Revealing my renovated succulent bed

I've been groaning over the succulent bed adjacent to the garage in our front garden for several years.  It's gone through numerous tweaks since I first planted the area in 2016 following removal of the lawn but it's never come together as well as my other succulent beds.  I finally started a wholesale renovation of the area in February when I removed the majority of the existing succulents, potting up what I wanted to keep and giving away or tossing out others.  I provided a status report in March after I'd dug in more than a cubic yard of succulent soil, augmented my rock collection, and begun replanting some of the succulents I had on hand.  Since then, I've been shopping and planting.  Noting that this is an immature garden with empty space I hope to see slowly disappear as the plants mature, I'm glad to finally reveal it in its current status.

This is a view of the bed from the southeast corner looking northwest toward the property line.  The Anigozanthos 'Fireworks' in front looks like it's done with its first flush of flowers.

This is a slightly different view from the flagstone path that intersects with the brick path used to move our trash bins to the street

View from the west end of the trash path looking at the potting bench and trash bins lined up against the garage

West end of the bed.  The new Chondropetalum tectorum (dwarf cape rush) on the left is planted in the area formerly occupied by a large Abelia shrub. I added a new Rhodanthemum hosmariense (Moroccan daisy) in front of the rush this week.  The small, white-flowered Westringia, a gift from a friend, was planted a decade ago.

View from another flagstone path behind the renovated bed looking south.  That large pot on the right needs replanting but that's a project for later.

East end of the bed with the trash bin path in the background.  I couldn't do much to disguise the irrigation pipes on the right, although I added a Crassula ovata (jade plant) on the near left, which may eventually grow large enough to detract attention from the pipes.

I conducted an informal survey of the plants in this area.  My photos are organized roughly in order of their species and I didn't capture every plant but here they are for my records.

Clockwise from the upper left: Miscellaneous Aeonium rosettes that originally decorated that piece of driftwood; Aeonium nobile and cuttings of A. haworthii 'Kiwi'; small plant sold as Aeonium 'Atropurpureum'; the Aeonium 'Sunburst' cutting I took that looks more like 'Moonburst'; the crested Aeonium 'Sunburst' I got at the C&SS sale; and cuttings of Aeonium 'Velour' from elsewhere in my garden

Clockwise from the upper left: Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold'; large Agave 'Blue Glow'; small 'Blue Glow' (one of 2); Agave bracteosa 'Monterrey Frost' (a gift from Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden); large pup of Agave pygmae 'Dragon Toes'; and one of 2 Agave titanota 'White Ice' moved from my north side garden.  I also planted 2 small pups of 'Dragon Toes' (not shown). The remnants of the clump of Agave attenuata I inherited with the garden is still in place.

Clockwise from the upper left: Aloe arborescens 'Variegata', A. distans, A. dorotheae 'Red' (also from Hoover Boo), A. 'Rooikappie' divisions, and A. sinkatana (zubb) x jacunda

Left-right: well-established clump of Billbergia 'Borracho' and new Chrondropetalum tectorum 'El Campo'

Clockwise from the upper left: Corpuscularia lehmannii, noID Cotyledon (3), Crassula perforata (3), C. rupestris (2), C. streyi, and Curio ficoides 'Mount Everest'

Clockwise from the upper left: Echeveria 'Afterglow' (3), E. 'Blue Prince' (3), E. 'Serrana' (3), E. agavoides (a dozen), E. 'Mexicano' (3), E. 'Violet Queen' (3), and Graptopetalum pentandrum (3)

Clockwise from the upper left: Osteospermum 'Serenity Coral Magic' (2), O. 'Serenity Dark Purple' (3), Pelargonium formosa, and Phormium 'Rainbow Sunrise'

Groundcover materials left to right: Aptenia cordifolia (red apple, 6 plugs), Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' (12 plugs), and Senecio serpens cuttings.  I also have a dozen plugs of Crassula 'Little Missy' on order by mail.

Along the way (with help from my husband), I removed a large Abelia grandiflora 'Edward Goucher' that came with the garden.  Constant shearing had turned it into a tall twiggy mess.  There are still two other Abelias on the other side of the peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa).  I've cut one back by half already and plan to do the same with the second one.

The shrub in the front was reduced by half in height and width.  The shrub behind it shows what the other 2 shrubs originally looked like.

It appears that I now have a gopher problem in this area too.  After discovering that on Wednesday and having a tunnel collapse under my foot on the other side of the garden near the lath house on Tuesday, I'm finally coming to accept that my attempts to move the gophers out using deterrents isn't working any longer and a more serious approach may be required.

On that note, best wishes for a peaceful weekend.

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

The southwest sloping succulent bed

In late 2020, suffering from the stir-craziness that accompanied the pandemic, I decided to tackle a complete renovation of the moderate slope on the lower level of our front garden.  I worked on it off and on from October into December.  I posted updates now and then but, as I prepared an update, I decided it might be useful to provide a general review of the project.

To help identify the area in question, here's a current photo:

You can see the house on the main level in the background.  This bed faces the southern property line.  The lath house I use for shade plants is feet away to the left near the street.

The project was inadvertently triggered by a gopher problem.

Once I discovered this gopher den, it took me a few months to encourage him to move out.  He initially moved from one area to another in the upper garden.  A combination of solar-powered sonic devices and deterrent granules watered into the soil eventually got rid of him.

I knew I had to repair the dry-stacked wall but as the gopher's construction project had destroyed a lot of the Aeoniums I'd planted here and as the rose bushes planted by a prior owner had never done well, I felt I might as well tear the area apart

I cleared the area, added rock to stabilize the slope, and replanted.

The pineapple guava tree (Feijoa sellowiana) was fine so it stayed, as did the succulents on either side of the affected area

As we didn't want to make a trip to the local stone yard (which I'm not sure was open to walk-in customers), I used rock saved during demolition of the indoor barbecue we'd removed during our 2019 home renovation.  I didn't buy any large succulents for the area either, relying instead on cuttings and small plants ordered by mail or picked up at the local garden center.  This photo was taken in early December 2020 when I declared the project "done."

In March 2021, an unidentified critter or critters, destroyed many of the Aeoniums on the east end of the bed (the lower right side as shown in the previous photo) so I had to clean up and replant that section.

This photo was taken in late March after I'd cleared the broken plants and replanted with cuttings.  I removed a Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' that had stood in front of the bed on this end as well.

Over the course of 2021, I also lost some plants and added others.  The losses included a few of the tiny Echeveria 'Raindrop' purchased by mail order and 2 Baccharis mangellanica, which grew well and looked great for almost a year before suddenly dying late last summer.  

Top row: After removing 2 clumps of Aeoniums along the upper path, I planted Aloe 'Moonglow' there
Next row: I added small Aeoniums, including leucoblepharum and 'Suncaps', and transplanted an Agave gypsophila 
Third row: Other additions included Lachenalia bulbs and cuttings of Crassula dubia

Some of the original plants have done better than others.

The original 3 Agave desmettiana bulbils have grown slowly relative to pups of Agave bracteosa (upper left) but Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', a Mangave 'Kaleidoscope' pup, and Sedeveria 'Fanfare' have beefed up nicely. 

The Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty' are also doing well, although an Amaryllis belladonna in the vicinity of one, planted many years ago among the former mass on Aeoniums and forgotten, needs to be moved

So how do you think it's doing?  Here are a few comparisons from different angles.

East views, photographed in December 2020 (left) and January 2022 (right)

West views, taken in early January 2021 and January 2022 respectively

North-facing views from December 2020 and January 2022

Views looking downward from the main level of the garden, taken in December 2020 and January 2022

Progress has been slower than I'd have liked but that's largely due to my use of small plants and cuttings.  However, using what I had on hand at the time was probably the right call.  Now I just need to summon my patience.

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

Fall is the time to plant

In my part of the world, fall is the very best time to plant.  The soil is still warm but air temperatures are cooler so plants can develop good roots underground without getting stressed above ground.  Combined with the prospect of rain, conditions couldn't be better.  My area doesn't experience freezes so there's no risk in that regard. 

I've been on a plant buying spree.

This is what I brought home from Seaside Gardens last Saturday

and this is what I brought home from Terra Sol on the same trip

I've made a few trips to my local garden center too.  And I'm expecting a mail order delivery today as well.

There's plenty of space for my recent purchases and more to come since I cleared the native aster (Symphyotrichum chilense) and the Liriope spicata out of the bed extending from our backyard fountain.

Photo of the area cleared in late September

Many of the new plants went into the bed shown in the foreground of the above photo (on the west side of the flagstone path).

I'm going for a blue and white mix with a touch of yellow in this area but there's a lot of space yet to fill

The preexisting plants in this area include blue-flowered dwarf Jacaranda 'Bonsai Blue', Barleria obtusa (just now beginning its annual bloom cycle), and Echium webbii.  The Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' develops small pink flowers but its foliage is chartreuse year-round.  Achillea 'Moonshine' bears yellow flowers from late spring through early summer.

New plants, top row: Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light' (2) and Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty' (3)
Middle row: Hybrid Salvias 'White Flame' (7) and 'Mysty' (3)
Bottom row: Cistus 'Little Miss Sunshine' (2) and a still unidentified plant I picked up on a whim (3)

I hope the unidentified plant doesn't turn out to be a weed!  I like its growth habit and bees love it.  Many Salvias don't do well for me but Salvia 'Mystic Spires' has been an exception and, like that plant, Salvias 'White Flame' and 'Mysty' are both hybrids of Salvia longspicata x farinacea so I have high hopes for them.  The agaves will take time to develop in size but the Lomanda 'Platinum Beauty' should reach mature size relatively quickly.

These are the Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty' I have growing in the front garden after just over 2 years in the ground

I continue to cut back and tear out plants in the back border on the east side of the flagstone path.

This area has always had mostly blue, purple and pink flowering plants.  That color scheme will probably continue, albeit with a different, more drought-tolerant mix of plants.

Just this week, I've removed the Echium handiense 'Pride of Fuerteventura' I'd planted in 2016.

This Echium is native to the Canary Islands and it has much longer bloom period than other Echiums in my experience; however, it got just too big for its spot at the front of the border and very woody.  The photo on the left was taken in February and the photo on the right was taken this week.

Having had surprising success with cuttings of Echium handiense last year, I took  more before we dug out the parent plant.  (The cuttings on the right came from a lanky Pseuderanthem 'Texas Tri-star' which I haven't previously succeeded in propagating but I'm trying again.)

This is one of my Echium handiense seedlings from last year.  Planted in an exceptionally dry area in my street-side succulent bed, it's already grown a foot tall and wide with very little supplemental water.

I dug up a large sweet pea shrub (Polygala myrtifolia) too.

This photo was taken in May.  The plant looked a lot worse in October and it'd also grown too large for its spot at the front of the border.  While it's pretty in bloom, it also proliferates like a weed.  It's out but its progeny is doing fine in another area.

Two plants from last weekend's shopping trip went into the vacated spots.

Westringia fruicosa 'Morning Light' (left, aka Australian rosemary) filled the spot previously held by Echium handiense.  It grows about 3 feet tall and wide and produces small white flowers.  Grevillea 'Pink Midget' (right) filled the spot previously occupied by the sweet pea shrub.  The Grevillea should grow no more than 2 feet tall but has a spread of 4-6 feet.  It has tiny mauve pink flowers very similar to those of Grevillea sericea.

I'm also looking to order some more plants by mail to help fill in more of the east border, notably Melinus nerviglumis.

Also known as ruby grass, this plant (shown here in my north side garden) stays a manageable size and looks good in and out of bloom

Other purchases were popped into areas elsewhere in the garden.

Correa reflexa 'Cape Nelson' found a spot in an area where the backyard border merges into the south side garden.  Having lost one Correa this summer, I couldn't resist this one.

Mahonia 'Soft Caress' found as spot in a partial shade area between the back border and the north side garden

Two other plants, gifted to me by Denise of A Growing Obsession when she was reorganizing her plant collection, found spots too.  Dombeya burgessiae has a partially shaded spot in one of my front borders.  Sonchus palmensis, a relative of the dandelion (!) was squeezed into an area in the back garden between a Grevillea and a Melianthus.  (Let the battle for space begin!)

The mail order plants delivered today will go in this weekend, along with pile of Freesia bulbs dislodged in the process of removing the asters.  Now, if we could only get some rain!  There's a small chance of drizzle this weekend with a greater prospect of real rain next Monday.  Fingers crossed!  Best wishes for favorable weather wherever you are this weekend.

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

My latest succulent bed rehab

Last week I started work cleaning up my street-side succulent bed.  Like many such projects, it started small and grew larger - and even now I suspect I'm not ready to leave it alone.  Let's just call this a progress report.

The only "before" photo I have to offer is one I took in early January when preparing my quarterly wide shots post.

From a distance it's hard to see its flaws

My original intention was to pull out a few dead plants and cut back the ice plant running amok on the south end of the bed (shown in the far right foreground in the photo above) to make room for a few succulent cuttings.  I got carried away, although I'm not sure that's immediately evident in my updated panoramic shot.

I cut back a lot of the ice plant and planted the cuttings I mentioned but it doesn't look all that different from this distance

Nor from this angle

One significant issue remains to be tackled but I'm still unsure how to proceed.

The Chondropetalum tectorum (which is probably actually C. elephantitum) has toppled over the three 'Blue Glow' Agaves in front of it.  Most online sources don't recommend pruning restios but, as the photo on the right shows, it's sticking into the street like a bad comb-over.

Leaving the Chondropetalum aside for further deliberation, I moved on section-by-section.

I only modified this next segment of the bed in minor ways, cutting dried leaves from the base of Agave impressa, moving a small Aloe buried behind the Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire', and transplanting 2 stems of Aeonium 'Sunburst' after removing a dead clump of Aeonium arboreum

Clockwise from the top left are: Agave impressa, the noID Aloe, Dudleya cymosa, and Puya berteroniana.  I planted the Puya in 2014, only to forget about it when it was covered by the broad leaves of an Agave desmettiana for years.  Since that Agave bloomed out, the Puya finally has a chance to grow up and out.  I'd thought the two Dudleyas were long gone too.  I still need to move them out of the way of Agave impressa.

This photo shows the remaining Agave desmettiana, a pup of one of the 2 Agaves that bloomed out in 2019, and the transplanted Aeonium 'Sunburst'

This next area got a major cleanup.  In addition to removing more dead Aeonium arboreum, I transplanted 2 Aeonium nobile previously buried between other plants.  The blue Agave colorata between Agave attenuata (left) and Agave 'Blue Flame' (right) was transplanted earlier this year.  The most important change was adding the Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' I've had in a pot for 2 years, now situated behind Agave colorata.  I was told that it needed more root space if it was ever going to grow up and the encircled roots at the bottom of the pot showed evidence of the truth of that.

I pulled more Aeonium arboreum out in this area, sticking a stem of Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire' in its place.  I also cut back the tall Senecio amaniensis (behind Agave 'Blue Flame') by more than half.  The latter had become extremely gangly.

This is what a better-behaved Senecio amaniensis in another part of my garden looks like.  Apparently, if it gets more water, it tends to develop an erect posture like this rather than decumbent posture it's demonstrated in my street-side bed.

The area beyond the Agave 'Blue Flame' was formerly covered by a thick, tangled mat of ice plant (possibly Drosanthemum floribundum).  I planted pups of Agave 'Blue Flame' and Agave mediopicta 'Alba' here, along with cuttings of 2 varieties of Aeonium.

Another view of the same area

I trimmed back the ice plant climbing underneath the Auranticarpa rhombifolium shrubs that loom over the succulent bed and pulled out a bucket load of grass weeds within it along the property line.  The ice plant could use more trimming, especially as the recent rain is going to prompt another growth spurt.

The street-side bed sits more than 2 feet below the level occupied by my lath (shade) house.  Cleaning up the lower level inevitably led to some tidying up of the area above as well.

I cut back the branches of the Auranticarpa rubbing against the side of the lath house and cleared the area on the ledge next to it of pots and a plant stand that had occupied the area since our home remodel

This is a view of the street-side bed from the lath house.  My hope is that the Yucca rostrata will eventually screen part of the area between our Xylosma hedge (to the right) and the large Auranticarpa shrubs (to the left).

Pots sitting on sections cut from a tree removed years ago partially screen the area now

I expect I'll be back tweaking this bed before the week is out but here's another view of what it looks like now.

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