Category Archives: journal
Celosia argentea ‘Cramer’s Amazon’
There’s been a couple of standout plants new to my garden this year, and this vibrant celosia is emphatically one of them. From Annie’s Annuals & Perennials, it was planted from 4-inch pots in August and grew steadily, like it … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Plant Portraits, succulents
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refocusing on succulents
More notes on micro-moves in my small back garden, mostly having to do with a succulent-forward mindset for fall/winter here in zone 10. If you scroll down to the previous post, where I mention having to move an aloe because … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
9 Comments
october already
Somehow, what the low angled light of October does to grasses always catches me by surprise. I caught this peripheral shimmer on the way to the office yesterday morning, turned to find the source and gasped. Of course it’s one … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, Plant Portraits, plant sales
5 Comments
more rusty stuff
Some recent distractions in the garden. After they no longer had any use for it, my parakeets’ bird cage was moved into the driveway, staged near the trash bins for removal. A neighbor sorta admired it there and mused about … Continue reading
Posted in journal, pots and containers
4 Comments
friday clippings 8/21/20
“When we sow a seed, we plant a narrative of future possibility,” Sue Stuart-Smith, a British psychiatrist and psychotherapist and wife of garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith, writes in her new book, “The Well-Gardened Mind.” (The New Yorker 8/24/20 “The Therapeutic … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, journal
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making the most of it
Emotionally, this summer feels like summers when I was 12 or 13 — when I stuck close to home because I wasn’t allowed yet to get in trouble with friends with cars. I’m regressing to the point that I’ve even … Continue reading
garden notes late July 2020
More garden chit-chat. Let’s see, where to begin? I never know what bits of info will be useful so I’ll just meander. Working from most recent, last night I moved the potted Cussonia natalensis into this corner made by the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, succulents
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garden notes 7/12/20
Pots line one side of the back porch stairs — the first year I’ve done this. Tripping hazard? Not really, not if you don’t try anything cute like taking a shortcut over the pots. Just follow the stairs straight down. … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents
4 Comments
garden mysteries and dilemmas
Some minor drama and quandaries in the garden recently. The very large but unidentified tillandsia brought home from a sale at the private garden of the late Bill Baker (of Aloe ‘Hercules’ fame), organized by his wife Donna Baker and … Continue reading
6/28/20 garden progress report
That’s gotta be a record for the fastest repurposing of a bird bath from water to plants, considering the bird bath just arrived in May. Filling it with plants is not a total admission of failure, just temporary frustration with … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents
6 Comments