Pulsatilla vulgaris (pale pink form) "Plain ol'" pasqueflower is pretty nifty, but I have a few variations I really like, such as this pale pink form that just glows in the backlight. I spend all year waiting for spring and now it shoots past "like an arrow" as they say in China! Muscari azureum This is ONE muscari one can't have enough of: pops up blooms and disappears... Pediocactus knowltonii Rare in nature (and in gardens) this tiniest member of its genus could be almost covered by a quarter...OK, maybe more like a 50 cent piece. Crushed by a silver dollar ..read more

 I think I first heard of gluten-intolerance 18 years ago. And now it's on tiles at a Mexican restaurant in Austin. Not just ANY restaurant: the Fonda de San Miguel! This was the justification for my trip: I wanted to introduce my very cool friends in the Austin area to my very cool daughter, Eleni (lower right)...and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner--much of it subsidized by a dear friend from San Marcos who was gifted a generous certificate to this restaurant from a good customer. Thank you Patrick! Thank you customer!  The next day we had the extraordinary opportunity to visi ..read more

People often ask me what my favorite botanic garden or arboretum is. Obviously, Denver Botanic Gardens pops to mind quickly (I say this in case my boss reads this--he does check up on me)...but Boyce Thompson Arboretum (q.v.) has been climbing steadily higher on my favorites list. The breathtaking view of Picketpost mountain (if stolen views are garden features, theirs is Grand Larceny!) shown in the shot above by the way... but there's a LOT more to Boyce Thompson than views, Oh yes, it's their Centennial. Something to be proud of! Before I begin to enumerate things, just had to sho ..read more

Fritillaria affinis There are some of us smitten by frits. I think if you were along with us (the last day of the NARGS study weekend--our group went to San Bruno Mountain) where we found scads of the commonest fritillary of the West Coast (which I knew for years as F. lanceolata and now is called F. affinis). The pictures on this post are a pretty random sampling of the ones we saw on San Bruno: a fraction of the plants on the mountains, we saw dozens of leaves of non-blooming plants everywhere. I find plants with speckling like this to be very fetching ..read more

  Me and Raoulia mammillaris on top of Mount Southey If 1) you love Horticulture and 2) are not a eunuch and 3) are not a nut case you are eligible to perhaps becoming a Hortisexual--a very congenial group of passionate plant people (once primarily perhaps predominately LGBTQ however, nowadays the group is diverse and the primary expectation is mutual respect and that participants not be prone judgementalism. I possess a Hortisexual T-shirt--and have not had the pleasure of going on one of their trips--yet: I know scads of people who have, and all have reported th ..read more

  "The Commander" Those of us lucky enough to travel with Karel du Toit (above) and his long time buddy, Steve Brack (below) know the joys of traveling with "the Captain and the Commander"... "The Captain" Steve is renowned among cactus lovers around the world for founding Mesa Gardens (still in existence--Steve sold it several years ago and it continues thriving under new management). In addition to cacti, Mesa Gardens offered a wide spectrum of Mesembryanthemaceae (ice plants) and other succulents--I have read that over 10,000 accessions had been offered at one point ..read more

 I don't know what possessed Kunth to name this plant cerastoides...proof that botanical names are arbitrary (there are a few mouse ears with congested foliage, but none possess luminous lavender purple flowers like this, such perfect chalices dotting the Paramo. On my recent trip to Ecuador (a tour sponsored by Denver Botanic Gardens) we only had a few days at altitude: our big alpine hike on Cotopaxi (15,000 up to 16,000') was aborted due to hurricane force winds and horizontal smow...I shall always wonder what we missed! At first I took it for a crocus: it kept appearing again a ..read more

How many of you are lucky enough to have a masterful gardener (SEVERAL steps above master gardener) groom plants in your garden? Well, I'm such a lucky son of a gun. Full disclosure--that fantastic specimen of Escobaria leei (OK, E. sneedii var. leei) was actually grown by Sandy Snyder (another masterful friend) who gave it to me when she downsized her large house and garden. It eventually made it to her NEW smaller house and garden... I don't ALWAYS color coordinate with my heroes, but I love it when I do! Randy Tatroe looking on a bit wistfully: he didn't get the memo! I'd know ..read more

Cotopaxi                                                         "...I went into a golden land,                                                          Chimborazo, C ..read more

Acantholimon trojanum Arguably the best Acantholimon for just about anywhere (it thrives in Vail, Colorado; Victoria, British Columbia and [most importantly for me] in Denver, Colorado. I believe it will grow for you too! (click here if you're as nuts about spikethrifts as I am!) Is there a more vivid demonstration of the power of Crevice Gardening: the young Paul Spriggs was charming enough in a sort of Hobbit fashion, but just look what publishing a best-selling book can do for you? Paul grows Acantholimon trojanum like a WEED--not to mention no end of saxifrages, eriogonums, rh ..read more