Category Archives: journal

a May visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens

“If you want to have an easy life as a weather forecaster, you should get a job in Las Vegas, Phoenix or Los Angeles. Predict that it won’t rain in one of those cities, and you’ll be right about 90 … Continue reading

Posted in climate, garden travel, garden visit, journal | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

myoverplantedgarden.com

My working title for this post was overplanted.com, but I’m glad I checked before posting — that already belongs to Tom Fischer! Yesterday seemed like a good time to check out Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach for fall planting. In … Continue reading

Posted in clippings, design, journal, plant nurseries | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

a week in plants, continued

I so rarely document thoroughly, before and after, that I thought for once I’d push back a little against those slacker tendencies. This small project is an easy place to start. In the last post, there were four ‘Cousin Itt’ … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Plant Portraits, plant sales, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

more shelves

I don’t have any travel plans this summer, so July’s rhythm has been work, work, work, decompress in garden, shower, repeat. And I don’t really mind because the garden is so absorbing this time of year. At least once a … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, plant sales, pots and containers | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

friday clippings 6/24/16

Little Diego next-door has taken upon himself the challenge of learning drumming. In the last couple months, he’s been practicing on whatever is handy, whether it be pots, pans, buckets, gates. It was hard to tell at first how invested … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Plant Portraits | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

an overgrown corner

When my boys were 5 and 10, respectively, I would have gladly had that moment last about 10 more years. And I knew it at the time. Just stop the clock, please. Gardens are all about change, too, and I … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, succulents | Tagged | 6 Comments

last of the poppies

I’m just now starting to see photos of poppies in bloom showing up in gardens in colder climates, but by June the annual poppies are usually finished here. In my garden, as June continues the mild, overcast weather of May, … Continue reading

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Wednesday miscellany

Progress report on Rudbeckia maxima. Snails love this rudbeckia, so I’ve been cutting out a lot of chewed-up lower leaves. Believe it or not, it seems to be forming bloom stalks already. Zone 10 can be a topsy-turvy home for … Continue reading

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Happy Val Day

Interesting, isn’t it, that one of America’s most notorious authors of books banned under then-existing obscenity laws had the middle name Valentine? All true. Henry Valentine Miller. “The publication of Miller’s Tropic of Cancer in the United States in 1961 … Continue reading

Posted in clippings, edibles, journal, MB Maher, photography | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Thursday clippings 2/4/16 (love letters to trees)

Not my street. Our parkways are a hodge-podge of palms and jacarandas, magnolias, overgrown oleanders and scheffleras. The City recently sent out crews to work on our street trees, and the snarl of power tools and episodic rise and fall … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal | 9 Comments