Succulents and More™

While I’d like to think that our garden looks OK throughout the day, it shines in the early morning and late afternoon. That’s when the sun is low enough to backlight plants to great effect, often making them appear like they’re glowing from within. Backlighting and side lighting are the easiest way to create photographs that stand out. Here are some recent examples from our garden: A perfect example of backlighting: ‘Winecraft Black’ smokebush, ‘Harmony’ kangaroo paws, and ‘Louis Edmunds’ manzanita View from the front porch Self-sown dogweed ( Thymophylla pentachaeta ) Self-sown Mexican tulip poppies ( Hunnemannia fumariifolia ). They’ve popped up in different spots over the years, and I let them do their thing wherever they feel like it. Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi , a cycad from South Africa, with a new flush of leaves – the first flush in two years. These cycads are sloooooow, but so beautiful.  Silver torch ( Cleistocactus strausii ) is a perfect example of why cac...

I constantly take photos for the blog, but not all of them make it into regular posts. Here’s a selection of outtakes, if you will, from the last few weeks. They may not tell any particular story, but taken together, they present another look at what’s been happening in the garden. LEAVES At this time of year, leaves are the big story – and the bane of my gardening life. Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day picking leaves out of the sidewalk bed and raking them into neat piles for yard waste pickup. I complained about the leaves in this recent post ; I don’t want to repeat myself, so here are a couple of “pretty” leaf photos: Stella likes leaves – lots of interesting smells Big leaf and tiny leaf on wet asphalt FLOWERS Many aloes are pushing inflorescences, but there aren’t a lot of “traditional” flowers at this time of year. Here are just couple: Even though Farfugium japonicum is native to moist meadows and stream banks in Japan, it’s held its own in our dry-summer climate....