I snapped these photos at Cistus Nursery last week. The vignette was so beautiful it stopped me, and then gave me a sort of melancholic shiver. Turning the calendar page and seeing the word August is a wake-up call. Summer is packing its bags, do not take it for...
Just a bit over a year ago, I had the vision of someday removing the giant swath of Juniper we inherited with our Flamingo Park House. The "Sea of Juniper" was some 12' wide and 40' long. Apparently, back in the 60s and 70s, people got the notion that mass planting...
Big leaves, spiky leaves...my love for both is well documented. However, I'm also drawn to the tiniest of leaves and especially love them when seen in combination with the big ones. It's all about the contrast. Acacia dealbata and Paulownia tomentosa,...
When I started my post last week, I meant to write about a trip to Cistus Nursery with Loree, intrepid Mistress of Danger Garden. But once I got on that Highway, there were so many other fascinating places to visit--at least in my fanciful imagination. So back to the...
A couple weeks ago, I watered the Danger Garden while Ms. Loree was off at the Toronto Garden Bloggers' Fling. Before she left, she picked up some glasses for me at IKEA, reward aplenty. But then, she insisted, positively insisted, that we head to Cistus Nursery for...
It’s one of the best known meme’s for garden bloggers – the 15th of each month is given over to photographing (and sharing) what’s blooming in our gardens. Even a foliage lover like me can be seduced by a few flowers now and then. Flowers are fleeting, but foliage is...
I wish I had more to report in the way of progress in the Sea of Juniper bed, but alas, forward ho is stalled. Everything takes so much longer than I think it will. Between the remaining juniper stumps and the weather, it's not going as fast as I had hoped. I always...
Walking back to the hotel our first day in San Diego I spotted a tree that stopped me in my tracks. Instant plant lust! Never mind that I had no idea what I was lusting after. As I’ve written before travel induced plant lust is a malady I frequently suffer from....
Magnolias are a romantic bunch, thought of like southern belles with a blousy bloom, a fleeting moment of floral perfection. Whenever I confess to love them madly, I’m met with a questioning glance. This does not equate. She of the spikes, desert plants and love of...
If ever there was a must have plant, this is it. I found my Nolina 'La Siberica' at Cistus Nursery. Nolina (isn't that a great name) lived happily in our Alameda hellstrip garden for two years. When we moved last April, we transplanted her to Flamingo Park; she has...