Wednesday Vignette, green on green foliage texture

For today's vignette, and the next two day's posts (providing I get my act together and add text to the photos I've uploaded) we're visiting Kris's garden in SoCal, Kris being the lady who blogs at Late to the Garden Party. This combination was one of several that jumped out when I visited her garden in December—and then again when editing my photos. First of all, there's the view, we cannot ignore the view. Frankly I don't know how she ever gets anything done in her garden with a view like this...

But really it's the foliage combination and the texture that I thought was so remarkable. Kris grows a mean patch of Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', the feathery foliage at the back. I love this plant so much, but it's not hardy up here in Portland's Zone 8. In front of the acacia is the blue/green foliage of Euphorbia rigida, I would have never dreamt these two plants could look so amazing together. Of course the California sun helps...

Weather Diary, Jan 28: Hi 53, Low 48/ Precip .21

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Tuttle titles on moss

I love moss, so when I received an email from Tuttle publishing asking if I would be interested in a review copy of Moss Ball Bonsai (by Satoshi Sunamori) I said yes.

I also got Miniature Moss Gardens (by Megumi Oshima and Hideshi Kimura). Normally I run from anything to do with "miniatures" but what the heck. I decided to be brave and overlook that word.

When it came time to review these books I could no longer find the email of the person who sent them to me, so instead of asking for images of pages to share I just went ahead and photographed them. Here's the table of contents for Moss Ball Bonsai...

The books are an interesting mix of educational information, stunning photos, and fun, almost child-like drawings and add-ins.

What is not clear to me is if these books were written in Japanese and translated to English, or if they were written in English by Japanese authors. On the Tuttle "about us" page they say: "Our fundamental values are as strong today as they were in 1948: to discover, create, publish, and deliver best -in-class books & products that bring the World closer together one page turn at a time. With Asia’s expanding economic, cultural and political influence in the world, the need for meaningful dialogue and information about this diverse and vibrant region has never been greater.​ Since 1948 Tuttle Publishing has given the world access to the cultures, visual arts, cuisines, languages, and literatures of Asia through the pages of our award-winning books."

There is a section in the book on identifying mosses, but I haven't conquered that skill yet. Plus I've not seen a lot of the interesting types covered in the book. I took this mossy photo at the Oregon Zoo...

This container currently sits on the dining room table and full of bits of moss and lichen I've picked up while out on walks. The root-ball of the cryptanthus is encased in moss, which I guess makes it a moss ball bonsai—the book has detailed instructions on creating your own.

The different moss balls shown in Part 3: 100 Moss Balls to Try, run the gamut. I was excited to see an aloe and other succulents used, and after looking at the book Andrew is challenging me to make an agave moss ball.

Plus there will definitely be a carnivorous moss ball in my future, probably a little nepenthes.

This small sansevieria on my mantle seems to be enjoying the treatment. As I've mentioned before, my version just involves shaping the existing root-ball into an orb and wrapping moss around it—I don't go as far as using a special soil mix.

The roots of this begonia inside the glass dome are also wrapped in moss, and there's a piece of moss from a neighborhood walk tucked in there too.

Oh and I finally got a tiny frog...

This strange decaying mess was an Adiantum venustum (Maidenhair fern) moss ball from Christmas 2018. Last spring I plopped them (there's a pair) into a bare spot in the garden, and then promptly forgot about them as the surrounding ferns grew around and hid them.

Winter has exposed them both, and interestingly they've rooted into the ground. I tried to pick them up but it isn't happening. It will be  interesting to see how long it takes them to fully disintegrate and then integrate into the garden soil (orange lines added to help you identify the bases and what fronds are connected to them).

Moving onto the second book, Miniature Moss Gardens...

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would, there were some fun projects on it's pages I'll be trying. I don't want to give them all away though!

Both books had a section on finding mosses, a few times they veered dangerously close (in my opinion) to condoning harvesting in public and private places. Maybe that's just my paranoia after the story I shared about people stealing cuttings from nurseries. I suppose there may also be a distinct difference in the way the Japanese approach this sort of thing vs. the way Americans do (meaning they don't have that same entitled attitude that we seem to have adopted).

They gave many examples of where you can find moss...

...which isn't difficult to do this time of the year, in my part of the world. Here its growing on a wall dividing two front gardens on a street near me.

And here is a very mossy wall near McMenamins Kennedy School.

Seeing this moss near a fire-hydrant, and thinking of the stereotypical image of a dog peeing on a fire-hydrant, got me laughing. I wonder if the dogs are helping the moss grow?

The books Moss Ball Bonsai and Miniature Moss Gardens were sent to me free of charge and I enjoyed them both very much. They are full of interesting projects, a glimpse into another culture, and lots of new-to-me information about moss.

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Weather Diary, Jan 27: Hi 53, Low 42/ Precip .87"

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

So, tell me about your houseplants...

I was gonna call this post: "I'll show you my houseplants if you so me yours." But there are so few people who actually blog these days, I realized most of my readers wouldn't have a way to show me theirs. Still, I'd love to see them if you can. And I should also clarify that when I say these are my houseplants, it means they are indoors year-round. They don't get moved outside come spring, like the basement prisoners do.

Here's a scene that anyone who reads my blog is no doubt familiar with. But instead of focusing on what's up on the mantel, let's look at the cast of characters below...

Starting on the left. The big tillandsia is a T. xerographica, I don't have ID on the one stuck in the large carved out seedpod.

I bought this Aechmea fasciata two years ago. It was blooming at the time. That should mean it would begin to produce pups and the main rosette would start to fade and die, right? But that hasn't happened. It hasn't produced a single pup, and the foliage still looks as good as the day I bought it, so strange...

Another plant I purchased while it was blooming, an anthurium with super dark flowers. I like the foliage, and don't mind that I haven't gotten any more blooms.

I wish I could tell you the name of this monstrous cactus, unfortuantely it came to me unlabeled.

Over on the right side there are a couple more tillandsias, a NOID sansevieria and half of a staghorn fern. Why only half? Because I killed the rest of it, not on purpose, of course.

Not a houseplant, I'm sneaking in a picture of my vintage "driftwood" table lamp.

Visible in the photo above, in a corner behind the sofa, is Zingiber malaysianum 'Midnight'.

On another table in the living room is a pair of Monvillea spegazzinii (Cereus spegazzinii) in vintage Royal Copley planters.

In front of the living room window...

This bromeliad (× Cryptbergia 'Red Burst') sat on my desk in the basement while I was working on the book, now it's graduated to the natural light upstairs.

Cryptanthus 'Black Mystic'

I know, not houseplants, but I'll share them anyway. The top of a bookcase in the living room is overflowing with dried protea, I can't just toss them after-all.

Currently on the dining table there's a small green cryptanthus, along with a vase full of alstroemeria and another piece of pottery with moss and lichen.

The wall next to the dining table is full of plant prints.

And the corner cabinet contains more dried flowers and seed pods.

These are from when I grew scabiosa from seed.

A cone from my magnolia and a dried peony from a friend's plant.

Dried nigella pods.

We're in the kitchen now, this gang hangs out behind the sink. Oh and that one in the black pot does go outside for the summer, so I guess he doesn't really belong in this houseplant post.

The Nepenthes alata seems to like the moisture next to the kitchen sink.

Hellebore blooms don't always do well in a vase, but H. x hybridus 'Jade Tiger' does.

Vintage light, Andrew's artwork, and more plants...

I think this is a Haworthia limifolia.

Once upon a time I knew the name of the one in the back, but no longer. The small one is a NOID sansevieria.

Another pair of small pots with plant's whose names I've forgotten. The carved figure is Andrew's work.

The Lila portrait a friend gave us hangs in the kitchen, After all, it was her very favorite room in the house.

Another of Andrew's figures with an agave spike (from a dead leaf) and a small Euphorbia tirucalli.

On top of the refrigerator is a dried arrangement that's been in this vase for at least a year and a half. What can I say...

In the bathroom now, and pulling back the shower curtain...

Is the variegated Boston fern a friend gave me a piece of. It's happier than it looks in this photo.

The variegation...

Eryngium in a vase, spiky agave photos on the wall.

There are no plants in our bedroom, so moving into the "media room" (TV, computer) here's the last plant of this post. An orchid given to us by Andrew's employer when we lost Lila. It's still alive, I really should take it outside this summer and give it some love.

So what about you, are you a houseplant person? Or one of those folks who doesn't believe in plants in the house?

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Weather Diary, Jan 26: Hi 56, Low 46/ Precip .27"

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.