Category Archives: pots and containers

outdoor bias

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Denise

I admit to a strong design bias towards how a dwelling interacts with the outdoors. An exterior focus, if you will. Don’t ask me why. I’ll whip through on-line home tours, acknowledge a nice chair or rug or staircase, and … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, design, inspire me, pots and containers | Tagged Dwell, Nivaldo Tonon, Une Arquitetura | 3 Comments

friday clippings 2/16/18

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Denise

dark background is the creeping fig wall (Ficus pumila covering 6-foot high CMU wall, extending 2 feet up from the top, for a privacy-enhancing 8-foot wall) It’s been an incredibly balmy week in Los Angeles, notwithstanding a teasingly insufficient bit … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, artists, clippings, design, garden travel, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers | Tagged California, Jay Griffith, Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', Venice | 8 Comments

monday clippings 2/5/18

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Denise

There’s an unexpected addition to the container garden, and not one that I’d necessarily pick out of a lineup as an especially attractive succulent, like Agave ‘Kissho Kan’ in the foreground. I encountered this little space oddity on a walk … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Kissho Kan', Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass', Aloidendron 'Goliath', Euphorbia lignosa, Euphorbia xanti, Kalanchoe bracteata, Selenicereus anthonyanus | 5 Comments

the week in plants 1/28/18

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Denise

Aloe striata is getting ready to bloom. The Coral Aloe is not an uncommon aloe in Southern California, but it is in my garden. Sometime during summer, as I bring plants home from nurseries and shows, this aloe inevitably loses … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, clippings, edibles, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Agave 'Mateo', Aloe 'Jacob's Ladder', Aloe striata, Annie's Annuals & Perennials, annuals, Atriplex hortensis, Chiltern Seeds, Heliophila longifolia, Los Angeles Grand Park, Mangave 'Lavender Lady', Salvia 'Marine Blue', seeds, Wild Garden Seed, Women's March 2018 | 7 Comments

Potted’s Eternal Gratitude Sale – last weekend

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Denise

There it is, behind that gauzy curtain of Acacia iteaphylla. Potted’s City Planter, pretty much untouched since first planted. I really should trim back those lanky succulents, but overall I’m amazed at how unblemished and pristine the City Planter remains … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden ornament, plant nurseries, plant sales, pots and containers | Tagged Euphorbia tirucalli, Palm Springs Modernism Week 2018, Potted For Outdoor Living | 2 Comments

hebes again

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Denise

It’s winter, and as usual my eye craves big pots of rotund, evergreen orbs and cushions in the Mien Ruys, Dutch style. Closer to home, Sara Malone at Circle Oak Ranch in Northern California, makes a creative argument for the … Continue reading →

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, journal, pots and containers | Tagged evergreens, hebes | 6 Comments

summer is overrated

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Denise

Agave bracteosa ‘Monterrey Frost’ I know those are fighting words, especially depending on where you live and your opinion of winter in general, and I’m not trying to pick a fight. We all miss those long days that stretch luxuriously … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, Occasional Daily Weather Report, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aeonium balsamiferum | 19 Comments

autumn garden triage

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Denise

I spent most of October traveling, intermittently home just long enough to sweep up piles of ash and note that the customary accumulation of a summer’s worth of city grime on leaves had been augmented by heavy particulates from local … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden ornament, garden travel, garden visit, journal, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged Aloe camperi, Dichondra sericea, Echeveria purpusorum, Euphorbia stygiana, Grevillea 'King's Fire', Grevillea 'King's Rainbow', Lephechinia fragrans 'El Tigre', Lobelia fistulosa, Phyllica pubescens, Senecio palmeri | 10 Comments

postcards from Santa Barbara gardens

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Denise

Ever since the area became accessible by car and rail in the early part of the 20th century, it has been a favored location for estates and marvelous gardens, among them El Fureidis, Val Verde, and Lotusland. — The Lightest … Continue reading →

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, climate, garden ornament, garden travel, pots and containers | Tagged "A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era", American Country Place Era, Austin Val Verde, Casa del Herrero, Dichorisandra thyrsiflora, Isabelle Greene, Jeff Chemnick, Lockwood de Forest, Lotusland, mediterranean climate, Mediterranean Garden Society, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden | 6 Comments

some upcoming dates October 2017

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Denise

I was at the Huntington last Sunday to attend a talk by author Andrea Wulf (“The Invention of Nature“) on Alexander von Humboldt. If Ms. Wulf has scheduled speaking engagements in your area, I urge you to attend. She is … Continue reading →

Posted in artists, clippings, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged "Natural Discourse", a, Andrea Wulf's The Invention of Nature, Artistic License Fair, Cornerstone Sonoma, Dr. Alejandro de Avila, Dustin Gimbel, Fullerton Arboretum, Huntington Botanical Garden, LA County Arboretum fall plant sale, Mediterranean Garden Society, Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative, San Diego Botanic Garden, Shirley Watts, Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery, U.C. Riverside Botanic Garden, Visual Voyages | 6 Comments