(Echeveria 'Metallic', Kangaroo Paws, and Princess Flowers = HOT!)
Okay. I'll admit it - I am weakening. I have been such a hardcore "Foliage First!" type of gardener that I rarely think of blossoms when designing ... I like to think of them as a nice bonus; icing on the cake. But lately, flowers have really been turning my head. I feel a little sheepish, like a man oggling a buxom blonde while standing next to his brunette wife. But I can't help it! Who can? Flowers were created to seduce, to entice, to attract pollinators, and some of them do their jobs so well that we all fall under their spell! Omigod - am I becoming a Flower Pervet? Or a ... a... (gasp) Cottage Gardener?

When I was at San Marcos Growers I took a little stroll through their display gardens - the blooming plants looked so beautiful! See, in Southern California, the fall is our 'second spring'. If plantings have been given a midsummer grooming, there will be a new flush of growth, followed by blossoms. It feels extravagant, to have flowers and fragrance when most of the country is bedding down their gardens for the winter, but hey - there has to be some kind of perk we get for living with the constant fear of earthquakes!

The plant I was the most intoxicated by was a variety of the Princess Flower - Tibouchina heteromalla, or Silver Leafed Princess Flower. The fuzzy, evergreen leaves and the clusters of deep purple flowers make this a must have ... it performs best in the sun, but enjoys the shade, too - and it can live on and on in a pot on a patio or balcony. Remember, you don't need a yard to have a garden! Cluster a few dramatic pots together, and a garden can happen just about anywhere!

(the Silver Leafed Princess Flower is peeking coyly from behind a banana)
This Princess is a real looker - I'm going to add her to my garden soon, but I don't want you to think I've changed; that I've fallen for flowers. It's just a flirtation... for now...

Last Friday night, the unimaginable happened here in Los Angeles - IT RAINED! Finally ... it had been more than a year since we'd seen rain like that! Not only did it rain all night, it rained for a good part of the next day, too. I was so happy, and so mesmerized by the whole rainy day coziness that I forgot I was a blogger and I should take pictures for you! So I ran to my camera and of course - no juice. By the time my batteries were charged the rain rain had gone away, to come again some other day (knock on wood!).
So today, I had Jan help me fake a torrential downpour to make up for my fumbling the shots of the first rain of the season. I have to be honest.
But hey, we created and captured a rainbow!
Everybody in the city was so thrilled by the rain. It wasn't a tiny sprinkle of wetness that just grabs all the smog and dust all the way down the atmosphere and deposits it on your car, it was a night and a day of honest to goodness showers ... steady drenching followed by moments of drizzle followed by a sudden deluge every so often. It was truly hydrating for us thirsty Los Angelenos, who have been living with drought on and off for decades now.
My garden looks sooooo perky. It's funny the difference rain makes. I'm sure I've commented on that before, because it never ceases to amaze me - rain seems better for plants than sprinkler water.
Hmmmm .... does rainwater have chlorine in it?
Now it's terribly hot again, but for a moment, it was real wet weather and I was in all my rainy glory - damp socks, frizzy hair, leaky roof ... but I couldn't have been happier.

There I was, being ferried around the plant growing fields at an alarming speed by MZ, who was trying to make my hat blow off my head (I wasn't about to lose that thing, no matter how stupid it looks - it keeps all the sun off of my face and the freckles off of my nose) When I spied a huge ball of orange deep in a bamboo hedge. I ordered MZ to stop his mad carreening, and we backed up to investigate. I thought maybe it was an errant balloon ... but I hoped it was - could it be? I walked into the bamboo clump and ... it WAS! A flower - well, not a flower, but a huge, beautiful cluster of tubular flowers ... hanging among the bamboo! How? Bamboo don't flower! (well, they do, I'm sure - maybe some bamboo expert will write in and tell us all how)

It wasn't the bamboo that was flowering. It was a tall, willowy vining shrub - Tecoma smithii. It is related to the Cape Honeysuckle, but is so much more beautiful! This would be a lovely plant to include in a privacy hedge planting to add some panache. Can you imagine these globes arching over your fence or winding around a shade structure? Can you see them swaying in the breeze outside your window?

Most of us don't have lots of planting space, so we have to choose things that really work hard for us, and this baby does. It has lush, evergreen foliage, incredible flowers, and long, ornamntal seedpods. There weren't any available that day, but I'm going to be on the lookout for one. I'm thinking my garden has been a little too 'tough' lately. Maybe a big, burning orange flower bomb bush is just the thing I need!

( MJ, my Master Builder, makes incredible things - even unconsciously. Check out his Zigurat hair-do!)

I am lucky. Right now, I have great help in my garden. MJ and MZ are tireless, talented workers, and have been building up a little storm in my backyard. I am purposely not showing the results just yet ... I want to unveil you my updated garden in one fell swoop, very soon...

But all this work has made me think - how do other people DO this? I have to be totally honest with you all - there is no way I can afford my own services as a garden designer. Of course I can design for myself - but it is the support staff that is the killer. I have to do things in my garden in fits and starts, when the money is avilable and I have the right assistance. It took me forever to get my sprinklers right, even though I work with a number of irrigation specialists. Even with a "professional discount", they are expensive! Without a discount - YIKES! The fences on opposite sides of my yard are frightfuly contrasting in style because they were built ten years apart - the span of time between my love of the rustic and my infatuation with the modern. It took me that long to find the right builder at the right price - who turned out to be my best friend's husband.

Everybody needs help in the garden - not all the time, of course, but you can't do it ALL by yourself. hard work is second nature to a gardener ... it's fun! ... but often you just need to get things DONE. Who do you turn to? Husband? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Next door neighbor? Do you hire the teenager down the block? Or do you bit the bullet and go for the pros?

I end up somewhere in the middle of pro/friend. If not for dependable and capable helping hands, I'd be lost in my own garden!

When I buy plants, I BUY PLANTS. I have the kind of plant lust that isn't satisfied by your neighborhood nursery. Oh, I'll stroll around them, checking out the new material, and if something catches my eye I'll take it home and see if it satisfies. Is it just a pretty thing, or is it the real thing ... a plant that is beautiful inside and out; one that can commit to the long-term rigors of my garden. A few times a year, I tire of the prowl - I want to go where I know I can score and score BIG, and that is when I drive up the coast to Santa Barbara, to San Marcos Growers - where the best plants I've ever seen are gathered, just waiting for someone like me to give them a home.

Nestled between the Sierra Madre mountains and the Pacific ocean, San Marcos Growers is situated perfectly to grow a mix of mediterranans, Australian and South African natives, and the drought tolerant varieties that make up the backbone of my plant palette. It is also extraordinarily peaceful - the only thing to hear besides plants growing and workers trimming and transplanting was my squealing and laughing as the driver of my cart barreled around corners at top speed.

Phormiums might be my favorite plants - I'd be hard pressed to design a garden without using them. Once, a client said she didn't like them, and I was schocked. What is there not to like about a phormium? What is it that she had against them? They aren't mean or evil! But I digress - San Marcos is the home of the best phormiums in Southern California. I took a snap of a cluster of beauties that were segregated from the rest - those colors just make me swoon!

I bought a fanstastic group of plants to fill in the many bare spots in my back yard. Phormiums 'Dusky Chief', and 'Red Dark Green' HAD to be purchased, and three different passionflower varieties were just too beautiful to pass up. I picked up a couple of Salvia 'Dark Dancer', and since I've always wanted to try out Salvia sagittata, it came along, too. I adore euphorbias, and Euphorbia 'Helena' is the most beautiful one I've seen yet... I got five of those. Oh! Two Cordateria selloana 'Silver Comet' JUMPED onto the cart, and I just didn't have the heart to put them back. There are more, of course, but I'll talk about them when I show you the actual planting.

San Marcos has amazing displays, and I'll be showing you images of those soon. This place is truly a mecca for gardeners. Try and find a plant grower in your area. You'll be amazed at the difference in quality from your big city plant seller - and often the growers will allow you to buy from them if you are spending over a certain dollar amount and you pay the taxes. It will change the way you look at nurseries!

What makes a garden a garden? If you say PLANTS, I'll say there's only room for one smart-ass on this blog! Let's say you have your plants in place and you love what you've done - what do you really need to thoroughly enjoy your handiwork? A place to sit, of course!
My favorite thing is built-in banquette seating, and Judy at Elysian is the champion of designing these, balancing functionality and comfort while keeping it sexy.
Just check out the banquttes we built for a client's garden in Los Feliz, a neighborhood in LA known for its gorgeous homes and high profile residents. Behind the seating, there is a screen of Bambusa ventricosa, or Buddha's Belly Bamboo, which gets big, round, swollen knobs along the culms when grown dry - hence the name. When grown with regular garden water, it becomes so lush and dense ... it's my favorite bamboo to use for privacy. Having all those fresh, green leaves behind you makes you feel wrapped by the garden, a nature hug, if you will! Notice that we put a planter at the end of the long side -it's an important punctuation, I think, and an opportunity to bring plants into the patio without having to clutter it up with too many pots (not that I am anti-pot; quite the contrary! My own garden is very potty) We used Agave'Nova' for this focal point; its color contrasts nicely with the warm tones of the walls and then there is that incredible form - oooo la la...

I love the colors Judy chose for the cushions! The green talks beautifully to the garden, and then the accent of lime green for the piping makes the whole thing sing.(You can see a bit of the piping clearly in the above photo) She was inspired by a Kelly bag on the arm of woman attending a lecture she was giving, and she told me it took all her strength not to run offstage, grab the bag, and make a break for it. Instead, she used it as a point of departure for an amazing piece of built-in outdoor furniture! That's my girl, finding a way to channel the more anti-social impulses - she always makes the right decision.
Sitting out there, in the evening, with the glorious firepit warming us with luminous blue flames ... our clients talking about how this has become their favorite room in the house ...sigh... I just wanted to melt into the banquette and stay there. I love it so much, I think I might want to marry it... Sorry, Jan, I know you understand!

Here is a question I received via my editors:
"Where can I find the cactus shown on the dominomag.com page avertising online ideas and sources? The germinatrix, Ivette Soler says to buy it. I cannot find one. Also, will it grow outside in Denver CO? thanks!"

The Germinatrix, Ivette Soler says to buy Ivette Soler a summer home in Costa Rica! Anyone? Oh, well, at least I tried...
First of all, the image on the page in Domino is an Aloe, which is technically a succulent, not a cactus. Many people would NEVER plant a cactus, but succulents seem to be more palatable. With the high temperatures all over the country this summer, and ever present news of impending drought, I truly think more people in climates that used to be too cold for succulents should give them a try. They'll freeze, so if you live in frost zones, either use them in pots and move them into your garage during the winter, or dig them up and store them once it starts to get cold - you can plant them out again in the spring once chances of frost have passed, just like tropicals. And once you start adding these beauties to your planting repertoire, you'll wonder how you ever gardened without them.

The aloe family is huge - explore! Aloe saponaria is a good one to start with, but Aloe barbadensis, which is the plain old aloe vera, is a gorgeous ornamental - it will send up yellow bloom spikes throughout the summer. The bloom of an aloe is a wonder to behold, and different varieties bloom at different times of the year. I collect them in my back yard garden, where they bloom willy-nilly; but honestly, the blooms are a bonus ...their forms are so architectural, unusual, and incredible that I would plant aloes even if I never saw a flower.

Look online for the biggest variety, but understand that you will most likely be getting very small specimens - but in the world of succulents, that's half the fun - watching these little "pups" grow into majestic adults. Some aloes are huge, some are tiny, most are somewhere in between - and within that I know you'll find one that's just right for you. Here's a few places to start the search:
GoSucculent.com
Daniel's Specialty Nursery
Yucca Do

Fabulous Food Blogger and Germinatrix reader Katef has this Mom... a Mom of Moms, actually. She's a magnificent cook - I know this because I am a big fan of Kate's blog, Kate F____, Girl Reporter - where she has posted yummy recipes handed down from this Mom of hers. Well, guess what? Mom of Kate has a wonderful garden.

Kate told me in a comment (either on her blog or this one, I can't remember...) that she believes good cooks are often good gardeners, and visa versa - I think she's right! There is a similarity in those two practices that can inform each other. Both are ways of nurturing, and there is a kind of arcana to both cooking and gardening - the master chef/master gardener usually has an adept or apprentice to pass their secrets on to - usually their own child.
Kate's mother was (and still is) an amazing teacher, judging by the dishes I have made from Kate's blog that Mom has had a hand in. I'm told she gardens to have a direct supply of fresh vegetables for her culinary adventures, and that is a great reason to play with plants. Eventually, I think Kate will have a garden of her very own, and she will grow wonderful herbs and vegetables to enhance the delicious, wholesome food she loves to make. And I imagine her Mom will be there to guide and advise, and share the little secrets of the earth all gardeners pick up along the way.
Do any of you who love to garden also love to cook? Or do any of you dream about doing both those things better and more often? Gardening has rewards for the person who loves cooking - just check out these beautiful 'Sungold' tomatoes from the Girl Reporter's mother's garden...

YUM!

Omigod the weather has been DISGUSTING. Something from the latest hurricane swept into town a few days ago and added a big dose of the tropics to our dessert air. We were already hot - but adding this layer of gloopy wetness to the amosphere made us Southern Californians go crazy with the air conditioners ... and the electricity went out - all over LA.
It was AWFUL! My lovely husband took me out for a romantic dinner (in unaffected Pasadena), and we came home to a dark, boiling hot house and two puppies in a panic. It kind of killed the mood. I went to gather candles, but the thought of lighting them and adding to the heat made me sick. Then, the proverbial lightbulb went on in my brain - I have SUNJARS!
I went outside and gathered them up from all corners of the garden. Inside, my makeshift outdoor lighting lit the house with a lovely orange glow that didn't add one degree to the heat.
So I am an even bigger fan of these than I was before!
Everyone should have at least one - you can use them in so many ways:
-Outdoor lighting
-Nightlights
-Emergency lighting
-Hostess gifts
-Chunky illuminated pendant necklace (you just need to add a chain)
One could save your life!