Sunday, January 23

patio garden



baby blue glow the love of my life
bibliofilles
Ah, finally. This idea I've had to redesign the patio and add lots of new landscape is slowly coming to life, and now I sit out there to read, write, watch the cats play, eat tangerines, get in some morning calm before work. To have a space that I put time and effort into is something I was craving. Sure, not paying ridiculous rent has it's many, many advantages, but I miss having our own little rooms that feel just ours. And this was my attempt to create that here. I'm loving every sunny day we've had this January with strong sunsets and chilly evenings. Last January it was too cold to leave the house sometimes, the nights were darker and windier than usual, so this feels like another planet. I'm falling in love with Southern California for the second time.

Mona and I have put in some time at a lot of local succulent and gardening centers, but that's what it takes to find the good stuff. Not everything we've planted has lived, we're learning, and that's part of the fun.

The California Cactus Center in Pasadena is an experience. There's so much to look at and they have a selection of both large things to put in big pots and small plants to make little displays. That's where I bought my first boutique agave, a blue glow. The plant is a bluish green and the edges of each leaf shines red and yellow, it's the most beautiful plant I own.

H&H Nursery in Lakewood is a also a fun place. We get our soil, herbs, and vegetables there and everytime we go we browse for new succulents. Recently we planted Firesticks also called Pencil Tree that looks like an underwater coral plant, and blue pencil which is more like a ground covering.

Mistakes we've made: using garden soil to pot plants, and leaving terrariums out in the sun. It felt kind of devastating when my lavender and rosemary died in the summer. Notice how I say "my"? I get attached to plants very easily. I think that I should have some sort of power passed down to me because my nana and my mom make things live, so when things weren't going right in the beginning, I got frustrated. My own fault in not being patient or not doing the research. Now that I'm more versed, we're losing less, and seeing more green.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love all your succulents!! You've done such a great job at creating little succulent stories in each pot. That blue agave is so bold and striking. I ventured in the garden since it feels like spring and realized a lot happens in the garden during winter - one of my bulbs bloomed! who knew? lol

Natalie (NJ in L.A.) said...

I live for the California Cactus Center. Did you ever notice that the Del Taco next door totally planted cactus they bought from there? So sweet.

mari said...

They are so sweet there too. Del Taco! Hah I never noticed that. Do you have any agaves? I have two that are sprouting little baby agaves and I need to figure out how to repot.