Succulents and More™

↩ Danger Garden back (part 1) If you think of the Danger Garden  as a symphony, the front garden is the first movement, the front half of the back garden the second, and the rear is the third movement with its rousing finale. Looking back to what I showed you in my previous post : Even though it's not huge, the chartreuse Circle Pot from Potted  is like a beacon: You can see it from just about anywhere in the back garden.

↩ Danger Garden front Danger Garden back (part 2) ↪   Now that you've seen what the Danger Garden's public face looks like—the front garden—let's go down the rabbit hole walk through the magic gate into the back garden. The agave gate was a birthday gift to Loree by her husband Andrew, a  mixed-media artist  who creates intricate pieces out of paper, wire and other materials. He designed the gate himself and had it manufactured locally in Portland. You can read all about it i n this Danger Garden post  from October 2015. But before we enter the back garden, I want to draw your attention to the hanging pots on the garage wall, one planted with Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' and the other with a small Agave 'Felipe Otero'. The two pots are very different, yet perfectly balanced.

Danger Garden back garden (part 1 )  ↪   Many of you follow Loree Bohl's blog Danger Garden . If you're not familiar with it and want to know what it's all about, the byline is a good clue: "Careful, you could poke an eye out." Loree loves spiky plants, and she's not apologetic about it. When you walk through her garden, you're wise to watch your step. Unlike plants that take abuse lying down (literally), many denizens of the Danger Garden know how to defend themselves. That's one reason why I love it. Another reason: Loree is fearless when it comes to plant selection. I'm sure she looks at USDA hardiness zones but she's just as likely to ignore them if she really wants a certain plant. After all, each garden is different, and unless you're willing to experiment—and accept the failures that come with it—you're never going to know what will really grow in your own garden. The most striking thing about the Danger Garden, though, ...

The 2017 Succulent Extravaganza at  Succulent Gardens  in Castroville, CA took place this past Friday and Saturday, September 29 and 30. Both days were jam-packed with presentations, socalizing, looking at plants, and of course shopping. I didn't arrive until late afternoon on Friday so I missed out on Friday's activities. But I enjoyed a full day on Saturday visiting with old succulent friends and meeting new ones, taking photos of the wonderful plants at Succulents Gardens (the demonstration gardens looked better than ever), and listening to four presentations. I bought a few things, too, but oddly enough none of them were succulents.

There are two major reasons why I buy gardening books: I want to expand my knowledge, and I want to be inspired. The best books combine both aspects. In light of the wealth of information (and beautiful photography) available for free online, it’s getting ever harder for publishers to get the attention of the book-buying public. But Timber Press found a way to cut through the noise with a new book to be published later in January: Gardening with Foliage First by Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz. This hefty paperback (8 x 10½ in., 340 pages, and weighing in at a surprising 2½ lbs.) introduces 127 “dazzling combinations that pair the beauty of leaves with flowers, bark, berries, and more.”

I love color in the garden, I love fragrance, but above all, I love texture. True, mass plantings of the same species can create an elegant and tranquil effect, but for me there’s nothing like juxtaposing plants with different leaves: large vs. small, wide vs. narrow, coarse vs. fine. You get the idea. I like excitement and drama—I will admit I’m a bit of a Ganna Walska at heart—and nothing gives me a jolt of adrenaline like opposing textures. Yellow lotus banana ( Musella lasiocarpa ) in front of giant clumping timber bamboo ( Bambusa oldhamii ) and variegated Eureka lemon ( Citrus limon ‘Eureka Variegated Pink’) I was reminded of that a few days ago when I took advantage of a rare cloudy morning to take some photos in the front yard. Now that many of the herbaceous perennials have hit their stride, vignettes of rivaling textures are everywhere. Karley Rose grass ( Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’) and Hot Lips sage ( Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’)