Floradora

The Peeping Gardener - Seattle

2012-01-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is my last post from the hundreds of photos I took this past summer in Seattle. And I imagine they're going to look quite different than how it has looked in Seattle for the past few days.

These are all from the first day I was in Seattle when I met up with Andrea of Grow Where You're Planted. Having both heard about Gas Works Park when we were studying landscape architecture, we both wanted to stop off there for a look. Gas Works Park was designed by Landscape Architect Richard Haag, created from the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company. I lot of the machinery and buildings remain and being a fan of rusty things, I thought it would be fun to check out.

Of course the most interesting and decadently decaying industrial structures are off limits. Even up close a chain-link fence keeps you from getting a good look at it. I could get a few shots using my zoom lens and shooting over the fence.

I'd love to be able to visit Duisburg Nord Park in Germany where visitors are allowed to explore the old factories, litigation lawyers be damned.

There are some areas where you can get close and touch things but they are rather sanitized in their immovable parts and fresh coats of paint.

The children's play area is down-right depressing.

The only fun thing to climb has a Keep Off sign on it.

I suppose the best feature is the tall, king-of-the-hill vantage point one can't help but climb.

The view is great and there was kind of a weird sundial/pool/topographical map? thing at the top of the hill. It was a little dank and I kind of wondered if it would be better if kids didn't play in the water sitting in it, but I suppose it is pretty useful for keeping time on all those sunny Seattle days.

I guess overall it's a pretty gritty park, not too sanitized. Even with lots of people walking through, it still felt abandoned.

Walking along the pedestrian path, passing under bridges, we came across lots of handmade art left here and there. Here are some of my favorite we came across:

Ok, on to the garden peeping. Seattle, with all its grey weather, can pull off some intense colors. I wish I could grow acidic chartreuse plants as beautifully as they can.

The raspberries seem quite happy growing here. This house had them just falling on the sidewalk so I didn't feel bad helping myself to a few.

Then we stumbled upon this very ambitious vertical wall in front of someone's house. A poured concrete wall that must have been 8' tall and 20' long with plantings on both sides and around the corner with window cutouts. Pretty fancy.

Here is a close-up of the fabric pocket structure and how the irrigation gets through the wall.

I always get worried about what will happen in a few years when the owners get tired of taking care of a wall like this because let's face it, it's not low maintenance keeping plants happy and full in little pockets like that.

We came across a beautifully landscaped Japanese-style garden.

I loved this stair railing made to look like one of those huge pieces of seaweed.

I was taken with the huge boulders they use in Seattle for building retaining walls.

And of course you can always spot the control freak in every neighborhood.

Far Out Flora Fling

2011-12-30T17:27:00.000-08:00

Way back in the foggy days of summer I joined a gathering of plant geeks and freaks, hosted by Far Out Flora's Megan and Matti. It was excited to see their garden in person - a mostly succulent garden in San Francisco, about a block from Ocean Beach. Beautifully composed and well-tended, I love the bendy branches edging the beds, the pots nestled around and the combination of textures and colors.

Some of the plant people; the hand-made palette table and some of Far Out Flora's excellent container specimens:

Some of the succulent goodness:

I love Megan and Matti's excellent eye for found object reuse:

I really enjoyed my visit to Far Out Flora's wonderfully intricate garden. Thanks for hosting you two!

Meadow Creek House, Seattle

2011-11-15T20:04:00.001-08:00

The first evening I was in Seattle for the Garden Blogger's Fling, I went to a local APLD meeting. The meeting was held at beautiful home with a fabulous garden. To reach the front door, one crosses over a reflecting pond with blown glass floating balls.

I love the huge corten steel section with a large window looking out onto the garden.

The corten continues into the house to beautiful effect.

On the back porch, the house has great concrete detailing, plantings and a view of the water.

The concrete stairs have a wonderful rhythm, as do the rusty sculptures sprinkled through the plantings.

At the bottom of the stairs a colorful meadow spreads out.

At the edge of the meadow a wide creek was running. I assumed it was a recirculating water feature but was told that it is spring-fed. Quite a bit of water!

The plantings were lovely.

A cool bench.

I like the cute warning and the silly rabbit.

A lower seating area.

A very cool idea for edging a bed.

The secret garden, which I didn't find until the second time around the garden.

According to what I was told, the architect of the house was enlisted to design the chicken coop. It certainly looked to be architect designed. The chickens seemed to enjoy the freedom of the garden though, popping into photos on occasion.

Steel pergola and outdoor seating.

Looking back up at the house from the garden.

I love the metal mesh curtain and stair perfection.

Seattle - Retail Fun

2011-10-22T22:03:00.001-07:00

A lot of the fun of going to Seattle was seeing great gardens and talking to all those wonderful fellow bloggers, but I also wanted to SHOP! Here are a few of my favorite places I was introduced to while visiting Seattle.

I got there early on the first day and met up with Andrea Fox, who suggested we go check out Theo Chocolate. We didn't get a tour of the factory but we got to taste LOTS of chocolate. They are very generous with their samples. My fav was the curry-coconut chocolate bar. It's got so much curry, the inside of the wrapper turns yellow.

Down the street, we got a delicious lunch at Homegrown and did some shopping at bitters co, where I got an amazingly-scented container made out of cinnamon bark that I keep the sugar for my coffee in. They had some really cool cork products too.

Later that night we enjoyed a meal at Oddfellows with Katie Elzer-Peters. It was yummy. Afterwards, I managed to settle on a couple of books from Elliot Bay Books. I could've spent a small fortune in this excellently stocked bookstore. The art section was amazing. And then we topped it all off with some to-die-for ice cream at Molly Moon's. Evenings don't get much better than that.

The night of our first tour day we were wined and dined at Ravenna Gardens, a beautifully done nursery and gift shop. They've got an awesome merchandiser, everything looked wonderful.

I believe they also design the plantings at the mall where the store is located. People, you don't see mall plantings like this everyday. I was blown away. Kudos to the mall management for stepping out of the box and going beyond horrible old mall plantings.

Andrea and I were taken with this gigantic Heuchera. One leaf was larger than both of Andrea's hands!

Next up is Dragonfly Farms Nursery on Bainbridge Island, who hosted our last-evening party. I hate to put them at the end of the post. I feel like they deserve a post of their own. The nursery is certainly worth the trip alone out to the island. They have great plants. I found one plant that I had been looking for for years. And the demonstration gardens! Oh my goodness! Well, have a look for yourself:

Somebody please tell me what this plant is!

I unfortunately had to leave early to catch a plane. It was torture having to run through this nursery quickly and not get to investigate every little detail! I'm so glad I got to visit though and I can't wait to get back!

Seattle - Back at it

2011-10-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Oh, hello. Remember me? Life just got a little crazy there for a bit and I couldn't seem to get a post up for awhile. I feel bad not finishing off my series of posts on the Garden Blogger's Fling in Seattle this summer. So I will continue with those and see if I can get back up to speed. So now I'm going to show you the gardens of Lorene Edwards Forkner, Kate Farley and the Seattle Chinese Gardens.

First stop of the day: Lorene Edwards Forkner's garden, author of Handmade Garden Projects so of course her garden was packed with cleverly reused items along with beautiful plantings.

Also included was a very cute airstream trailer garden retreat.

Next we were on to Kate Farley's garden. The beyond saturated corner of the garden got the most attention.

I kind of preferred the quieter corners where one could discover little hidden details.

I love that stumps and snags were left for birds to enjoy.

The garden shed/greenhouse was the coolest. Perfectly aged and rustic.

The collections of stones and construction remnants were beautifully put together.

By the time we got to the last garden, I don't know if I was feeling sick from the heat or just wasn't inspired by the garden. I've always had a hard time enjoying the sanitary whiteness of chinese gardens. Here are the best vignettes I could come up with for the Seattle Chinese Gardens. The architecture has beautiful details but it was just too hot to enjoy all that reflective white hardscape.

I love how they cleverly screened the water catchment with bamboo.

There were a few nice scenes outside of the Chinese Garden too.

Bellevue Botanical Garden and Olympic Sculpture Park

2011-08-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the beautifully planted perennial garden at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. I feel like we must have hit it at the peak bloom time but maybe it is that lovely for much of the year!

Uh oh! Shoo!

There were quiet parts to the garden too.

Next we were off to the Olympic Sculpture Park near downtown Seattle. It was a warm sunny day and the park was filled with people enjoying the sun and sculptures and the amazing view!

This building recreated the forest understory with a huge fallen trunk acting as a nurse log to lots of sprouting plants.

This is a shot I got as we were driving down the highway. Mount Rainier, I think. I definitely would enjoy living in Seattle for all the wonderful views everywhere!

Epping and Lane Gardens, Seattle

2011-08-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

On day two of the Garden Bloggers Fling we blessed/cursed with sunny skies. I know I should be glad it wasn't pouring rain but it did make it more difficult to photograph gardens. So please bear with the harsh light in the images for this post.

The first garden we stopped at was the Epping Garden. Topping a hill and with stunning views this garden was an interesting combination of showy open party spaces and quiet introspective corners.

I loved the combination of Holodiscus discolor or "Ocean Spray" with the blue foliage of the Blue Atlas Cedar. And check out the beautiful hand-wrought iron railings that looked like trunks and roots.

They had some nice benches and fountains.

I love how our driver brought his camera the second day and joined in the fun.

There were lots of lovely vignettes.

And some bootylicious ones.

There were a couple of plants I didn't know. Let me know if you know what these two are:

We got to enjoy lunch at the Lane Garden, a lovely garden with lots of open space as well as paths to wander with surprises around every corner.

We had lunch on the patio, made of the most colorfully-stained concrete I've ever seen.

They had a charming ruin.

Lots of neat treats throughout the garden:

Thank you to our wonderful hosts! We appreciate getting to view your gardens!

Dunn Garden and The Center for Urban Horticulture

2011-08-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

The afternoon of the first day was spent at the Dunn Garden and the Center for Urban Horticulture.

The Dunn Gardens were created by the Dunn family with design layout by the Olmsted brothers. The three residences are connected by trails of woodlands. The garden around the caretakers' house showed the most detail with collections of unusual plants and many lovely specimens in pots.

There were some interesting details in the paving. Not sure if this was thought up by the Dunn family or the Olmsted brothers, although I tend to think it was a Dunn creation. It doesn't seem very Olmsted-y.

Check out this cool lath house in the background:

Some impressive container plants:

I like these angled ledges of rock that make little tray gardens:

This is a bad photo but I just had to show this clever way of supporting tall allium stems. I love they way they grow through the boxwood and look like antennae.

The woodlands and woodland edges had lovely scenes too:

Next we were on to the Center for Urban Horticulture where Riz Reyes showed us around.

The grounds were lovely.

The adjoining Elisabeth C. Miller Library with its rows and rows of horticultural books was drool-worthy. I wish I lived closer to it, I'd never need to buy another gardening book again. They had everything!

The Birrell and Tucker Gardens of Seattle

2011-07-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on the Garden Blogger's Seattle Fling, these two gardens were a joy to explore. Side by side neighbors, I entered the Birrell garden first and enjoyed the textural front plantings.

But the backyard vegetable and cutting garden felt like the true heart and soul of the place. Shimmering with happy bees and butterflies and bursting with vibrant color, undaunted by the vivid blue shed, but rather playing happily off the color, the plantings in this space felt joyous indeed.

How could any vegetables picked in this garden not taste good?

But not only did the Birrells have a great working garden they also had a wonderful space for play. Outside the blue garden room was the perfect lawn for croquet or just lounging around.

I loved the details in the garden too - like the airstream birdhouse and the beautiful metal gates.

I walked next door to check out the Tucker Garden. The dry(ish) gravel garden had me feeling like I was back home. It's funny how I can be so jealous of Seattle folks with so much rain, yet there seems to be some folks that prefer the dry Mediterranean climate. Well, this was a beautiful gravel garden. The plantings softened the stone nicely and cheerfully added color here and there to the soft palate.

The grays and tans gave way to a more cottage-y feel in the backyard.

Thank you so much to the Birrell and Tucker families for letting us visit your beautiful gardens. I'm envious of the extended time you get to spend in them!

Bloedel - My Happy Place

2011-07-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

On the last day of the Garden Blogger's Seattle Fling we visited The Bloedel Reserve and I am utterly in love now. I'm usually not one for estate gardens - sedate lawns, fancy house, walk through the woods, blah, blah, blah - but Bloedel was truly amazing. The careful attention in the layout, with emphasis on framing compositions in the garden as well as the well-timed revealing of vistas, the play of light and dark, reflections in the water and the contrast of hardscape vs. plant material is so wonderfully executed. It is a wonderful testament to the skill and passion of not only the garden creators but to the people who continue to maintain and direct the garden now.

Walking into Reflection Garden made me feel as if I was walking into a church. I hushed my voice when I spoke to others nearby. A sense of quiet and calm fell over me as the light slipped in through the tops of the trees like light filtering through stained glass windows. The single bench felt more like a pew where one could give thanks to the ever-wonderful Spirit of nature.

The Japanese Garden was delightful in its rustic simplicity.

The Moss Garden felt primordial but also somehow unearthly and unreal. The glowing moss seemed to be something from another planet.

The overturned tree exposing its roots is an example of the fantastic maintenance of the garden. The tree is allowed to stay and become an impressive sculpture amidst the moss. Two wispy shrubs on either side of the root mass prevent a clear view until one is up close and face-to-face with the intertwining roots. The impact is heightened by being forced to view it this way. Genius!

Much thought also seems to be given of transitions from one area to another. They are accomplished in the most beautiful way.

I really enjoyed getting to talk to some of the Bloedel gardeners. They're so great!

The woodland garden was a wonderfully wild and wet experience!

Even within this more "untamed" area, careful thought is given to delightful surprises. I walked along, never knowing how close I was to a wildlife pond until I came around a tree to be surprised by a window onto the water. Here is a photo of the approach (with no idea of the pond beyond):

And here is a few steps further down the path when the window opens up to reveal the water:

The play of light and dark, the tension of border between woods and meadow is a classic pull in the human brain - the protection of hiding in the woods versus the relief of being in the open and being able to see what is approaching. One's preference of one over the other can be interesting to examine. On this day, I was enjoying them both. The grass of the meadow was beautiful with its undulations and subtle color.

It had been raining when I was in the trees and after walking for a bit with my umbrella up, I realized that there was no rain falling - even though I could still hear the distinct and loud sound of rain. I put down my umbrella and realized it was the trees that surrounded the meadow that were still "raining" as the water dripped from leaf to leaf. It was an interesting experience to stand there in the open, staying dry, while being completely surrounded by the sound of loud rain - not of dripping - but of rain because of the large number of trees nearby.

I really enjoyed the placement of benches around the garden too. I didn't sit in any of them because I was briskly trying to not miss an inch of the place. I'd love to return and spend some extended time absorbing the beauty.

It was a wet day but I think we all had a great time. Thank you to the Bloedel staff for such a wonderful experience! I'm dreaming of coming back sometime on a crisp autumn day to see the colors turn, as a counterpoint to this wonderfully green day. I'm sure the garden is lovely in every season!

Foliage Follow Up for July

2011-07-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I was feeling a bit bored with the plants in my garden. I planted a few new things and now everything is a bit more interesting with a few new characters in the mix. I decided to give Carex 'Sparkler' a try again after seeing how well it did in Pam's garden over at Digging. So far it is a happy camper. It is in a pot outside my office window at home and makes a great focal point to rest my eyes on while I'm planning designs. The fennel is going to bloom and I've been enjoying the wispy foliage mingling with the other plants.

I always leave the bloom stalks on the Aristea inaequalis because they turn a beautiful shade of pink as they mature - a nice discover after being a bit lazy with my deadheading one year. I guess the pink stems are not exactly foliage but they're not exactly blooms either. And my Cussonia paniculata is a treat with all the variety shades of foliage at different stages of growth.

I recently wrote a post about the joys of Stipa barbata and how it has hardly any "real" foliage. The show happens with the long waving tails of the seeds. These give me a lovely arching foliage effect in my parking strip that is brief, but ever-so-lovely as they float in the breeze before falling off to bury themselves in the soil.

I recently planted this giant, flabby, tiger-striped Kalanchoe. It is in a recently redone section in the back. Hopefully in a few months I'll have a shot of the whole composition as it fills in.

A new Pelargonium with silver foliage and my ever increasing Aloe plicatilis.

The edibles are starting to shine in the front yard. I've got red corn, two types of tomatillos, pole beans on tepees made out of bamboo thinnings and a red lettuce that has been a real champ, even through a couple of heat waves. I'm going to let the lettuce go to seed because I definitely want to grow this again next year.

Thanks to Pam for hosting the fabulous Foliage Follow-Up! Go check out some other fantastic foliage folks have going on this month.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - July

2011-07-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

After a brief rest at the end of spring, the garden bursts back into bloom. The rampant growth and heat-loving blooms always get me excited to go back out in the garden again.

Lavandula 'Grosso' makes a great parking strip plant!

This is a new succulent I'm growing. I forget the name of it. I'll have to go look it up again. I really like the flowers.

My mom had this great Aeonium flower spike all by itself as a bouquet and I thought it looked so great. My Aeonium glandulosum is blooming. It was a great rosette for several years. I'll have to replace it after it's finished.

The edibles are going to town. I planted my fennel too late and it just bloomed instead of making a bulb, which is fine. I'll use the seeds for something. The tomatoes are coming and I let the leeks bloom too, which are making the bees very happy.

I'm growing corn for the first time this year. My tiny little block of it seems to be working fine. We got plenty of donut peaches this year. (We also got our first apricots and have our first plums and pluots on the way!) The persimmons are always plentiful.

Thank you to May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Check out what other gardeners have going on this month!

Peeping Gardener - Rockridge Neighborhood in Oakland

2011-07-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

There are so many gardens to photograph in this neighborhood. I'm only scratching the surface with these. There does seem to be a recurring theme in many gardens though - that of the little low wall. It's done in many styles and materials but always around 1-1.5' tall. My favorite was this simple concrete one.

This one sure would be better if they had stopped the plastic edging where the stone wall began. And Sedum spurium makes a cute trailer over another wall.

Chunky is nice.

And so is a nicely sliced slate wall.

We found some nice paving.

And of course some lovely plantings.

We thought this one looked like a howling bunny.

Some dramatic strappy-leaved plants:

And even Rockridge has some ugly yards and messed up houses.

And I'm not sure what to make of this place other than my assumption that they might have control issues.

Oh well, each to his own. It keeps the neighborhood more interesting.

Peeping Gardener - Carmel and Venice Beach

2011-07-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever I take walks through neighborhoods I usually lug my camera with me so I can snap photos of any gardens I find interesting. I thought I'd start sharing my photos with you guys of the different neighborhoods I visit. Each neighborhood seems to have its own flavor and quirkiness.

This past spring, on the way to Venice Beach, we made a quick stop in Carmel. Right next to where we parked was this interesting fence.

While the house architecture looks a bit confused (Am I Tudor? Am I Tuscan?) I found the fence charming and thought it would look perfect in front of the Hobbit House in Houston.

Elsewhere, this massive planting of a single color of Antirrhinums certainly did the trick to catch one's attention.

I loved this colorful succulent planting in front of some fancy-smansy store, who's name I can't remember now.

The coolest thing I saw were these "stone" window boxes built right into the building facade. I was trying to figure out exactly how they were built, but it basically seems to involve colored concrete over some kind of framework, water-proof flashing, and drainage holes.

I do like how Carmel has respect for its trees, allowing some to grow as they will, even though they take up vital parking spots!

Venice Beach was of course a bit grittier, with funkiness to spare. The following garden was a repurposer's dream and definitely appealed to my love of rust. It seemed to belong to an apartment building but was totally exposed to the sidewalk, separated only by a low wall.

A couple more alley-facing gardens that embrace the beachy vibe.

Next up will be photos from walks through the Rockridge neighborhood here in Oakland.

The most beautiful grass

2011-06-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of grasses I like, but Stipa barbata, sometimes called Stipa 'Silver Feather' holds a special place in my heart. When blooming, it is certainly the most graceful thing in the garden. The soft blond "feathers" float and undulate with the slightest breeze. A photograph rarely does them justice. One really needs to videotape their graceful movements.

When not in bloom, there isn't much to the plant. In fact, the sparse dried-looking leaf blades often look dead. I've learned to leave them alone and I am rewarded in summer with those golden tassels. It isn't the type of plant you would want to use as a groundcover since it covers nothing. I plant them in groups of at least 3 so that the massed bloom stalks make a good impact. They also like it on the drier side. I've found the perfect home for them in my forsaken sunny parking strip where most plants fail. Interplanted with low succulents, they are able to take advantage of the breezes out by the street to dance and wave, catching the late evening sun.

But the fun has just begun because once the seeds mature and fall from the plant they do the most interesting things. When first separated from the plant the long dark brown part of the seed are straight as an arrow, tipped with a sharp point. The blond "feather" catches the wind and allows the seed to float to a new home.

I usually collect the seed for future crops and I noticed after a few days the straight dark brown stems had developed attractive spiral twists. Out in the garden I began to notice that seeds that had escaped my collecting had burrowed themselves into the ground. It must be that spring-loaded spiral twisting that forces the seed into the ground. How cool! A seed that plants itself!

I've since noticed that other Stipas have the ability to twist into the soil - especially the extremely prolific Stipa tenuissima, aka Mexican Feather Grass. On close examination, its small seeds are miniature replicas of Stipa barbata. Even though some seeds remain in my garden, I've never seen them germinate out there, even though the readily do at the nursery.

Do try to collect some of the seeds and bring them inside. A bowl full of them is lovely or try putting a few in a small vase for a charming dried arrangement.

You can sometimes find Stipa barbata at Annie's Annuals and Perennials.

Bromiliad, Cactus and Succulent Show in SF

2011-06-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was happened to be over by SF Botanical Garden when the Bromiliad, Cactus and Succulent Societies were having their plant sale. I've always been into succulents and I'm getting more and more interested in bromiliads so I thought I'd see if I could pick up any good deals.

The display section had some very nice specimens.

I don't know why but succulent growers always have the coolest pots!

These warty balls were my favorite though. That is some freaky stuff! And I love that the name of the plant is Mammillaria bocasana 'Fred'. Fred's warty balls. (Tee-hee!) Geesh, I can be so juvenile! And I should really keep in mind that my mom reads this blog.

Anyway, onto the sale part of the show. There were tables and tables of little pots of cuties.

Here is what I ended up taking home:

Succulents are (from left to right):

Kalanchoe synsepala dissectum

Aloe hybrid

Gasteria prolifera

Bromiliads are (from top left down ending at bottom right):

Neotunisia

Tillandsia fasciculata x ionantha

Tillandsia concolor

(missing tag)

Tillandsia tenuifolia 'Amethyst'

Neoreglia cv.

Oh, and this one - Neoreglia hybrid.

Those Tillandsias I'm going to try growing on some palm trunks I've had in my garden for years and never know what to do with.

I also picked up this book, The History of Succulents by Gordon Douglas Rowley, which looks pretty interesting.

I was sold as soon as I saw the photo of this guy. Doesn't he look like some cooky neighbor that likes to garden naked, handing out divisions of his succulents to neighbors, whether they want them or not. Actually, he looks like his name could be Fred...

Flowers and Foliage Rolled Into One

2011-06-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

I don't have very many photos this month so I'm going to combine my Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and Foliage Follow Up posts. There is a bit of a lull in my garden right now. Spring blooms are past but the late-season stuff hasn't started blooming yet.

I'm loving this new Calendula with two tone petals. And I'm excited my Nolina interrata is already blooming. I wonder if it will be a girl or a boy? I planted 3 of them (1 died) and I'm hoping to get a girl and a boy so I can collect seed. The 2nd one isn't blooming yet though.

These lilies were raring to go early this year. Lily 'Mascara', named for the dark edge of the petal, although I think Lily 'Eyeliner' might have been more accurate a name, it doesn't have the same ring.

Harlequin Lupine (Lupinus stiversii) from Annie's that I'm hoping to collect seed from. And a yellow Lewisia from Annie's that was grown years ago as Lewisia 'Yellow Form'. It is an incredible Lewisia that blooms year-round, quite floriferously. I'm did collect seed of this, hoping they put it back into production.

I'm hoping to get some Borage reseeding around my garden. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, just feel like I should have it for some reason. And leek flowers always make me think of pregnant bellies. Wouldn't it be cool if a woman's belly stretched so thin you could see the baby inside? On second thought, maybe not.

I splurged and bought some rather expensive Kalanchoe 'Fantastic' based on a photo I saw. Turns out it's not really as showy as the picture. Oh well. I tried to get rid of this unnamed Manfreda once but all the roots sprouted their own rosettes. I kind of respected its chutzpah after that. Plus, it looked good in mass. Very well behaved, other than the root reincarnation thing, and I recently realized snails never bother it unlike most Manfredas.

I've got forests of kale right now. Please take some.

I like what is happening around my front door right now.

I love to see fat little lady bugs in my garden. And their little lady bug babies. Get those aphids!

Thank you to May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and to Pam of Digging for hosting Foliage Follow Up!

Chicago's Millennium Park

2011-06-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Chicago recently and had one afternoon to sightsee, so we hopped a train and headed to see Millennium Park, which includes amazing sculptures, architecture and gardens. One of our first stops was the Laurie Garden. Beautiful swaths of prairie plants were in full bloom. And the backdrop of tall buildings was an interesting contrast. It really was quite an oasis.

The park was packed. This is definitely a great example of urban open space. People were taking advantage of just about every square inch of the place - workers on lunch breaks, school groups, tourists, you name it. The lush greenery and the buildings played off each other nicely.

And I've never seen such impressive hostas before! They don't grow like that in California!

And the lilacs were everywhere. In our coastal California climate, we're happy with a few measly blooms on an entire lilac shrub but here they were everywhere (even parking strips) and covered in blooms!

There were also some fantastic sculptures and architecture in the park. The Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) by Anish Kapoor is soooo cool! I'd seen photos of it but seeing it in person was a real treat. It turns anyone who approaches it into a kid, no one can resist the funhouse mirror aspect. It also reflects the city buildings beautifully in its soft blobbiness, they play off each other nicely just like the trees and buildings do.

Nearby is the Crown Fountain, a tall skyscraper-like block that projects images of faces and waterfalls. The day I was there, no water was flowing magically out of the images like I'd seen in photos, but the huge column was still an interesting sight.

The BP Bridge was awfully pretty too.

And presiding over the entire place, looking like some alien bug that landed in the park, is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion by Frank Gehry. I'm a fan of Gehry's chaotic buildings. I know a lot of people think they look like car accidents but I think they are beautiful and energetic.

The seedlike sculptures of Yvonne Domenge were on display. I like the papery blue one the most.

All the security guards were zipping around on Segways. Parker thought they sure were funny looking!

A Visit to Annie's Annuals and Perennials

2011-06-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had my camera with me on a recent visit to Annie's Annuals and Perennials in Richmond and caught a few images of their demonstration gardens to share with you guys.

The Eriogonum umbellatum was looking great growing in the parking lot. That reminded me how much I've been enjoying growing the Eriogonum nudum 'Ella Nelson's Yellow' from Annie's. It is so gorgeously florific and has been blooming its head off for months now in a client's garden. The stems make a beautiful bouquet too.

Back at Annie's the Beschorneria was showing off its floral fireworks and the Pelargonium 'Veronica Contreras' was following up with some slightly smaller explosions.

It is so hard to adequately photograph the Teucrium scorodonia 'Crispum Marginatum'. It's such a great foliage plant.

Love those cute Polygala virgata flowers!

The chunky Aeonium hierrense has surprisingly sweet pink flowers.

A few romantic bloomers that are also excellent for encouraging beneficial insects:

I thought the Lessertia was going to be terribly fussy, but it looks quite robust at Annie's.

I'm definitely going to have to try this Felicia aethiopica 'Tight and Tidy' out somewhere.

Some nice purples:

Another plant to find a place for - Silene asterias:

A lovely bright Phygelius capensis:

The 'fro of the plant world, Deschampsia flexuosa, adds some amazing texture to a border:

Some lovely combos:

The also impossible to photograph black lotus flower at Annie's - those flowers just suck all the light in and look like black blobs. It's a very pretty plant though, and is blooming every time I go to the nursery. I hope Annie's will offer it soon.

And I always smile when I see Galvezia speciosa. The flowers look like disembodied mouths with pursed lips turned into heat seeking missiles, that will plant hundreds of small kisses on any passerbys!

Serialplantfetisist's Garden

2011-05-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

I got to enjoy a lovely afternoon in my Flickr friend's, Serialplantfetishist (aka Mark Delphine's) garden in Berkeley the other day. Check out more shots of his garden and cute doggies here.

He is unbelievably lucky to have a triple lot to plant and he's got many garden rooms filled with wonderful specimen plants.

And his wife, Lia Cook, weaves the most amazing portrait tapestries. Check out her website here. So beautiful, I'd love to own one someday.

It was a lovely afternoon wandering around the garden and catching up with other plant geek friends!

Bay-Friendly Garden Tour

2011-05-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

For this year's Bay-Friendly Garden Tour, I headed up to the Calef-Wallace garden on the Albany hill first thing, to check out a garden that was originally installed by the guys of Planet Horticulture. I love their work so I wanted to make sure and see it. No longer under their care, but you can definitely see their influences.

The steeply sloped garden has some fantastic views from the top.

Some repurposed materials:

Next up was a stop at the Hedgecock-Sullivan garden in Oakland that belongs to the garden instructor at a local school. Lovingly constructed with help from her family, it is a great garden for kids.

Next up, a succulent lover's paradise at the Crotty-Imhoff garden, also in Oakland:

I think I enjoyed the Oakland garden of Sally Leveille the most. Every corner was full of collections and clusters. The intriguing vignettes were made up mostly of finds from Craigslist. I love what a creative eye can do with other people's cast-offs.

I caught the last garden, the Chang-Buttner garden in Sunol, as they were closing but the owner was kind enough to walk us and another couple around. He must have felt bad for us having walked up a long and VERY steep hill in the pouring rain to get there. (Earlier attendees were able to catch a shuttle up the hill.) My mom was along for the tour and I joked with her to look like she was about to keel over once we got to the top so they wouldn't kick us out without getting to see the garden. I guess it worked since the owner came out and gave us a personal tour! Thanks Mom!

The house was built into the hill and had a large planted roof and an amazing view.

Above the house was a lovely pond with bridge.

Whew! Long post. Who made it to the end?

Rapturous Day in the Garden

2011-05-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I was digging compost into my garden, turning the soil over and breaking up the clods. It was very quiet in the neighborhood, just birds chirping. The scent of the flowers from the lemon tree nearby were trailing through the air and the low sun was warm on my back. The baby corn seedlings were separated and waiting to be set into the rich soil of their new home. It occurred to me that I could very well have been transplanted to some kind of Heaven, this certainly must be what it would be like.

But this is my little garden, my own piece of Heaven that I get to enjoy everyday, no Rapture needed.

Mother's Day at the Filoli Estate

2011-05-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I got to spend a lovely Mother's Day at Filoli. For those of you who haven't had a chance to pop by, Filoli is a large mansion from the early 1900's with an equally amazing estate garden. And it a prime Mother's Day destination. After the crowds thinned out, I got a few shots of the house and garden.

There was a floral show happening the same weekend so we got to enjoy some amazing arrangements. Some of my favorite were the miniature ones - they must have been 2" tall max. And of course the house is breathtaking with beautiful details from the murals to the "rustic" wood floors.

It was a great family day for everyone!

The highlight for Parker must have been when the (baby?) gopher got up on the entry courtyard and couldn't get past the edging and back into the lawn. We first saw it when a woman screamed as the gopher ran between her legs. This quickly caught the attention of all the children in the vicinity, who chased the poor thing around for about 10 minutes.

Every now and then the gopher would turn around facing his young tormentors, stand on his hind legs and give his most vicious gopher snarl. Of course the kids loved that! Parker kept trying to feed him one of his crackers and getting his face inches away from him until I would pull him away. The poor thing finally found his way out of the courtyard into some shrubbery. Oh well, I don't feel too bad about all the chasing after all the gopher damage I've had to deal with at clients' gardens!

Garden Bloggers Bloom and Foliage Combo

2011-05-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'm late for both the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and Foliage Follow Up this month, but I took the time to take the photos so I'm posting them, darn it. I'm combining the posts together for efficiency, flowers and foliage are all mixed up - just like my garden!

This Aeonium undulatum bloom is taller than me. Plus, the bees love it!

Thank you to May Dreams for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Pam at Digging for hosting Foliage Follow-Up.

Bring Back the Natives Garden Tour, 2011

2011-05-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I didn't go to the right gardens but the tour seemed pretty ho-hum to me this year. Seemed like anybody with an average garden with a few CA natives stuck in could be included in the tour. Or maybe it is the nature of CA natives themselves...not a lot of drama. But that's not true, I've been to some really dramatic native gardens. Anyway, I've included the two best gardens I visited.

The first is the Norman garden in Berkeley. I'd say the most interesting features in this garden were not the native plants but the recycled materials and water catchment system incorporated into the architecture.

I love the materials used to create the treehouse, as well as the window arbor and rain chain.

The materials used in the chicken coop were pretty great too.

Lots of great-looking reused items and water storage elements defined this garden.

The last garden I visited, the Campbell Garden, was a nice mix of California natives with a dash of Asian spice, for a quintessential Bay Area garden.

Legoland Landscape

2011-05-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Being a plant geek, I'm always interested to see how amusement parks use plant material. Legoland had some interesting garden details, and of course, some great Lego sculptures which I can't resist sharing!

My favorite landscape was the Safari ride which was full of soft grasses and beautiful succulents.

I must get a Lego zebra for my next garden installation!

One of Parker's friends happened to be going to Legoland for Spring Break too so he was fortunate to have a partner in crime.

Some familiar scenes from home, plus I love how some of the plants are represented in miniature:

The gardeners:

And some more amusing scenes:

But why does the George Washington on Mount Rushmore look like he's about to upchuck?

For you Star Wars fans out there:

Big Red Sun, Venice Beach Version

2011-05-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Whenever I've visited relatives in Austin, Texas I would always stop by the Big Red Sun nursery for a fun afternoon. And I've always been curious to check out the Venice Beach, California location. We spent a couple of nights in Venice Beach recently so I got to the chance.

I don't know if I caught it on a bad day or what but it seemed a bit lacking in plants and disorganized compared to the Austin location*. The outside was overstuffed with patio furniture, the inside displays needed fluffing up and I wasn't tempted to buy any of the handful of succulents they had for sale. It sounds like I'm giving it a horrible review, but hey, it's still a great place compared to the average nursery. It's just not as good as the Austin one. (*After writing this post, I was seriously bummed to hear that the Austin location is no more. Although I believe the garden design/build part of the business is still in operation.)

The Huntington Part II

2011-05-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

After enjoying the succulent garden at the Huntington, we headed over to the children's garden. Definitely a departure from the typical brightly colored, veggie-based children's gardens that always seem to include a bean tepee and straw bales, the Huntington children's garden was edgier with a minimal color palate and high-end hardscape. One of the coolest structures was the nail and pebble music maker. By dropping small pebbles through a maze of nails set in concrete, kids could make a surprisingly lovely tinkly sound. Another favorite was the magnetic metal shavings. Kids could form the shavings into an arch and of course, smash it apart.

The plantings were simple and tough, but very lovely.

Other features included steam, mist and hiding places.

All in all, a really fun and cool looking children's garden. The only lame part was when twice I saw workers telling kids to quit splashing water from out of the water features. Kind of uptight for a children's garden, no?

We also had a great time exploring the plantings around the main lawn area. The unpruned cedars created such an amazing space.

And who can resist a giant grove of bamboo?

There are a lot of neoclassical and romantic parts of the garden too.

The mansion is impressively luxurious - crisp, white and formal contrasting with its tropical setting.

The Conservatory was quite an eyeful too. There were lots of educational exhibits that were engaging for kids and adults alike.

I love this Polygonum(?). I wonder if it can grow outside here?

With so many excellent features, the Huntington definitely has something to thrill everyone. There were many parts of the I didn't get a chance to see, I'm definitely going to have to go back.

The Huntington Succulent Garden - Finally!

2011-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get to the Huntington Botanical Garden in L.A. for years and finally managed to get there last week while we were on a trip for my son's spring break. We all had a fantastic time. I was overjoyed to have the visit coincide with the perfect photography weather. I made a bee line for the succulent section, and it is definitely the best succulent garden I've ever seen. Amazing specimens, amazing combinations, amazing, amazing, amazing!

I've tried to distill my photos down as much as I could. There are a lot so I'll get started.

I was disappointed they didn't have plants for sale. I was really hoping to take home something nifty. I was impressed with my self-restraint though, by keeping my hands to myself and not "liberating" any cuttings. There were a few trailers that no one would have noticed a piece missing...but I was good. :)

Stay tuned for my next posts about the other parts of the Huntington, including the awesome kids' garden.

My Haul from the San Francisco Garden Show

2011-03-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't plan to buy things at the show, but once I loosened the purse strings there sure were a lot of things I couldn't do without!

I always have a hard time saying No to plants so I guess I did manage to get off easy with the 12 or so plants I bought.

The plant that got me started was Echeveria 'Black Knight' from Succulent Gardens. I spotted one pot that had at least 5 rosettes in it. That's like 5 plants for the price of 1! How could I pass that up? I also picked up Echeveria 'Lola'. It caught my eye with its translucent, pearly foliage.

Then over at Digging Dog I had to have the Allium gigantea, Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii' and Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold'. I think I may need a 12 step program for my problem when it comes to golden foliage.

I also picked up some Red Pac Choi, Red Russian Kale, Asian Greens (?) and Round Chioggia Radicchio from Ploughshares Nursery.

I couldn't resist a Grevillea pteridifolia from Garden Hortica and some onion starts from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds.

Needing a snack at this point, I was missing the donuts from last year but was mollified upon discovering some chocolate-covered potato chips from the DeBrito Chocolate Factory. Next year you may see me walking around noshing on one of their softball-sized carmel apples.

I also bought an awesome book from Builder's Booksource, Avant Gardeners. It looks really interesting. I'll tell you more about it after I read it.

All in all, a pretty good haul!

SF Flower and Garden Show Run Down

2011-03-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

UC Berkeley's Plant Lab - I have to admit I was intrigued. Twin banks of grow lights lit up the graphic, sterile lettuce landscape. Pushing the limits of the concept of gardening, this creation brought to mind images of computer-aided 3-D topo maps, nursing homes filled with IV drips, and indoor pot farms. Well-edited down to the simplest of materials, but completely impractical. Or is it? I really, really hope that this ends up in someone's backyard for a trial run in the real world, a world with weeds, curious squirrels and strong winds. Lose the grow lights and see if it can become a simple, beautiful hanging garden.

Kind of a cool moon gate at Saunders Designs "Reality Rocks" exhibit. The rocks with faces freaked me out though. I don't think I'd feel comfortable walking through the garden at night with those things lurking about.

The trash can was pretty cool though.

Love the stonework in Mariposa Gardening and Design's "Changes".

Ah Sam Florist and Greenhouse had an interestingly shaped trellis/arbor that was impossible to photograph. They also had a plant I must have, Portulaca 'Maraca'. Hopefully it is hardy around these parts.

Quite Contrary Garden Design had some lovely large boulders as well as a nifty rusty bedspring that I would love to pull off the ground, hang on a wall and plant with epiphytes. But all those large boulders and giant cypress soldiers felt like they were protecting something on the inside and I never felt like I was able to figure out what. It felt very impenetrable and fortress like. If we'd been able to walk into it, I might have enjoyed the protected space.

Certainly garnering the most attention was Jeffrey Gordon Smith's "Pi R Squared". The main elements were planting containers made of left-over pieces of large black drainage pipe, grommets galore, and rusty pipes and sheet metal. It all comes together for a dramatic look although I have to admit I wouldn't care for some of the materials in my own garden, a public garden would be more appropriate perhaps. Don't get me wrong, I love rusty things, I guess it was the black plastic that didn't appeal.

The hot tub seemed out of place with its pudgy, glossy orangeness, although it did go with the circular theme.

I couldn't keep my hands off that black Komodo grill though. It was caress worthy, the lingam of bbq's. And I did quite like those tables they put together.

Continuing the circular theme was the row of medals, quite the lineup.

Filoli's dovecote and bulb extravaganza was very pretty. The adopt a pigeon handout cracked me up though. Can anyone explain what is going on with the dove in the harness? :)

I was impressed with the West Valley College Landscape Architecture Club's piece. It was clean and simple and totally something I would want to have in my backyard. I loved the wood wall with windows and the raised beds faced in rusty siding.

The McKenna Landscape split-rail wall was very nice. I'd like to see how it will weather. And I'm totally stealing their idea of using Phormium 'Jack Spratt' as a pathway edger in tight spaces between hardscape.

But I think the weirdest garden was Goulart Design's tiki lounge/vivarium with terrariums scattered about. I guess they wanted the garden to feel "wild" with exotic animals but the bright glass boxes made it kind of hard pretend to be in Costa Rica. And I have to say the TV with violent non-family programing kind of spoiled the vibe too.

I did get a kick out of the "Pixie" Frog though. That thing must've weighed 5 lbs!

Fall from Grace

2011-03-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is what greeted me when I got home today:

We had a MONSTER rain storm today, heavy rain all day long, pretty windy too. It was just too much for my espaliered Ceanothus to handle. It's a bit top heavy and the weight of the water just pulled the whole thing over. This is what it looked like last week:

I'm thinking we can just prop it back up. The roots seem OK, just popped out of the ground a bit. The bees sure would be bummed to lose this shrub and the back of the house sure would look bare.

So check me out!

2011-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

A website of my very own! Presenting my business website:

Floradora Garden Design

So happy to have it finished (for now)!

Don't forget your Foliage Follow Up!

2011-03-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

A bit late, but here we go - Once on a trip, I saw a combination of large Agave villmorianas growing out a mass of plain ol' Aptenia cordifolia that looked fantastic. That inspired some of what is going on here. I've ended up loving the chartreuse Aptenia and silver Dymondia margaretae together. They edge the rest of the plantings nicely.

I grabbed a couple of pots of Aeonium 'Kiwi' at the nursery that looked prime for division. I can think of about a hundred places I'd like to tuck this plant into the garden. Some Tanacetum 'Aureum' reseeded near this succulent I can never remember the name of. I'm really enjoying the combination of their leaves. And it should be even better when *insert name here* succulent blooms with its yellow flowers. And the geometry of the fennel fronds is always nice, as is the color of the new leaves on the Kale 'Richmond's Pride'.

This picture is kind of cheating because it is really more about the blooming Ceanothus 'Concha'. I didn't take it until after I'd posted my Bloom Day post so I'll justify including it here by saying how much I like the combination of the blue flowers with the yellow foliage of Phormium 'Yellow Wave', although mine is starting to revert and I need to cut those green chunks out.

I love my super tough Heuchera maxima and Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers'. The banana leaves are unfurling and look interesting with their purple undersides. And my Helleborus x sternii has reseeded quite prolifically. I'm going to transplant these guys and have lots of free Hellebores, which I'm happy about because Hellebores are expensive!

And here is my new pot I got at Flora Grubb last time I was there. I'm trying out the "overplanted pot" look in it. I've got Carex 'Sparkler', Aeonium 'Kiwi', a bromiliad whose name I don't feel like going to look up right now, Begonia 'Escargot' and a gold-foliaged jade plant. I'll just let them duke it out. All around the pot is Asparagus 'Myers' - the same plant that was next to the Heuchera maxima in a previous image. It's interesting how floppy it gets in the shade (such as this photo) yet grows so narrowly upright in sunny spots (other photo). That upright growth would be a drought adaptation that reduces the amount of direct sun the fronds are exposed to. Less direct sun = less transpiration. Smarty plants!

Thanks to Pam for hosting Foliage Follow Up!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, March 2011

2011-03-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

The fruit trees we planted a few years ago are really putting on a show right now, which I hope will translate into lots of fruit this summer! The best lookers are the donut peach and the Blenheim apricot. The bees are out in force.

Gotta do something about the aphids that appear on my hellebores about now. They've been getting them for a few years but it hasn't bothered me enough to get the spray bottle out. Hellebores are meant to be neglected right?

I'm loving this new Arctotis, curtesy of the Flora Grubb sale section; the Euphorbs are doing their thing in the parking strip; I forget the name of this Aloe, I think it might be a hybrid I picked up at the Ruth Bancroft Garden; I try to rip out the Geranium 'Bill Wallis' when I see it but I do like it combined with the Cal poppies right now.

I'm excited my Meyer lemon is putting out more flowers. Hopefully it is established enough now that I'll start getting lemons year-round now instead of just in winter. I let some leeks bloom and was surprised at the shape of the flowers - rather leek like! I need to bring in a bouquet of these yummy scented freesias.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day!

Dan Pearson and Insightful Garden-Making

2011-02-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

I went to see Dan Pearson's lecture in San Francisco last night. Hosted by The Garden Conservancy and the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, he spoke to us about some of the gardens he has created.

He lecture was very informative and inspirational and gosh, he seems like a great guy. It was clear in the way he spoke about designing his gardens that he puts his soul into them. Much thought is given to the "sense of place" and what effect the landscape needs to perform in each situation. Calm and soothing in the Maggie's Centre garden, a support organization for those with cancer; thought-provoking, wild and engaging in the Millennium Forest, a very large forest and garden devoted to raising awareness of ecology and conservation in Japan; to experimental, rejuvenating and treasured in his own garden in the middle of urban London.

It was wonderful to hear him speak in-depth about some of his projects as well as to see additional images of them. It was also very nice to hear him speak so fondly of the gardeners who take care of his particular projects. He seems to highly value those that continue to uphold the spirit of what he has created, since he out of necessity has to leave those creations at the doorsteps of others, so to speak.

He also raised the idea of randomness in plantings. He worked very hard to achieve a method of random planting at the garden of the Millennium Forest. And the results I have to say, were beautiful. Very wild and natural, well suited to the sense of the place. But it had me thinking, all my years of studying garden design I have focused on learning about repetition, pattern and creating a sense of order. Even in my loose planting schemes I try to create a rhythm that ties it all together. I've been taught that the eye needs a formula or pattern to follow or the eye can't rest and is just exhausted by the chaos. But his gardens had no conceivable pattern or rhythm, yet it was soothing and chaotic at the same time - fun chaotic, not maddening. So, how to achieve this randomness? In his design, the plant palettes seemed limited to a certain number of well-combined plants and the garden spaces were large. This technique is not going to work in a narrow border around someone's backyard. This type of planting is going to need a grand scale, a scale that can really invite nature in.

So does this randomness on the designer's part allow the subtle pattern in nature come to light? That idea brought to mind a couple of books which I dug out to re-read for future investigation- Li: Dynamic Form in Nature by David Wade and Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers by Leonard Koren. When I design, I'm going to give more thought to the idea of loosening up that grip of control and definition and see if I might lighten the designer's mark upon the garden. (Not that I'm designing Italianate parterres, or anything.)

And I hope to someday get the chance to travel to Japan to see the Millennium Forest. Indeed, I would love to spend an entire year there working in the gardens, watching them change through the seasons. But anyway, with no trips to Japan on the horizon, it was a lovely lecture and I'm glad I got to attend.

When he began speaking I was surprised at how deep his voice was. He seems so boyish, I didn't expect it to be so deep, but it now seems appropriate. I look forward to reading his next book Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City. Another of his books, Spirit: Garden Inspiration has become one of my favorite gardening books, discussed here. I'm hoping he is back for another lecture tour for his new book!

February Foliage 2011

2011-02-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

I love the silvery foliage of Dymondia margaretae. It makes a fantastic drought-tolerant, no-mow lawn substitute in frost-free areas.

It might be the last year for my Trichodesma scottii, it's getting to be a bit big and is overgrowing its neighbors. It has really unusual flowers and is very drought tolerant; maybe I can try cutting it back hard and see if it can deal with that.

The Puya coerulea is dealing with the shade surprisingly well, I love the Euphorbia characias 'Dwarf' so much this time of year and the Aristea inaequalis and Graptopetalum 'Pinky' make great partners in my parking strip.

The Geranium maderense 'White' foliage is certainly nice but I sure hope they bloom this year.

My Aloe marlothii is certainly prickly. The Leek foliage makes a nice spot of blue in the front, I'm going to let them bloom just for the heck of it. Phlomis aurea never photographs as golden as it really is. The Nasturtiums are starting to pop up here and there. I'm looking forward to adding the flowers to my salads again.

I'm glad we saved a spot for all my pots against the old carport door. This area had a roof when we bought the place. We took the roof off to turn the carport into an arbor. It's been nice to have the extra garden space.

Anybody know what the succulent is spilling out of the top container? It's one of my favorites.

Miss Angelina and Mr. Adolph (Sedum 'Angelina' and Sedum x adolphii) are favorites too. They've become well-loved friends in the garden.

Check out more great foliage this month at Digging!

February 2011 Bloom Day - Hellebores and Aloes

2011-02-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Two plants that seem totally different in my mind always bloom together this time of year. The Hellebores are blooming shyly in the shade while the Aloes extend their flashy orange blooms like flags in the bright sun.

My hybrid Helleborus x sternii shows variation between the 3 or so plants I have. Two have tall pink-flushed flowers, while one is compact with solid green flowers, showing the H. argutifolius parentage. I like them both. The small green is the H. argutifolius I've always wanted - small and well-behaved with bright green blooms.

My Aloe marlothii looks like it is blocking most of the path on the way into the house but it is just the angle I took the photo at, although it has snagged a few people that stray too close. I probably should have planted it further back into the bed. Oh well, I'm not moving that thing now!

I love the green stripes in the Aloe vanbalenii flower tips. The color combination reminds me of striped fabric used on beach tents. I'd love to have some chairs upholstered in that color combo too.

And the buds of the Aloe greatheadii davyana are so elegant with their elongated sepals. The Aloe plicatilis buds are elegant and simple too, not as flashy as other Aloes.

The California native Ribes sanguineum glutinosum is also blooming right now. It has grown all the way up to my son's second floor bedroom window. He can sit and watch the hummers sip from the blooms (not that he ever sits still) but he does consider the hummingbirds his personal friends. He must see them as kindred spirits.

Check out what is going on in other people's gardens this month at May Dreams Gardens!

Wormy Wekend in the Garden

2011-02-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I was helping some friends out with their garden when their son found the biggest worm anyone of us had ever seen - nearly 1/2 an inch thick when contracted and 9" long when stretching.

Later back in our garden I finally decided to rip out our long time garden resident, a worm-like Seseli gummiferum.

It must be nearly 6 years old and has never bloomed. I stubbornly kept it in the garden, protecting it from my husband's threatening shovel, because I was determined to photograph the flower. But enough's enough, time to let it go. And maybe try planting one on the sunnier side of the house.

Garden Bloggers Single-Bloom Day

2011-01-16T15:47:00.001-08:00

Ok, there's more than one thing blooming in the garden right now. But it is stuff I've covered before and I don't want to get too repetitive here. There is one plant in the garden that is blooming that I'm excited about though. I recently put in an order to Yucca-Do Nursery and included this Echeveria defractens on a whim. I'm really liking in so far!

The fiery orange blooms really grab your attention. The 3" rosettes are not super showy but a nice deep brown-y purple that I think will darken in the summer with more sun and less water. When I received the plants in the mail, they had bloom stalks on them and all the leaves that grow from those stalks had been knocked off. I had the foresight to save all those little leaves and sprinkle them over soil in the pots. Now I've got lots of Echeveria difractens babies on the way!

Thank you to May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!