Another project ticked off the list

Last Friday I reported on one project involving a cleanup in my north-side garden.  I also referenced the horde of Aeonium arboreum I'd accumulated as "edging" in my cutting garden.  It started innocently enough.  Shortly after we moved into our current home in December 2010, a close friend gave me several cuttings of these plants, which I think she got from her parents' home.  Unsure what to do with them at that point, I planted them along the border occupied by three citrus trees in what was originally set up as a vegetable garden.  I figured I could always dig them up or harvest rosettes from the plants to place wherever I liked once I'd made some decisions about where I could use them.  And I did just that year, after year, after year.  But I never removed the mother plants and the clumps only grew larger and larger with each passing year, until I could barely move between them and the raised planters I now use for growing flowers to cut.  Meanwhile, I have more Aeoniums of numerous varieties spread about in virtually every corner of my garden.  

I decided that it was time for the Aeoniums in the citrus beds to go.

"Before" shot taken just over a week ago

Closeup of the ungainly efforts I'd previously made to prevent tripping over the plants extending into the pathway

I removed half the mass last Friday morning, filling one and a half of our three green bins.  I was planning to hold off on the rest so I'd have room in the bins for other material I planned to prune; however, I asked my husband to remove two stumps I couldn't budge.  Two hours later I discovered that he'd moved the stumps and the remaining expanse of Aeoniums.  I'd planned to give away the Aeoniums in the best shape but oh well!  As it was, it took me a couple of hours to pull up stems and roots still embedded in the soil.  I also paid a visit to my local garden center to pick up soil amendment to give the somewhat sad citrus trees a boost.

I really needed more than this but I didn't want to get ticketed for blocking my rear view on the way home

I could still use a couple more bags of soil amendment but at least the bed looks better already

Side view of the same bed

I also cleaned up an adjacent bed occupied by a persimmon tree, a dwarf Japanese maple, and more Aeoniums

One small Aeonium cutting filled this small planter on my back patio

So, do you think I visited the garden center and just picked up soil amendments?

I rarely leave a garden center without plants and this was no exception

In addition to a citrus fertilizer, set aside to spread after we harvest the citrus currently on the trees, I brought home two other varieties of Aeoniums and an Agave 'Snow Glow'.  I think I was relatively restrained.  I emptied a large pot in the succulent bed in front of the garage of Manfredas and Sedum that had seen better days to give my new Agave 'Snow Glow' pride of place.  I've looked for a reasonably-priced specimen of that agave for years.  Along the way, it could be said that I've lowered my expectations of what a "reasonable price" is.

This is the replanted pot.  Although the agave will probably fill the entire pot in time, I thought it could use an embellishment.

The burro's tail succulent (Sedum morganianum) in this pot has been trailing the ground for some time.  I took 6 cuttings to trail down the side of the pot containing 'Snow Glow'.

I did a little tweaking of the succulent bed while I was working in the area.

The 3 small pots of Aeonium decorum 'Sunburst' went into the bed next to the mutant cutting I took from elsewhere in my garden last year.  Note that 'Sunburst' and the "mutant" are similar in color but the variegation is flipped.  The mutant has yellow stripes down the middle of its leaves with green edges whereas the variegation in 'Sunburst' is the reverse.

I'd never seen Aeonium 'Super Bang' before so I picked up 3 of those in small pots and added them to this bed too

This noID Aloe was included with a variety of plants given to me by a neighbor in a temporary planter made of the base of a fallen palm frond.  It and its companions were stressed and needed to be planted in the ground.

I also moved around succulents that were crowding Veltheimia braceteata bulbs.  I transplanted the bulbs last year in the hope that, given time, they'll bulk up and bloom again.

I've more work to do on that succulent bed but that may take a backseat to the pruning I still need to finish now that my three green bins are empty again.  Meanwhile here are shots of yet another variety of my blooming Anemones to end the week on a colorful note.

These are both examples of Anemone coronaria 'Rarity'

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

What a difference rain makes!

It rained off and on from late Saturday evening into early Monday morning, delivering 1.14 inches of rain in total, and bringing our tally since the start of our "water year" on October 1st to 1.43 inches.  While that isn't great, it helped to bring the fires in Los Angeles County to almost full containment.  It should also place a damper on wildfires in the near future, especially as there are no Santa Ana winds in the immediate forecast.  My 50- and 160-gallon rain tanks are full and my 265-gallon tank is half full, which means I have approximately 240 gallons of rainwater available to give my garden a boost when needed.

This was the second round of rain I collected off the rain chain hanging from the back of the house.  I dumped the first trugs I filled on Saturday night into the beds under the roof's overhang as they contained a lot of dirt and silt.  As the majority of the rain on Sunday and Monday arrived during the overnight hours and I wasn't quite crazy enough to collect it during a thunderstorm, I missed the opportunity to capture more; however, I did transfer what you see here to the largest rain tank attached to the garage roof, which isn't an effortless task.

There's no assurance of more rain before the season comes to an end in April; however, February is generally the wettest month in Los Angeles so it's a good, if not certain, possibilty.  Fortunately, Northern California is expected to receive more rain than the southern part of the state, which is helpful overall.  But this is still a moment for celebration and I made the rounds of my garden to check the effect of the rain we got.  Everything is looking fresh and clean after eight dry and dusty months.  My survey was entirely random and it's heavy on succulents, with relatively little in the way of commentary.

In the back garden:

A look at 2 borders off the back patio looking northeast.  The 2 Arbutus 'Marina' (strawberry trees) in the background look particularly good and the Aeoniums are so clean they shine.

View of 2 more borders looking toward the harbor

Three 'Pineapple Express' Mangaves surrounded by fresh Agapanthus and Westringia foliage

Mangave 'Red Wing'

Agaves bracteosa and 'Joe Hoak' in the southeast corner of the back border

'Bright Star' Yuccas living up to their name in the same area

In the south-side garden:

Agave 'Blue Glow's' twin bloom stalks are reaching for the sky now

Euphorbia rigida has suddenly produced blooms to complement the 'Blue Flame' Agaves 

In the front garden:

Five Agave desmettiana, all pups of 2 former plants, are full grown now (and probably destined to bloom all at once)

Not the best photo but it shows that a Ceanothus griseus horizontalis 'Carmel Creeper', planted from a one-gallon pot in 2022, has finally spread to cover much of the ground on this slope.  I placed the water bottle shown there to provide a slow drip in a relatively dry area when it was small.  I can probably do away with it now.

Two 'Multicolor' Agaves with a sprawling Aloe labworana in the middle

Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' with a background of a couple dozen blooming Aeonium arboreum

In the north-side garden:

Agave funkiana, no longer being pushed around by Agave 'Rosa Gorda'

Alright, Agave ovatifolia always looks food but now it's clean

A collection of Mangaves, including 2 'Lavander Ladies', 2 'Purple People Eaters', one 'Silver Fox' (with its bloom stalk outside the frame) and one 'Catch the Wave' 

On the back slope:

The back slope still needs fillers but it looks fresher

The Aeoniums have fleshed out; foliage of a handful of calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) has appeared; and it looks like the peach tree stump is starting to decay.  Under "normal" conditions, there'd be dozens of calla lilies nearing bloom stage by this time.

And along the street:

The entire expanse of plants is looking rejuvenated

Chrondropetalum elephantinum looking good even it it's partially covering 3 'Blue Glow' Agaves

I'm not sure the rain had much effect on the cutting garden.  As it is, I give that part of my garden more supplemental water than any other area.  The sweet peas and most of the other seeds I sowed back in November have yet to show much progress but the anemones are slowly offering one bloom after another so I'll end this post with one example.

Anemone coronaria 'Azzurro'

AccuWeather currently predicts a strong (sixty percent) chance of rain the weekend after next but such long-term projections often evaporate.  In the meantime, we can but hope for more of rain's magic.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Rain, at last!

Rain finally arrived on Saturday night.  The TV satellite suddenly went off-line and my husband had decided to go to bed.  I was reading when I heard the pitter-patter of rain on the roof a little before 10pm.  Because I'm crazy, I threw on a coat when I saw rain coming down at a good clip and positioned plastic trugs under the rain chain on the back patio to collect what my rain barrels couldn't.  When it tapered off (and I was moderately wet) I turned in for the night, counting on the additional showers in Sunday's forecast.  The forecast was correct, delivering rain on and off the next day.  We even got a rainbow between showers.

View from my back patio

The rain didn't come down heavily here until very late last night.  Light rain was preferable on this occasion because it lessens the danger of mudslides in areas recently scarred by the fires that have plagued us for weeks.  As of my last check on Sunday evening, the Palisades Fire was ninety percent contained; the Eaton Fire was ninety-eight percent contained; and the Hughes Fire, which broke out last Wednesday and burned over 10,000 acres, was ninety-five percent contained.  The rainfall recorded by our rooftop weather station between Saturday night and Monday morning totaled 1.14 inches!  That's more than was expected, although it included a late night thunderstorm that may have caused problems in the fire areas.  Our water year-to-date total, counted from October 1st, now stands at 1.43 inches.  The majority of our rain usually falls between November 1st and April 30th.

Between showers Sunday morning, I cut flowers to fill two vases.  The first is dominated by a huge flower of Hippeastrum 'Marilyn'.

I potted my new Hippeastrum bulbs late in the season and all are growing outside, which slows their bloom schedule.  'Marilyn' has 2 more buds yet to open but the first flower is the size of my hand with my fingers fully spread.

Back view: I settled on a relatively monochromatic mix of materials, which I found somewhat disappointing; however, I couldn't find anything else that provided more impact

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', pale green Eustoma grandiflorum, Hippeastrum 'Marilyn', Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', L. s. 'Chief', and Narcissus papyraceus

The second arrangement features pink and white Anemone coronaria flowers.

The Anemones are slowly waking up

Back view

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', L. scoparium 'Pink Pearl', Anemone coronaria 'Mistral Bianco Centro Nero', and A. c. 'Mistral Rosa Chiaro'

For more IAVOM posts, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Time for a clean-up

Last January, almost exactly a year ago, I cleaned up my north-side garden.  At the time I was pleased by how it looked after I removed a large number of Aeonium haworthii to show off a variety of agaves previously hidden behind them, filling in here and there with smaller succulents.

This is a shot of the north-side garden once I finished the job last January

Twelve months later, the same area was annoying me for a different reason.

Agave 'Rosa Gorda', shown in front of a taller Agave funkiana, spread faster than I'd expected.  The clumps were pushing back against the taller plant.  Thinning out the clump proved to be virtually impossible.  Clearing weeds and other plants surrounding the A. funkiana was also difficult.

To complicate matters, Agave funkiana was cramming pups of its own into the mix

Agave 'Rosa Gorda' is described by San Marcos Growers here.  It grows in tight clusters and, in my garden with the heavier-than-usual rain we had for 2 years, it spread rapidly, constantly producing new rosettes to form even denser clumps.  (The third of the 3 photos above shows a dozen or so pups emerging from the sides of a single rosette.)  I had to soak the clump before I could even get a shovel into the rock hard soil.  Its thorny leaves are vicious too, even though I wore elbow-length leather gloves.

I'd originally thought I'd replant a small section of the Agave 'Rosa Gorda' and possibly add an Agave funkiana pup or two.  At present, I've decided to give the matter more thought.

I think I'd be happier with smaller, more manageable succulents in front of the taller agave.  However, I did leave a separate, relatively small clump of 'Rosa Gorda' in place.

Having also cut back the lower branches of Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' (sited behind the agaves) and having cleared a small portion of the rampant ivy, there's more breathing space in between the plants in this area.  Rather than filling in with new plants behind the agaves, I may add a flagstone path to simplify garden maintenance.  I still have a lot of ivy to remove!

I'd considered offering segments of Agave 'Rosa Gorda' to neighbors but, that plant was so hard to manage - and so difficult to remove - that I decided not to inflict it on other people, even with warnings about its proclivities.  However, I'll probably give away most of the Agave funkiana pups I collected.

I found about a dozen Agave funkiana pups in various sizes, saving 6 of them

I also found this mystery agave.  It looks like a mutant cluster of Agave victoriae reginae pups.

With one mess taken care of, I'm currently contemplating taking on another.  I've been planning to remove the Aeonium arboreum in my cutting garden for years now.  It's not a small job but I have more of those Aeoniums elsewhere (which also need winnowing) so I definitely don't need a large collection in my cutting garden.  There's no way I'll ever run out of these plants for use wherever I want them.

The huge masses of Aeoniums in front of the citrus trees in my cutting garden have grown so wide I can barely walk through the path between them and the raised planters.  I've cut them back before but pulling them out would resolve the problem once and for all.

As it is, I have way too many Aeoniums in the front garden, most of which could do with thinning.  The best approach is to pull them up and replant cuttings but that's something I'll probably handle one area at a time. 

The back garden is also over-populated with Aeoniums, another area that needs to be addressed

Maybe I'll tackle the Aeoniums in the cutting garden this weekend, or maybe I'll get distracted by another project.  Or maybe it'll rain and I'll stay inside and read!  Best wishes for your weekend, however you decide to spend your time.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party