Cleaning up, clearing out, and giving away

I dislike clutter in any form, possibly because I grew up with a mother who became something of a hoarder.  While life in my childhood home never led to visits by the fire department or public safety officials, I grew uncomfortable with piles of unused and useless stuff.  If something sits around too long without serving any purpose, I'm inclined to throw it out, give it away, or if appropriate, donate it to one agency or another.  On occasion, if my husband can't find something, he asks if there's been a "Peterson purge."  (For the record, I don't touch his office, his workshop, or "his" garage.)  I recycle plastic pots at my local garden center, which is happy to accept them.  And, when it comes to plants, flowers, and produce from the garden, I offer that up to my neighbors via periodic giveaways.

My latest giveaway, undertaken this week, was triggered by a plethora of persimmons.

The more astringent 'Hachiya' persimmons (Diospyros kaki) had a banner year.  The heavy fruits make the tree look beautiful but they're less attractive as they crash to the ground and, once the raccoons and other critters have "harvested" the 'Fuyu' persimmons, they swarm that tree, breaking branches as they go.

The crop of 'Fuyu' persimmons was relatively light this year and the raccoons made quick work of picking the fruit, well before it was fully ripe.  I gave half a dozen fruits to friends but the critters took most of the rest.

I harvested the persimmons in stages and tried to protect the picked fruit from the critters but anything left unattended was fair game as far as the raccoons were concerned

In addition to the persimmons, I decided to add a mix of other things kicking around the garden to my giveaway.

This spot along the rock ledge front of my street-side succulent bed was the best I could come up with to fit everything in the same general area

Here's a closer look at what I included:

I put the persimmons all together on one end.  There are still more 'Hachiya' persimmons on the tree that were harder to reach.  I'll make the additional effort to pick them before they fall if I see there's adequate interest in the fruit.

As you can see, there were very few 'Fuyu' persimnmons to offer

Last year, some people assumed that 'Hachiya' persimmons could be eaten just like the non-astringent 'Fuyu' fruits.  This year, I took extra care to emphasize the necessity if giving the former time to turn soft so there would be fewer surprises.

I placed the mixed succulents, Halloween candy, and Renga lily plants together

Most of the succulents are agave pups of one kind or another, with a couple Mangaves thrown in.  I labeled all of them as best I could.  I tried to give some of these away unpotted with zinnias in September but there were few takers so I potted them up to develop roots before trying again to interest neighbors in them.

We had NO Halloween visitors at all this year so I had 2 bags (100 pieces) of candy on hand.  I put the candy out for delivery people to take earlier in the week before including the rest in this giveaway.  If nothing else, the candy may give people a moment to consider the fruit and plants.

Lastly, I included 4 of the Renga lily (Arthropodium cirratum) divisions I saved earlier this year when I cleared the planting bed outside our living room area at the back of the house.  I've kept several to use elsewhere in my own garden and handed one pot off to a neighbor directly.

The 'Fuyu' persimmons were a big draw last year but I don't expect the prolific 'Hachiya' persimmons to go as fast.  Unless someone is familiar with them, the astringency of the fruit is likely to be off-putting, although I've been told they're a nice ingredient in baked goods.  The succulents are small and mostly prickly so they may not be appealing either but I purposely planted them in small pots to make them at least nominally more attractive to passersby.  Renga lilies aren't plants that are familiar here even though they do well in our climate but I'm hoping that sharing a photo of their flowers will interest some people.  As to the leftover Halloween candy, I wouldn't be surprised if it's already gone.

Anything that doesn't go by late Sunday afternoon will probably end up in my garbage or recycle bins.  I'm just happy to be be rid of some of my garden clutter.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend.

Postscript: I finished laying out my giveaway goods at 10am on Thursday (after the usual neighbor walking hours were over).  I left an hour later to meet friends, returning near 2pm to finish this post for automatic publication on Friday morning.  When I headed out for my own daily walk around the neighborhood at 4pm, I discovered that everything, with the exception of 5 of the small succulents, was gone.  To say the least I was surprised.  I haven't yet checked the status of the 5 succulents this morning.

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