Category Archives: design

Garden Bloggers Fling 2013; Organic Mechanics Garden

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Denise

The first garden on Friday was created in the courtyard between two apartment buildings originally gifted to twin sisters by their father in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The Organic Mechanics, James Pettigrew and Sean Stout, see opportunity where … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, design, garden travel | Tagged Agave ovatifolia, Garden Bloggers Fling 2013 San Francisco, James Pettigrew and Sean Stout, Leucadendron linifolium, Organic Mechanics, salvage | 7 Comments

our far-flung fling

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Denise

We move too quickly to keep up. There is much to say about the team at Organic Mechanics, photos to share of a vast and wine-fueled dinner at the Conservatory of Flowers, stories to tell of the city itself as … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, MB Maher, photography | 12 Comments

cage light vase

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Denise

If you happen to have a marine cage light in the garage, and some lengths of chain in your garden shed, all of which came to light after a thorough cleaning and organizing marathon today, you can take a short … Continue reading →

Posted in cut flowers, design, garden ornament | Tagged Aechmea recurvata 'Aztec Gold', cage lights, Eryngium pandanifolium, Gaillardia 'Oranges & Lemons', hanging plants, marine salvage, repurpose | 3 Comments

a Greene & Greene rebirth and other tour notes

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Denise

There was a small tour of five local historical homes on Sunday presented by Long Beach Heritage. The star of the tour from a rarity perspective was this Greene & Greene, one of only three here in Long Beach. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in design | Tagged Arts & Crafts architects Greene & Greene, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, courtyards, Green & Greene Reeve house, Huntington Library & Art Collections, Long Beach Heritage, patios, Port Orford cedar, Salvia canariensis, Salvia clevelandii, Spanish Revival | 6 Comments

pattern seekers

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Denise

That’s one thing at least we all have in common. And a craving for pattern is thankfully one of the easiest (and possibly the healthiest) to satisfy. Unknown objects found at flea market. The seller thought they may have been … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, Occasional Daily Photo, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Kissho Kan', Echeveria 'Crinoline', patterns in nature, Saxifraga stolonifera 'Maroon Beauty' | 4 Comments

Ethan Hawke fondles switchgrass at the High Line

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Denise

There’s an attention grabber. No, that’s not a recent tabloid headline and, yes, I am being facetious, but I find it amazing that the High Line (and switchgrass!) is casually slipped into a bit of puffery about the current goings-on … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, design, garden visit | Tagged Baltic parsley Cenolophium denudatum, Ein the corgi, Ethan Hawke, Isoplexis canariensis, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', New York, panicum/switchgrass, Papaver rupifragum, pathways, public parks, Sideritis syriaca, Stipa gigantea, The High Line Park, The New Yorker | 5 Comments

the disappearance of summer lawns

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Denise

Lawns are vanishing all over town. The chief ringleader and instigator is the Long Beach Water Department, with their irresistible Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program. Quite a few of my neighbors have already taken advantage of this program the past couple … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, design, driveby gardens, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Achillea "Moonshine', Anigozanthos, architects Abramsom Teiger, Baja spurge, Calandrinia spectabilis, California, Euphorbia xanti, Gomphrena decumbens, Joni Mitchell's Hissing of Summer Lawns, Lawn-to-Garden garden tour 2013, Lawn-to-Garden Turf Replacement Program, Long Beach, Long Beach Water Department, mediterranean climate, nepeta, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Russelia equisetiformis, Salvia chamaedryoides, Senecio mandraliscae, Senecio vitalis, Stipa tenuissima, Teucrium azureum, Verbena 'Homestead Purple', Verbena lilacina | 12 Comments

cleaning day

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Denise

Any garden/home tour that incites me to clean out the office is money well spent. Cleaning for me has never been a daily spritz here, a light bit of dusting there, but a long-delayed, ferocious, all-out assault when conditions become … Continue reading →

Posted in creatures, design, pots and containers | Tagged brimming bowls, Garden Design magazine, landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck, Newfoundland breed | 6 Comments

notes from the Venice Home & Garden Tour 2013

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Denise

Postcards from Venice Home & Garden Tour 2013

Posted in design, garden visit, succulents | Tagged Bowiea volubilis, Brad Miller, California, ceramics, Euphorbia ammak, HardieBacker board, Mollie Favour, Venice, Venice Home & Garden Tour 2013 | 7 Comments

tricks for the plant collector

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Denise

A garden book among the many I’ve read that I’m reminded of almost daily is Pamela Harper’s “Color Echoes.” My synopsis goes like this: The eye is lonely and craves relationships, and will wander around restlessly to seek them out, … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, design, journal | Tagged ' Plant Delights Nursery, aeoniums, Agave 'Blue Flame', Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate', Anthericum saundersiae 'Variegata', Arundo donax 'Golden Chain, Chlorophytum saundersiae 'Agristripes', echeverias, Eryngium pandanifolium, Euphorbia cotinifolia, Isoplexis canariensis, kniphofias, mangaves, Pamela Harper's Color Echoes, Pennisetum 'Princess Caroline', phormiums, Scrophularia aquatica 'Variegata', Tetrapanax papyrifer, Yucca recurvifolia | 10 Comments