Category Archives: plant nurseries
some quiet plant conversation
I suggest we leave the main table with its overturned wine glasses, scattered pie crumbs, gravy stains and increasingly madcap discussions and gather in an out-of-the-way corner to quietly talk plants. A kind of horticultural digestif. A couple weeks ago … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, creatures, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Anthericum saundersiae 'Variegata', Armstrong Nurseries, Aster Frikartii 'Monch', Chlorophytum saundersiae, Echeveria ciliata x nodulosa, Gerbera 'Drakensberg Carmine', Graham Rice, Hayefield, Lilium 'Lankon', Monterey Bay Nursery, Nan Ondra, pollinators, Salvia littae, The TransAtlantic Plantsman
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Lunaria annua
I’ve finally discovered the identity of the little clutch of seedlings under the smoke tree. Lunaria annua, which I saw lining the pathways of *Western Hills, the former plant nursery in Occidental, California. Western Hills photo by MB Maher. I’ve … Continue reading
seeing double
At Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery in West Los Angeles yesterday, I was surprised to find double blooms on a couple of popular summer tropicals, abutilon and mandevilla, something to keep in mind for next summer’s containers. (Abutilon for shade, mandevilla for … Continue reading
Posted in plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, shop talk, succulents
Tagged Abutilon 'Victorian Lady', bonsai, Ginkgo biloba, Hashimoto Nursery, Mandevilla 'Tango Twirl', Monrovia, sempervivums, Support Your Independent Nursery Month, The Jungle, West Los Angeles, Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery
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Chasing Plants
Post-Internet I’ve noticed plant desire has turned into a thinner and weaker strain now that it’s so easily satisfied. The really big desire, the kind that used to build up unrequited for years and years, is as analog as a … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents
Tagged Annies Annuals, Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum', Cistus Nursery, Digging Dog Nursery, Mathiasella bupleuroides, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, Mildred Mathias, San Marcos Growers, The Dry Garden North Oakland, Yucca aloifolia 'Blue Boy', Yucca aloifolia 'Purpurea'
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West Los Angeles Nursery Crawl
I don’t explore West Los Angeles and Santa Monica nearly enough, since getting there means battling some of the worst traffic in Southern California. But yesterday afternoon I had to work in the 1800 block of Sawtelle, roughly between Olympic … Continue reading
Under A Big Tent
If I named my home at this moment, something I’ve been mulling over for a while, Hotel Chaotica would be a good fit. The big tent is coming next week under which death will be dealt to the termites chewing … Continue reading
The Third Harmonic
It’s that time when the garden vibrates to the frequency of Alstroemeria ‘The Third Harmonic.’ The flowering stalks, when upright, graze my chin, and I’m 5’8.” This is a two-year-old clump, and it’s a good 5 feet across already. These … Continue reading
Western Hills
The story of Western Hills can’t be fully told by an outsider, of course, so this will in no way be an attempt at a complete history. The former nursery and now endangered 3-acre garden have woven through Northern Californian … Continue reading