are considered escapist entertainment. My experience has been the opposite, and maybe this is what comes with small gardens in crowded neighborhoods. Because I’m constantly outside, I know to … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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give it up for Lobelia tupa
Any description of Lobelia tupa is bound to contain words like “huge,” “robust,” “monumental,” and it’s all true. Which would seemingly indicate it’s not a perennial for a small garden like mine. Except this mega-perennial here at the Oregon Coast … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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