Succulents

Historically I haven't been a huge succulent fan. They seemed somehow tacky, in a Palm Springs-y kind of way. But now that Palm Springs is cool again (i.e., now that it's been cool again for so long that even I have come to accept it), I'm growing to appreciate them more as aesthetic objects (the jury is still out on their incorporation into the garden). Something about their formal starkness, particularly the plants that form rosettes, is appealing. Probably moving to a semi-arid climate has something to do with it too.

Also, appreciation for the fruit of the agave may have gradually transferred to the plants. Above right: the spineless Agave attenuata, which has the virtue of not threatening your life every time you approach it. Probably would not make great tequila though. Its companion is Dudleya brittoni, native to California considerably south of here, the chalky whitish leaves of which form a nice contrast with the blue-green agave.

Update: read this pitifully underillustrated LA Times story on succulents before it vanishes into the archives. I still find many of the named (and implied) plants disturbing or just ugly.