A different sort of plant giveaway

Last week, I started pulling out the mass of Aeonium arboreum that's blocking a major pathway in my cutting garden.  It's going to take a long time to reduce the plants to a manageable number.  As these succulents are heavy, I can't overload the green recycle bins with all of them at one time, even if I could stand handling the repetitive nature of the task in one go.  I put aside the best rosettes to give away but, even throwing out those that weren't in perfect condition, I didn't think the neighbors would flock to take armloads home, especially as I've given these cuttings away many times over the years.  So, when I read an article in a local magazine about a parkway succulent garden being created in front of a mosaic wall four miles away, I contacted the woman managing the project and offered the Aeoniums and a host of other succulents.  She said she'd accept them all and I took her at her word.

This is my car, packed and ready to make the delivery

The project manager told me she expected to be weeding the new garden during certain hours but no one was there when I arrived.  However, I'd been told I could leave them at the bus stop nearby even if no one was there so that's what I did.

In addition to 2 flats piled high with Aeonium arboreum and A. 'Kiwi' cuttings, I left cuttings of Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire', pups of Agave mediopicta 'Alba', potted bulbils of 3 other agaves, Crassula ovata and Senecio amaniensis in one-gallon pots, and a relatively large Agave attenuata division

I didn't spend much time looking at the garden, something I regretted after the fact.

It's a relatively new garden and they're planting only succulents as the parkway strip isn't irrigated

I spent a lot of time looking at the mosaic wall.  The mosaic was created with public support over a two-year period.  The artist is a former fire fighter, Julie Bender.  She got help and input from some three hundred local residents.  You can find a history of the mosaic wall on 25th Street in San Pedro here.

Partially hidden, this section proclaims Welcome to San Pedro, Los Angeles.  San Pedro was incorporated into the City of Los Angeles in 1909 but it's retained its own personality.

Brown Pelicans punctuate the 200 foot long expanse of the mosaic mural at intervals.  San Pedro is a port town and this section of the mural shows boats of various kinds.

The SS Lane Victory, a cargo ship used in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, now berthed in San Pedro as a museum, is shown here with other ships and boats.  The USS Iowa, a retired battleship, is shown elsewhere.  It's docked at the Port of Los Angeles and also serves as a museum.  The Vincent Thomas Bridge between the South Bay and Long Beach is also shown in the upper left.

In addition to palm trees, houses, and an air plane, this section shows the Korean Friendship Bell in the upper left area.  I'm guessing that the large white structure on the right represents the Point Fermin Lighthouse.

An angel carrying a light is one of several larger figures, probably representing the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, known as Angel's Gate

Two mermaids, one featured in a wheelchair (tended by a person tagged with the names of churches) and the second marked with graffiti

Other large figures include what I've dubbed as the "serviceman" (representing people in military and public service as indicated by tags covering his uniform), the "worker" (tagged with the titles of various tradespeople), the "cook" (tagged with names of restaurants) and the "teacher" (tagged with names of schools in the area)

Details included scenes from a beach (left) and the cliffs in San Pedro with houses and roads above and small buildings at sea level (right).  In other areas, houses were tagged with family names.

The lower areas showing the cliffs were put together using pieces of tile interspersed with mirrors

There were large areas covered in irregular tiles bearing facts relevant to the history of San Pedro

There were also lots of tiles bearing names of people and their opinions on a wide variety of subjects.  One series offered definitions of what makes a person a "real" San Pedran.

The garden project manager hopes to extend the succulent garden.  I hope my contribution helps her and volunteers assisting her with their project.  And I still have more than enough Aeonium rosettes to satisfy any one of my neighbors that may want them.

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

Moving ahead with fall garden projects

We've had a blessedly cool stretch of weather and I've plunged ahead with more of the garden projects I've had on my mind for many weeks.

The first involved the removal of the Echium webbii I featured in a foliage post last month.  It had reached the stage in which it had more bare woody branches than foliage and I felt it needed to be replaced.

The before photo on the left indicates what an important place it held in my back garden landscape.  The photo on the right following its removal shows how empty the area is without it.  The replacement Echium webbii in the middle foreground was received by mail order in a 4-inch pot.  I checked my photo archive to verify that it's the right plant as the foliage looks very different than that of the mature plant.  I found other photos showing that it bulked up well within 6 months.

As the new plant (shown right in a closeup photo) looked a little sad, I hedged my bets by taking cuttings from the mature plant before I took it out (left).  I wasn't successful in getting earlier cuttings of this particular Echium to take but maybe I'll get at least one plant from the 10 cuttings I took.  I also ordered a backup plant from the grower this week.

 

I've never been really happy with the roses on the west side of the driveway I inherited with the garden.  Over the years, I've reduced the water I provide to all my plants (with the exception of those in my cutting garden) in response to our perpetual issues with drought.  These roses have looked worse with each passing year and even the extraordinary level of rain we received this year wasn't enough to improve the situation.  I finally made the difficult decision to remove them in favor of more drought-tolerant plants.  I've retained the rose bushes on the east side of the driveway that have managed to get by with what they receive from the the irrigation system twice a week during our extended rain-less season.

Two of the 6 almost dead roses are shown in the top 2 photos.  The (admittedly poor) photo on the bottom left shows the bushes before they were taken out.  I think the soil was too sandy and fast draining for the roses and soil supplements hadn't cured the problem.  Following removal of the roses I added 3 lavender plants (Lavandula angustifolia) I had on hand to a couple I already had in place.  I'll probably add more lavender and Moroccan daisies (Pyrethropsis hosmariense) in this area.

 

 

I removed a bloomed-out Mangave 'Bloodspot' this week as well.

'Bloodspot', purchased in 2015, was my very first Mangave.  It bloomed 3 times and died out in the middle, producing pups in the process.  I divided the clump and got 5 viable pups, although I ended up keeping only the 4 largest ones.

I planted 2 of the pups at the base of the faux bird bath in my cutting garden, shown in the top 2 photos.  One pup went back into the spot the mother plant had occupied (bottom, left).  The last one replaced the sad succulents that formerly occupied the frog pot (lower, right).

In addition to the frog pot, I replanted another pot that was looking sad after two years of long, hot summers.

I replanted this Talavera-style pot with an Echeveria agavoides 'Gilva', a few small cuttings of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi', and a few noID cuttings I took from elsewhere in my garden

The Aeoniums I removed from the bed in my back garden last week went out on the street for another giveaway.

I wasn't sure how attractive passers-by might feel about the Aeoniums, especially as I've given these away before.  I potted up the 'Kiwi' cuttings in 4-inch pots in an effort to increase their appeal but I just dumped the Aeonium arboreum cuttings into plastic pots and hoped for the best.  As of last night about one-third of the Aeonium arboreum rosettes and half the 'Kiwi' pots had found new homes.  I'll leave them out another day before dropping the leftovers in my green recycle bin.

 

The garden has provided a few surprises this week too.

Two more Dahlias showed up: 'Fairway Spur' on the left and 'Enchantress' in the middle.  The third photo is a noID Plumeria a neighbor gave me 2 years ago after rescuing it from someone's trash can.

I discovered this fellow under an outdoor rug on our back patio when I was adjusting the rug to eliminate a wrinkle.  I'm not sure which one of us was more startled.  The snake sped away quickly once uncovered.  An Instagram commenter identified it as a two-striped gartersnake (Thamnophis hammondii).

 

Another warm-up is expected from Friday through Monday so I'm making the most of all the opportunities I have to work in the garden this week.  Household chores are on hold until those temperatures soar once more and I'm compelled to hole up in the house again.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Out with the old

I've been planning to clear out the cool season flowers in my cutting garden for some time now.  Between the advancing mildew and rust afflicting the spring bloomers and the need to make room for the dahlia tubers I've sprouted in temporary pots, this was weeks overdue but, as the spring flowers showed up very late this year, I admit I've been reluctant to let them go.  I decided to cut those that were still in good shape to give away to neighbors.

I filled an old beverage carrier with 6 glass jam jars with mixes of love-in-a-mist (Nigella papillosa), larkspur (Consolida ajacis), Minoan lace (Orlaya grandiflora), and assorted sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus)

I filled a second beverage carrier with the same flowers but used only a single species in each glass bottle

I placed both beverage carriers and 2 pots containing Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' cuttings on the driveway curb a little before 1pm yesterday.  After lunch, I added 4 more bottles to the mix, filling empty spaces in the carriers.

 

I saw an elderly neighbor carry off both beverage carriers with everything that remained in them around 5pm.  My husband says the carriers were about half full when the neighbor asked him about them.  My husband encouraged him to take "some" and, as his daughter had just arrived for a visit, he took one carrier for her and the other one for his wife.  He came back a little later to offer his thanks.  It may not be what I intended but, if they appreciated them, it's all good.  The Aeonium cuttings didn't have many takers so I left them on the curb overnight.

Meanwhile, my cutting garden is still only partially cleared.  Although I included sweet peas in my giveaway, I haven't pulled any of those vines yet.  I've cleared half of the other two raised planters thus far.  I hope to clear the majority of the middle planter this weekend.  Space constraints may push me to remove the remaining Nigella in the first planter too.

The photo on the left shows my cutting garden on May 25th.  The photo on the right shows it yesterday after I removed half the Nigella, all of the Orlaya, and 2/3rds of the Consolida.  I also removed all the self-seeded Coriandrum sativum (cilantro/coriander) as the plants were flopping over and going to seed.

The sweet peas were the last to bloom and they've grown so tall it's hard for me to cut them.  The vines are also showing more mildew with every passing day.  Although the moist marine layer is a factor in that equation, I contributed to the problem by failing to properly thin the vines when they finally took off.

Dismantling the raised beds was complicated by the fact that I'd laid hardware cloth over them to keep the raccoons and other critters out.  I'd cut out sections of the wire mesh to accommodate Anemone bulbs, foxgloves and snapdragons but the areas I sowed seeds in were completely covered with it.  While I could pull up the Nigella and Consolida flower stalks relatively easily in most cases, getting the fat stalks of Orlaya and Coriandrum out was much more time-consuming.

In addition to needing space for the sprouted dahlia tubers, I'd like to sow zinnia and sunflowers seeds as soon as possible.  I'm guessing that I'll feel compelled to clear the planter occupied by sweet peas sooner rather than later, possibly by mid-month, even if it pains me to do so. 

Another weekend task is planting seven new plants I received by mail yesterday.  At least I have spots identified for six of the seven of them.

 

I received 3 Agastache 'Ambrosia', 3 Gazania 'Otomi' and one Fuchsia magellanica 'Hawkshead'

 

I hope you have enjoyable plans for the weekend, either in the garden or outside of it. 

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

It was just too much...

Yellow is one of my favorite colors, along with blue and green.  However, the large size, florescent yellow color, and sheer number of Aeonium arboreum flowers puts me on edge after awhile.  I look at my garden and can't see anything but those bright yellow flowers.  I told a neighbor it felt as though the triffids were on the march throughout the space.

These lined the back patio, interfering with the flow of traffic

These crowded up against the backyard Ceanothus hedge

They made an appearance in the cutting garden in front of the citrus trees

And they were all over the front garden

This was their most triffid-like setting.  Can you see the neighbor's cat in the background at the end of the path on the right?  Even he seemed wary (although he may just have been waiting for me to go away).

Another view of the "march" along the front garden

 

So I cut the vast majority of them down.  I set out about one and a half dozen stems for neighbors to pick up if they choose, tossing many that were past their prime into our green bin for pickup and recycling later this week.

These stems will last at least a week even without water and well over 2 weeks with it.  They need the support of a heavy vase as the stems themselves are heavy due to all the water in their hefty stems.

The last time I did this, they disappeared relatively quickly.  That didn't happen this year but two-thirds of the stems were gone within twenty-four hours.  I'll pick up whatever are left this morning and deposit them in the green bin.  I haven't rid the garden of all of them in any case.  Flowers are still in the process of developing and I left those alone for the time being.  And of course, I missed some.

Late yesterday afternoon, I realized that I'd missed one right outside our living room window in my south-side garden, as well as several sticking out into the street from under the front hedge.  Those will go in the green bin too.

 

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Time for a giveaway!

I'm fairly certain I offered a giveaway from my garden earlier this year but, if that's so, I can't find documentation of it.  I've been thinking of putting out plants for neighbors to take since I accumulated a large number of Agave 'Stained Glass' bulbils in August thanks to Denise of A Growing Obsession.  However, I thought I'd hold off until the tiny plantlets developed roots and I had a wider range of material to offer.  This week I decided I couldn't put off harvesting the persimmons any longer so that triggered my decision to move ahead at last.  As it was, the critters (probably raccoons) have been breaking the persimmon trees' branches on a regular basis.

I'd already passed along a bag of 'Fuyu' persimmons (Diospyros kaki) to a friend but the 'Hachiya' variety was increasingly under siege by critters as well so I picked a bucket of both.  Fruit that had been chomped went directly into the green bin.  There's still 'Fuyu' fruit that looked too green to cut but the only 'Hachiya' fruit I left behind was that too high in the tree for me to reach.

With the persimmons ready to go, I assembled the other items I had to offer and printed information sheets to help neighbors decide what they might want to take home.  Yesterday morning I got everything laid out along the street.

I usually put all giveaway items next to the driveway entrance but, as the hedge running along the street is currently in full flower and buzzing with bees, I moved everything down the street to an area that allows passers-by to keep some distance between themselves and the bees

I've never seen this Xylosma congestum hedge as covered in flowers as it is now.  The chartreuse yellow flowers are a magnet for bees.

This is my little display

It includes 16 rooted variegated octopus agave bulbils (Agave vilmoriniana 'Stained Glass') in 4-inch pots.  I'm saving 2-3 for myself and plan to pass along others to friends.

Somehow, cuttings of Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire' end up in most of my giveaways.  We removed one plant in our back garden because it was in my husband's way when he was working on our irrigation system problems.  (Those seem to be resolved at last.)

A friend told me that the 'Fuyu' persimmons in her local market are going for $4 apiece so I wasn't surprised to find people taking those but the 'Hachiya' fruit is moving at approximately the same rate.  I left small paper bags so people could carry them home more easily.

I finally finished planting out two areas with Aeonium arboreum cuttings I took earlier so in the late afternoon I added 2 buckets filled with extra cuttings next to everything else

There have been far fewer people walking the neighborhood of late but apparently people do brake for plants when driving through the area.  What I put out in the morning was half-gone by 6pm.  I'm not sure how much interest there will be in the Aeoniums but I thought I'd check rather than tossing all those cuttings directly into the green recycle bin. 

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

There's only so much space

It's still too hot to get any major projects done in the garden and too early to go ahead with replanting areas that need an overhaul.  However, I've taken advantage of some cooler days here and there to start small-scale cleanups in a few areas.  In the process, I've pulled up a lot of agave pups.  I hate to throw them away so I've been potting them up and storing them behind the garage and next to my compost bins.

Agave 'Jaws' has become something of a pupping machine.  In addition to the pups you can see under the mother plant's arms (left), I discovered four more pups feet away (right).

With the noID agave pups I pulled out of the dry garden on the northeast side of the house late last month, the Agave 'Jaws' pups shown above, and another handful of Agave 'Medio-picta Alba' pups I pulled out of my south side garden earlier this week, I'd accumulated more than I wanted to store.  Time for another plant giveaway!

This batch of 24 plants were placed at the corner of our driveway late yesterday afternoon

I labeled everything as best I could.  These pups came up in the vicinity of several Agaves in my northeast dry garden and, at this size, I'm uncertain of their parentage.

I was able to identify most of the rest.  The exception was a stressed-out pup of what may be Mangave 'Lavender Lady'.

While reducing some of my surplus plant stock, I somehow managed to pick up other plants courtesy of a few friends at the same time.  Funny how that happens.  Here are the plants currently awaiting placement somewhere in my garden.

Aloe lukeana, received from Gerhard of Succulents & More.  It needs a lot of space so I'm debating whether it should go in my street-side succulent bed or on my back slope.

Aloe 'Moonglow', received as bare root pups from Denise of A Growing Obsession.  I potted them up while they await placement.  At least one or two of these will go into my south side garden.

Mangave 'My Dog Spot', received yesterday from my friend Kay, who can be found on Instagram @kaeru.niwa

Of the twenty-four plants I put out late yesterday afternoon, only nine of the smaller ones were still left when I checked this morning but, with the marine layer still firmly in place, there's a good chance more of them will find homes with neighbors who walk the area when the temperatures are still comfortable.  I'll leave them until late this afternoon to see if more disappear.  Twenty-four small plants out in exchange for four larger ones in isn't bad, though!

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party