There’s a nursery near my home aptly named Desert Theater. It’s nine acres of big, bold, dramatic, over-the-top succulents and cacti. It’s one of the nurseries I enjoy taking people to, because they’re invariably amazed. It’s a photographer’s feast any day of the year, but my favorite time to go is mid-winter when large aloes [...]
I recently travelled to the second largest flower and garden show in the US, in Seattle, to give two presentations. Here’s what I enjoyed most—a subjective collection, to be sure, and one dependent on the capabilities of my iPhone’s camera. Even so, 25 photos is more than double the number I usually show in a [...]
Prickly pear cactus pads sometimes form hearts. I wonder what the plant is trying to tell us: “Be mine but don’t touch me?” This last is a mammillaria. (You can call her Ma’am.) Here’s a bit of trivia: I used to think that mammillaria got their name because they’re rounded like mammillary glands. But no, [...]
I love the way aloes brighten Southern California gardens this time of year. Shown above is the most widely grown aloe, Aloe arborescens. The location is about halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles, in Laguna Beach. This is an artist’s enclave, and not surprisingly, aloe flowers against blue sea and sky are a popular [...]
To make a succulent wreath, you’ll need about 100 cuttings, a wire wreath form, 24-gauge florist’s wire, a chopstick or ballpoint pen for poking holes, and a bag of sphagnum moss. The form, moss and wire are available at any crafts store. You don’t need soil; the cuttings will root right into the moss. [...]