Oenothera speciosa

No more primroses, please!

by June 7, 2009 – Posted in: Garden Adventures, Garden Design

Is there a plant in your garden that you once longed for and now wish you could get rid of?  Meet mine: Mexican evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa). You can see why I wanted them. Mexican evening primroses form diaphanously lovely, cloudlike mass of pink. I had seen them in other gardens, and wondered why no nurseries sold [...]

The Flora of Rancho La Puerta

by May 23, 2009 – Posted in: Garden Adventures, Garden Design

Kudos to designer Sara Livia Brightwood for her work at Rancho La Puerta fitness resort and spa in Tecate, Baja California (just across the border from San Diego). The  world-class resort, in a drought-prone region, is a model for low-water landscape-design. For example, fields seeded with poppies and lupines. I was there when the aloes were in bloom. Massing them really makes an impact. [...]