The Queen of Hearts says...

Off with their heads!  Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts wasn't known for her patience.  As spring moves ahead at record speed here and my focus shifts to planting, deadheading flowers, and, in the absence of rain, watering, I decided not to wait any longer to cut back the dozens of florescent yellow blooms of Aeonium arboreum I discussed in an earlier post.  However, rather than throw away all those bloom stalks, I collected the best of them and set them in the driveway as an offer to the neighbors.  I put them out just after 4pm to catch both the late afternoon and early morning walkers.  Because our Santa Ana winds were already kicking up (again), I placed a cement brick at the bottom of the plastic pot to ensure it would stay upright.

I wasn't sure how much appeal the Aeonium bloom stalks would have but the worst that could happen was that they'd end up in the green bin.  There were about 15 stalks in the plastic pot.  On average I'd estimate that each was about 2 feet tall.

I also provided the best of the Aeonium rosettes I collected in the process of cutting back those bloom stalks

I was surprised when I went out to the mailbox after dinner (around 7pm) and found one entire tray of Aeonium cuttings and all the flowers, including the plastic pot (and the brick), gone.  If I'd known they'd have that kind of appeal, I might have put out a second bucket of flowers but, as it was, I left only about a dozen bloom stalks in the garden, most of which aren't yet fully developed.  I threw away between two and three times the number of flowers stalks I left on the corner of the driveway.

The garden was left looking a little quieter but, as it's quickly moving into peak spring mode, eliminating most of that florescent yellow color allows me to focus on the new blooms.  Here are a few before and after shots.

Before and after the decapitations in the back garden.  Two bloom stalks remain.

The cutting garden (2 bloom stalks also remain here)

All the blooms originally shown in the area on the left are now gone

Only four blooms stalks remain along the front slope

I need to pull out some masses of Aeonium to make additional room for plants currently crowded by them but that's a project for another day.  My task for the weekend is to get some new plants in the ground.

I received 2 mail order deliveries yesterday, one from Annie's Annuals & Perennials and another from Burpee

I'm planning to renovate one bed in an area of the front garden adjoining our garage and brought home a host of plants from my local garden center on Wednesday for that purpose

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend!  If spring hasn't reached you yet (and I fully realize that's true in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere), I hope you see early signs of it soon.

One small Aeonium bloom stalk was placed at the feet of the gargoyle that sits beneath a bench next to the front door.  The blooms, whether in water or not, can last 2 weeks or more, presumably because so much water is stored within that succulent stalk.

All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party