Category Archives: journal
recent garden distractions
Does the world distract me from my garden or the garden distract me from the world? The balance has been different at various times in my life, so I like that the relationship is flexible. Spending most of my days … Continue reading
pandemic garden project
My latest time sink and a great antidote to the pandemic fidgets. It’s a little rough and a lot rustic, part of the perpetual quest to get plants massed in one area for ease of care, especially now that warm … Continue reading
Posted in journal, pots and containers, succulents
7 Comments
February scrapbook
Tracing the trajectory of enthusiasms on the blog since 2010, one month at a time… 2/26/10 — a wildflower meadow was a fleeting, transitional feature of a local medical center. February 25, 2011, this weird aroid had my attention. It … Continue reading
Posted in blog, journal, Plant Portraits
3 Comments
the agave’s gambit
What sets them apart is that they are monocarpic, they die after flowering once, and, they can take up to 30 years or better, depending on species and growing conditions, to flower…The demand for carbohydrate is high during this period. … Continue reading
swept away
Busy week, weather-wise, democracy-wise. There was a sweet piney scent to the air the morning of the 19th, which meant the wind had shifted and was coming from the east. I smelled it before checking the weather vane, which confirmed … Continue reading
clippings January 5, 2021
Happy New Year news: We’re waitlisted for a corgi puppy with an Oregon breeder! The arrangement seems nebulous at best, but it’s the closest we’ve come to envisioning life with another dog since Ein shared his life with us, our … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, journal
7 Comments
Calendula ‘Touch of Red’
In Southern California, the cool-season annuals have arrived at local nurseries, the violas, stocks, snapdragons, sweet williams, nemesias, Iceland poppies, and lots more I’m forgetting at the moment. Some (or none) appeal to different garden temperaments. I’ve indulged in biennial … Continue reading
Posted in cut flowers, journal, plant nurseries, pots and containers
Tagged Calendula 'Touch of Red
10 Comments
reshuffling some garden standbys
I edit, thin, and prune the steady accumulation of curbside and flea market finds constantly, but there’s a few stalwarts that consistently defy the purges. This Los Angeles street lamp shade has been kicking around the garden for years and … Continue reading
late for Bloom Day 11/15/20
Mina lobata is late too. The Spanish Flag vine was sown at least by June — okay, I just checked the seed packet and it was sown 6/25/20. So what’s up with waiting to bloom until November? The questions never … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, journal, pots and containers, succulents
8 Comments
privacy issues (or what kept me busy Election Week 2020)
And so the lemon cypresses (Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Citriodora’ or Golden Monterey Cypress) came down last Sunday, November 1st. I couldn’t bear to watch the removal of the last two and hid out in the office. They were excellent privacy screens … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
10 Comments