Dispatching my Aeonium overflow

The Oxford Dictionary defines an "overflow" as "an excess or surplus not able to be accommodated by an available space."  That applies to the current surplus of Aeonium arboreum bloom stalks in my garden.  I started to count them several weeks ago and stopped when a got to a hundred.  More have appeared since.  It seemed time to reduce their number so a neighborhood giveaway was in order.  I've done this before as shown in this prior post dated February 18, 2022.

I filled 5 good-sized recycled plastic canisters with water and used the bench as my staging area.  I cut about 40 stems.  The bees were all over them but they paid me no attention.

I set them facing the street in front of my succulent bed

Closeup of my sign.  I put the flowers out late Monday afternoon and 3 of the 5 canisters were gone when I checked on them at early Tuesday morning.  One empty plastic canister was later returned empty, which I refilled late Tuesday afternoon.  Between the bees and the fact that numerous neighbors have Aeoniums of their own, I may not get many more takers.

I threw 5 more stalks into this vase with no water so I could assess how long they last without it

There are still a lot of flower stalks left.

It looks as though I hardly made a dent in the number of flowers.  They were more prolific to start with in this area of the front garden but, as I have Aeonium arboreum scattered everywhere, I cut stems from multiple locations.

At least I cleared all the stalks that made this it hard to walk along this path

Lest you think I've foisted off my problem on my neighbors, I should note that I've found the flowers make decent and long-lasting vase material.

This is the arrangement I created for "In a "Vase on Monday" on January 5th. In addition to the Aeoniums, it contained Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Argyranthemum frutescens, and Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'.

This is a photo of the same arrangement taken a week later.  Other than white Marguerite daisies, it looked even better a week afterwards on January 18th but I failed to take a photo before I chucked it out to make room for another floral arrangement.

Any spent or disfigured bloom stalks have already gone in the green bin.  More will go once the green bins are emptied later this week.  I may keep a dozen or so but that's it.  Meanwhile, a more interesting flower opened yesterday.

This is Hippeastrum 'Amadeus Candy'.  I've 3 of the bulbs in a pot and 2 stems have blooms, with the third still in bud.

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

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

Too much of a good thing

I have the vague feeling I've used this post title before but it's well deserved in this case.  The subject is the current abundance of succulents in bloom in my garden, specifically those of the Aeonium haworthii species.  Although I'm well known for my addiction to flowers, I don't like most of the flowers produced by succulents, feeling that they tend to detract from the sculptural appeal of the plants.  However, I don't generally mind the flowers of Aeonium 'Kiwi' or 'Kiwi Verde' - at least not until they go berzerk.

I've already cut a large number of the flowers, tossing many of them in the trash.

The prelude to clearing these plants obstructing the flagstone path in the back garden last week involved first cutting and discarding all the flowering stems in my way

In addition, prior to the arrival of the crew that took out numerous shrubs and a dead tree I'd targeted for removal this past Monday, I cut all the stems spilling out into paths they needed to cross.  I've also cut the flowers for use as a filler in one of my own floral arrangements, as well as three arrangements I've given to other people this week.  Nonetheless, the sheer volume has become overwhelming and I'm now in an "off with their heads" mode.

Some photos may help make my feelings more understandable.

Of the two varieties of Aeonium haworthii, 'Kiwi' is the more well-behaved in both form and flower.

Flowering 'Kiwi' rosettes in back and front areas of the garden

A mass of 'Kiwi' rosettes edging a bed in the south-side garden with over a dozen flower stems

These are the 'Kiwi' rosette cuttings I saved when I cleared the flagstone path.  I'm planning to use them to edge more beds but I may be more sparing with them than in the past.

The flowers of  'Kiwi' and 'Kiwi Verde' are very similar.

'Kiwi's' flower stalk is on the left and 'Kiwi Verde's' is on the right.  The former's open flowers are lighter in color but otherwise the same as those of 'Kiwi Verde'.

The plants themselves are somewhat more distinct from one another.  'Kiwi's' foliage rosettes are variegated and tend to be smaller than those of 'Kiwi Verde'.  The rosettes of the latter have a subtle red edge and grow taller.  They also grow faster, bloom sooner after planting, and produce longer, floppier flower stems.

You can see the differences in this photo taken at the north end of the back garden

I got carried away planting 'Kiwi Verde' at one point so those flowers now seem to be everywhere.

They don't look too bad in this bed siting next to the back patio (yet)

They look messy in this bed along a path near the south end of the back garden

I think they interfere with the appearance of this bed in the south-side garden

They're partly hidden at the back of this south-side bed but they interfere with passage through a dirt path used by both me and the gardeners who sheer the hedge on a regular basis

They spill into paths and over other succulents in various areas

And they're spilling into the street too

With Mother's Day in mind, I began cutting more of the flower stems, cleaning them of the fleshy lower bits, and plunking them into small plastic bottles I'd saved.  I filled ten bottles with five stems each before I quit.

I placed them at the street's edge as one of my giveaways yesterday morning.  I wasn't at all sure how much appeal they'd have for neighbors. Late yesterday afternoon, when I checked it looked as though only one bottle had been picked up.

Almost all of the larger Aeonium arboreum flowers are long gone and the remaining, still plentiful Aeonium haworthii will soon follow suit.  The only Aeonium flower I'm inclined to leave alone for the time being is this one:

Whereas most Aeonium arboreum produce cone-shaped florescent yellow flowers, hybrid Aeonium 'Sunburst' produced a peachy flower.  If only these plants produced more offsets!

Happy Mother's Day to all who will be celebrating it this coming Sunday!

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

A Giveaway on Election Day

My husband and I voted early, as did most of my friends, and listening to political advertisements and constant flurries of statistics and predictions was something I've wanted to avoid ever since.  Unlike a certain billionaire, I can't give people a million dollars to "encourage" them to vote (and I certainly wouldn't act in support of the man he does).  However, I decided that an innocuous condition-free giveaway of my own might provide the diversion I needed on Election Day.  

I got started with my preparations on Monday.  The obvious focus was the two persimmon trees, which have been laden with fruit this year.  The trees' branches have strained under the weight of it and critters had started going after that fruit, breaking branches in the process.  It was time for a harvest.

These are both shots of Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu'.  I tackled the fruit shown on the left first, collecting 4 dozen undamaged persimmons to give away.  The fruit on the right, hanging over the fence, still needs picking. 

The flat-bottomed 'Fuyu' persimmons are shown in closeup on the left.  The rounder 'Hachiya' persimmon is shown on the tree (right).  I harvested 3 dozen of the latter as a start.

As I'd spent several hours cleaning up our back slope over the past weekend, I knew I also had an excess of lemons so I decided to add a bucket of those to my giveaway too.

The lemons that looked like this one, presumably stripped of their skin by rats, went in the green bin but I was able to pick more than 2 dozen lemons in good shape

As we had just two children show up at the door on Halloween, I also had leftover candy I needed to unload give away.  And of course I usually have succulents to pass along.  All combined, I was able to put together one of my larger giveaways.

I took photos with my phone after my initial set-up, which is a good thing as by the time I returned with my regular camera some things were already gone

Both varieties of persimmons were offered, along with bags if walkers needed help in carrying the fruit home.  A prior post on the differences between the 2 varieties can be found here.

The candy and the lemons are shown here

I put out 2 large rosettes of Agave attenuata (aka foxglove agave) I'd removed from different areas.  They weren't planted in soil but both had developed roots.  In addition, I added several pots containing pups of a Mangave, 2 varieties of Agaves, and an Aloe.  Surprising to me, all the small succulents disappeared quickly but the 2 foxtail agaves hadn't caught anyone's interest when I last checked in the late afternoon.

If you're a US resident, I hope you found a way to focus on little things that make you happy yesterday (after voting of course).  I imagine it's going to take a while to sort out the results given all the reports predicting a close race.  Be sure to take time to breathe!

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party