We usually ascribe human features to our succulents — e.g. the textured fleshiness of our “mama jade,” the zombie pallor of the echeveria — but our newest crop is made of stonier stuff. The stubby, cleaved Lithops marmorata is one of our favorites. “Lithops” comes from the...
Amid the stark sobriety of the Fall 2013 collections shown at New York Fashion Week — which concluded last Thursday — there were some blooming bright spots. (Not that straight lines and disciplined palettes can’t have vitality or tenderness: see Proenza Schouler, "quiet giant" Narciso Rodriguez,...
As my on-again-off-again Tumblr page will attest, we’re big into the Victorian language of flowers. Especially when it’s applied to modern living; who can resist a tussie-mussie (i.e. small bouquet) of rue, campion, Provence rose, strawflower and buckbean that essentially says, “Chill out, you ambassador...
It's easy to take defoliated trees for granted when you're surrounded by them — as we did when we were growing up back East. But out here, winter-stripped deciduous trees feel like a novelty. Actually, there are plenty of them, and they stand out brilliantly against...
Hue arbiter Pantone has decreed its color of 2013, and it’s emerald. Lush, energetic, gemmy emerald, Pantone Color #17-5641. Even though I'm a gardener, I gotta say: I was torn at first. We don’t really go out of our way to acquire emerald pieces for our...
Aside from our downy jade, neon cigar flowers and pigheaded birds of paradise, flowers are hard to come by in our yard right now. So we were thrilled when one of our aloe plants sent out a skinny raceme covered in tubular mauve flowers. It's an Aloe...
In a recent post for his Radiolab/NPR blog Krulwich Wonders, Robert Krulwich writes: "Life is short for small creatures, longer in big ones. So algae die sooner than oak trees; elephants live longer than mayflies, but you know that. Here's the surprise: There is a mathematical formula...
This year, Groundhog Day falls on a Saturday, which means you can either toast the spring-embracing skittishness of Punxsutawney Phil or drown your sorrows in smoked porter as you hunker down for six more weeks of winter. Either way, consider it a warmup for the Superbowl. February...
Wildlife differs ferociously from continent to continent, but birdwatchers from here to Melbourne have one creature in common: Strelitzia reginae. We've got a bird of paradise shrub in our yard that blooms twice a year, late fall through winter and late spring through summer. To keep...
✚ Flavorwire, a great place to explore stuff you’ve always wondered about and didn’t even know it, recently ran a story about plant furniture. We’re not talking garden benches here; Asif Khan's Harvest Table (and Harvest Chair!) are actually composed of freeze-dried flowers. Plus there's...