Architecturally speaking, few plants are more exemplary in a landscape than an agave. Uniquely shaped, tight rosette of leaves, clean lines and nasty spines give the agave its highly architectural appearance. The perfect plant for landscapes where this strong architectural form is desired. While they look great planted right into the ground, I personally find them much more notable in…
So you say you wish you had a bigger garden?
So you say you wish you had a bigger garden? Every one does, right? Well, at some point in all our gardening lives the desire for more land comes up. Frankly, you wouldn’t be a good gardener or true plant lover if the thought never crossed your mind at least once. How ironic is it…
A tour around a monumental Southern California cycad garden
The title of this blog post tells us we will soon see a “monumental Southern California cycad garden.” The title could have easily included “the pinnacle of Southern California cycad gardens” as well. I have heard about this private garden for many years now but have never had the opportunity to tour it. A good friend of mine…
PSSC Meeting – Gregg Hamann Garden Tour
It is not often that you have an opportunity to visit a multi-generational garden. So when the Palm Society of Southern California (PSSC) quarterly meeting was going to be held at one of my favorite palm gardens in Southern California, I knew I would be blocking off that time on my busy schedule. The Gregg…
70 cactus photographs from my 4-day trip around Nuevo León
OK, time to close out the blog series centered around my amazing visit to Monterrey, Mexico. Let’s go out with a bang. Well, a bang if you love cactus, that is. After four very busy days touring around much of the state of Nuevo León, I accumulated a few thousand photos. It took me days to weed through…
The anti-herbivory camouflage of Ariocarpus scapharostrus and Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus
The battle between prey and predator has been going on since the beginning of time. In the animal kingdom, prey evolved defenses like camouflage, aposematism and mimicry to protect themselves from becoming a meal. Much study has been done in the animal kingdom on the use of camouflage as a defense mechanism. In the plant world, it was a seldom…
Brahea decumbens and Brahea dulcis growing on a gypsum outcrop in Nuevo León, Mexico
The gypsum outcrops that are found around the state of Nuevo León in Mexico are famous for the many unique plants which are endemic to them. Gypsum soils occupy large areas of Nuevo León and host a lot of biological diversity. It seems that each year some new species is being described that can only be found on these gypsum…
The excitement that comes from a massive upcoming garden project
It has been 10 years now since I first embarked on a massive garden project. One that involves pouring concrete, bringing in boulders, and that will lead to me planting a whole bunch of palms, cycads, agaves and aloes. I always knew what I wanted to do in the garden, and for many years I had been…