The return of the Triffids

The Triffids do not exist in real life but, whenever my tree houseleeks (Aeonium arboreum) produce their dunce-capped bright yellow flowers, I think of those fictional plants.  I saw the science fiction/horror movie featuring them just once many years ago.  The film was already old at that point but, for some reason, it stuck in my memory - maybe because who thinks of plants turning against people?!  The "Triffids" of the tale (first described in a book and later represented in a movie and a TV series) were giant carnivorous plants of unclear origin that walked the earth, killing people.  Aeoniums don't eat people but they do seem take over landscapes if allowed to do so and, when they bloom, they can't be ignored.  Bloom stalks show up early in the year and suddenly the flowers are everywhere, at a time when my garden is otherwise relatively subdued.

They're impossible to miss.

For the record, yellow is one of my favorite colors but this display is a bit too much for me

And the plants are known to surreptitiously take over my garden beds

I also really hate it when the prettiest of my Aeoniums, like the rosettes of this 'Mardi Gras' cultivar, all bloom at the same time without leaving any offsets behind to replace them

However, I do like the flowerless Aeonium rosettes and I frequently use cuttings to fill in empty spaces as they're virtually indestructible plants in my climate.  Most branch out in time and eventually they get tall.  Although some of the larger cuttings bloom within a year, most take several years to flower.  Periodically, I find they've gotten out of hand, at which point they need to be either replaced, either by new cuttings or different plants altogether.

This small but dense planting of Aeoniums at the base of one of the raised planters in my cutting garden suddenly fell into decline over the past month or so and I decided they had to go

 

The plants aren't hard to pull but there were a lot of them and the mass had grown well over 2 feet tall.  It took a good hour to pull them out; take some cuttings; and clean up the mass of debris left behind.  I filled half of one of our green bins.

I'd planned to simple replant a handful of these cuttings on the spot but, with rain falling earlier than expected, I decided to leave the area alone for a time.  There may be an opportunity to plant something else there.

Last January, I pulled a larger area of Aeoniums out under the citrus tress in the cutting garden.  I ended up sowing California poppy seeds there and planting Gazinias and Lotus bethelotii in that bed.  The 2 Lotus plants alone have covered over half the space.

After receiving 4.83 inches of rain within the last couple of weeks, the soil is saturated and, following a short pause, more rain is expected on Saturday, continuing into early next week.  I've therefore placed the decision about replanting the small bed on a temporary hold.  In the meantime, I've taken down our Christmas tree and tucked all the ornaments away to give the new year a fresh start.  I'm already looking forward to an early spring.

The first 2 blooms of Camellia 'Taylor's Perfection' opened literally overnight to make their appearance on New Year's Day

Best wishes for a colorful weekend.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party