I can’t help it. I’m fascinated by cactus. Cactus used to be a non-category of plants to me. But here’s the thing: I love looking at them. I’ve started a small collection. I’m wary of course, I know they bite. Cacti are a little like having an exotic pet. You admire it, but keep it [...]
There was a time when I would never shoot in harsh, hard light. Bright, strong, contrasty light tends to have deep, black shadows and no color subtlety. As a garden photographer, when the sun came into the garden I would retreat to the shadows where the light was soft. But I am also a California [...]
Alan Beverly was fresh out of college and a Peace Corps volunteer when he discovered a plant that became a lifelong passion. Hiking the rugged mountains of Lesotho in central Africa, guided by “friendly, hardy Basotho people” (whose children shrieked with fear when they saw him, their first white man), he “found Aloe polyphylla perched [...]
These vignettes suggest water—flowing, tumbling, cascading, splashing or dripping water—yet there is none. Each illustrates the ingenuity of a garden designer in the dry, hot Southwest, where water is scarce. Yet the same concept, of creating the look of water, might apply to any garden. In this composition, by Akana Designs for the San Diego [...]
In 5 minutes, you can transform an overgrown succulent bowl like this… into a tidy composition like this, using the same plants! Here’s how: (1) Cut off the tips (about 4″) of the leggy Graptosedum ‘California Sunset’ stems. Set cuttings aside. (2) Pull the Echeveria ‘Afterglow’ (the big rosette) out of the bowl, root ball and all, [...]