Category Archives: journal
dispatch from the Oregon coast
We’ve been at the Oregon house a little over two weeks, and this Tillamook Rainforest coastal area is now settling into a comfortable steady rain. Late October and November bring some of the heaviest rainfall to the yearly total over … Continue reading
Posted in climate, journal, plant sales
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clippings 9/30/21
A self-sown manihot made an exquisite canopy of uniform growth to 4 feet in its first summer — consolation for the loss of a similar but shorter-lived performance from a young Schefflera taiwaniana, which unlike the manihot had a strong … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Botanica, clippings, journal, succulents
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garden clippings 9/7/21
Yes, that is a box full of chrysanthemums. Let me explain why such a wildly uncharacteristic flower, for me, is blooming in my otherwise mostly austere and dryish garden. It’s part of the ongoing experiment of trying cut flowers in … Continue reading
August fidgets part 2
So I did act on those August fidgets and started work on a path through the back garden. The planted back garden encompasses roughly a 14X40′ rectangle, and I’ve been inclined to keep every inch of it available for planting, … Continue reading
Posted in journal
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tying up the blooming bromeliad
To continue with the hyper-journaling of the back garden, Alcantarea odorata has been tied upright to the tetrapanax and hummingbirds are able to visit the opening flowers safely and regularly again. That was done last week. Lovely heavy mist this … Continue reading
Posted in journal
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the path not taken (August fidgets)
There are as many ways and reasons to design a garden as their are gardeners — but Im with Billie. Its all about the feet (and paws). I love to play with the varying scale that moving through a garden … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal, pots and containers, succulents
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while I was away
We have a new member of the family, so of course I had to immediately become acquainted with little Hannah, who resides in a foggy coastal Oregon town. And even though she’s only days’ old, I began deliberating before leaving, … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, succulents
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July 2021 garden report
With the drought tightening its grip, Californians have been asked to cut water use by 15 percent compared with last year. Even so, yesterday I let a hose trickle to deep-water parts of the garden, which was getting by on … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Bulbs, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers
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Six on Saturday
‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
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dwarf statice and what else is new in June
The dwarf statice, Limonium minutum, are new this June. Planted along the spine of rocks laid down last November, their tight cushions send out slender stems that branch upward to hold aloft sparkling clouds of everlasting blooms, creating a gauzy … Continue reading
Posted in journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents
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