Category Archives: pots and containers

(in anticipation of spring) cleanup

I asked Marty to drill drainage holes in this metal cart yesterday. Without drainage it was fairly useless, accumulating water and leaves and making a slimy brew of them all winter. When I returned home late in the afternoon, Marty … Continue reading

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

November now and then

My rapturous opinion of November hasn’t changed much over the years (the cooler days, the slanted light, the chance of rain!), but certain patterns in the garden do escape my notice. Perusing past November entries, I find that Berkheya purpurea … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | 5 Comments

the thoroughly modern tilly

Mitch has been tagging along with Josh Rosen (the airplantman) to check out some of his custom installation work to get a sense of how Josh’s tillandsia-specific designs work in situ. In this home in the Pacific Palisades, the classic … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, inspire me, MB Maher, pots and containers | 5 Comments

channeling willy guhl

The firecracker plant (fountainbush, coral plant, among a plethora of common names) is an incredibly tough addition to a frost-free dry garden, attributes which also make it an excellent choice for flourishing in containers, which can be a rough life … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, pots and containers | 3 Comments

Huntington’s Fall Plant Sale 10/25/19

One of those quirky associations that happens when looking for the perfect autumn light for an increasingly lanky potted euphorbia. Passiflora ‘Flying V’ handles its own light needs by threading itself through a grevillea, and so an improbable relationship is … Continue reading

Posted in Occasional Daily Photo, plant sales, pots and containers, succulents | 2 Comments

San Marcos Growers Celebrates 40 Years

On Friday, October 4, 2019, San Marcos Growers opened up its wholesale nursery gates to celebrate 40 years in horticulture. On this Field Day event, the first since 2010, the gardens throughout the nursery were seemingly shouting their own full-throated … Continue reading

Posted in agaves, woody lilies, garden travel, garden visit, plant nurseries, plant sales, pots and containers | 8 Comments

the garden stories we tell

It always amazes me how what was just hours before a scene of mayhem in the garden can look so calm and serene just a few moments after the mulch settles. Right where those little Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Beach Ball’ now … Continue reading

Posted in design, garden visit, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 5 Comments

revisiting the class of July 2014; (where are they now?)

I love massing one kind of echeveria in pots and letting them multiply like crazy. Echeveria lilacina has completely filled in at the base of the shaving brush tree, Pseudobombax ellipticum. One E. liliacina in bloom is a novelty; over … Continue reading

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

a quick visit with garden designer Kelly Kilpatrick of Floradora Garden Design

Mitch’s note to me: These are the images from Kelly’s house call — she’s such a delight — thank you for producing this! I was super early and drove by her place on my way to Market Hall for coffee … Continue reading

Posted in artists, design, garden visit, MB Maher, pots and containers, succulents | 7 Comments

summer stock: Agapanthus ‘Indigo Frost’

I have even less impulse control when plant shopping now because…summer. Of the four seasons, summer seems to be the one that we’re constantly admonished to savor to its fullest or risk being filled with inconsolable regret.  And you won’t … Continue reading

Posted in Plant Portraits, pots and containers | 7 Comments