Category Archives: pots and containers

July 2021 garden report

With the drought tightening its grip, Californians have been asked to cut water use by 15 percent compared with last year. Even so, yesterday I let a hose trickle to deep-water parts of the garden, which was getting by on … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Bulbs, journal, MB Maher, pots and containers | 7 Comments

Six on Saturday

‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading

Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 4 Comments

dwarf statice and what else is new in June

The dwarf statice, Limonium minutum, are new this June. Planted along the spine of rocks laid down last November, their tight cushions send out slender stems that branch upward to hold aloft sparkling clouds of everlasting blooms, creating a gauzy … Continue reading

Posted in journal, plant crushes, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | 11 Comments

lilies again (and time to order tulips!)

Here in dry frost-free zone 10b, grow lilies in containers. That’s what I’ve been admonishing myself for years. And that’s what I’ve been doing, without much noticeable benefit, because the bulbs rarely return a second year whether in the ground … Continue reading

Posted in Bulbs, journal, plant nurseries, pots and containers | Tagged , | 7 Comments

new planting progress report

In November 2020 the east side of the garden saw some major renovations. The size of the lemon cypresses on the east boundary, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Citriodora,’ had dictated the character of the planting in its root and shade shadow. After … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, plant crushes, pots and containers, succulents | Tagged | 8 Comments

Green Touch Nursery fills a void with plant fairs

Oscar and family are growing the local cactus and succulent community one plant fair at a time on the grounds of his Green Touch Nursery in Bellflower, Calif. And why not? They’ve got the space and, most importantly, the can-do … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | 5 Comments

bloom day May 2021

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, pots and containers, succulents | 10 Comments

what’s on the table

In the garden, the development of this little silene has been incredibly exciting, however much it underwhelms the camera. My normally sober-as-a-judge succulent garden is having a deliriously frothy moment this first week of May.

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents | 5 Comments

Worldwide Exotics Nursery

It was that article in the Los Angeles Times sometime in the ’90s, accompanied by a photo of Gary Hammer crouched in a rock crevice or slot canyon with a curtain of waterfall flowing behind him. The article that christened … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents | 8 Comments

a day of mystery plant shopping

It started off mid-Saturday morning May 1 at Ray and Netty’s plant sale at their home in Atwater Village. There in the driveway was a 3-gallon plant beckoning me with the intriguing tag “mystery euphorbia.” Ray Valentine really knows how … Continue reading

Posted in garden visit, journal, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | 7 Comments