This weekend Matt and I popped down to PG and weeded and planted. I cleared a section at the front along the sidewalk, and planted an Agave impressa there.
Matt planted a Dodonea viscosa (Purple Hopseed) at the top of the garden - a nice purple leaved shrub that's very tough. He also removed a dead tree and in it's place planted an Erythrina crista-galli (Cockspur Coral Tree) down at PRG.
Since it has rained so much, weeds have been growing a lot. And when they grow up around Agaves they can make a very damp, fungus-prone environment. Absolutely not something your average Agave likes at all. So, we spent a lot of time weeding around Agaves to make them happy.
We also planted a lot of plants!
3 Agave macroacantha
3 Agave "Sharkskin"
1 Tanacetum haradjanii (Silver Tansy)
1 Cynara cardunculus (cardoon)
1 Erythrina crista-galli (Cockspur Coral Tree)
Some of these went up at the top of the garden, some went by the bench. They're all plants that Matt and I have been growing for PG for years now, waiting until they were big enough to be planted out. Please keep your dogs out of the beds so they don't damage the new plants, or worse, poop on them.
We regularly see this lovely butterfly at the gardens - it's a common butterfly of western North America. It's has a striking look - you might call it a black butterfly with a yellow stripe or a yellow butterfly with black edges. Both the upper and lower sides of its wings are black, but the upper wing has a wide yellow stripe across it There are bright blue spots on the rear edge of the rear wing, and it has tiny tails pointing down from those wings too, giving it the swallowtail name.
Bright yellowish-orange to red eyespots near the tails of each wing each contain a black pupil. This pattern is thought to be a form of mimicry where a spot on the body of an animal resembles an eye of a different animal to scare off predators, or even draw a predator's attention away from the prey's most vulnerable body parts (in this case a butterfly would rather get pecked wings than a pecked body.) They might even make the butterfly look inedible or dangerous.
The Anise Swallowtail likes open areas - bare hills or mountains, fields and roadsides, in towns and in gardens or vacant lots. From British Columbia and North Dakota at its northern extreme, south to the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of Mexico, it's occasionally also seen in the southeastern United States, but its normal range does not extend east of New Mexico.
Adult females lay eggs singly on the undersides of host plant leaves. The caterpillar starts out dark brown, almost black, with an irregular white band at its middle. After that, it becomes more green at each successive molt until it's almost all green, with markings in black, orange, and light blue. And guess what it likes to eat? Members of the carrot family, including fennel - our most hated weed - as the common name suggests. So I have to say we encourage that... more swallowtails for everyone!
This year we have been weeding, pruning, and also planting. And this week we planted the following:
1 large Agave tequilana "Sunrise" to replace the Agave weberi "Reiner's Selection" that flowered in the brights bed.
1 Agave mapisaga "Lisa" to replace the Agave weberi that flowered by the sidewalk. Per the photo it looks really small now... haha... but it's one of the biggest Agaves in the world so WATCH OUT!
3 Artemisia "Powis Castle" in the middle left bed
2 Yucca guatemalensis at PRG
I also cut back the Salvia canariensis at the top of PG and ripped out piles of weeds... how satisfying!
The legendary David Verity passed away at the age of 90 in November 2020. Manager of the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden from the 1960s to the 1990s assisting director Mildred Mathias, he was a widely recognized expert horticulturalist and plant breeder.
The parentage of this Aloe is thought to be a cross between an Aloe arborescens hybrid with Aloe × principis, which is a natural hybrid between Aloe arborescens and Aloe ferox that is also known as Aloe salm-dyckiana.
It's flowering for the first time now, and it is gorgeous. The branching multi-colored flower spikes pop up above the blue-green leaves with light pinkish buds in a spiraled pattern. The buds darken to
red before the flowers begin opening in a soft yellow from the bottom of the spike to the top, giving a two tone effect that's pretty spectacular.
Well drained soil, full sun and pretty much no water will suit this plant, so it's perfect for your low water garden, though in very hot areas it will need some water in summer. It can even tolerate coastal conditions to some degree, and makes a great focal point.
We were joined by Josh who set about weeding the entire Aloe nobilis hedge along the bottom path, among other piles of weeds. Meanwhile, Matt set about weeding the Agave pup farm behind the Wrong Way sign. As tough as Agaves are, when they get overgrown with damp weeds they can quickly rot out so clearing around them at this time of year is critical.
Great day to be outside, enjoying the gardens.
It does well on dry,
gravelly slopes and sandy washes, needing a very sunny position in very well-drained soil. Used for border, erosion control, and ground cover, Caltrans has begun to use it in hydroseeding which has quite dramatically increased its spread.
This plant has big yellow flowers, rich in nectar and it's much appreciated by bees and butterflies, and leaves that are more or less silvery depending on rainfall.
The hotter and drier the growing season, the smaller and whiter are the leaves produced, which helps the plant cope with water loss. During dry seasons the plant goes drought deciduous, shedding all of its foliage, and relying on the water stored in its thick stems.
Cutting it back by half after flowering or in fall keep this little shrub looking bushy, and with a bit of luck it will find PG a great place to be.
What have we been up to? Weeding like maniacs! You can see from the pictures here that our amazing volnteers have been working hard to get ahead of what's going ot be a big year for weeds after our early storm.
We have also been planting lots of things! In the last months a slew of plants have gone in, among them the following:
3 Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)
6 Santolina chamaecyparissus
3 Agave cupreata (at PRG)
3 Artemisia "Powis Castle"
1 Ficus benjamina tree that outgrew it's pot at home and will make a great street tree, if it survives...
Several various Agaves in various places, and probably some Yuccas too!
We've also been removing yucca flowers. Why? Well someone has made it a habit to go to the garden and cut the flowers off the yucca plants, presumably to eat. Yes, you can eat the flowers - deep fried or in an omelette or in lots of other ways.
Yes, eventually we can replant the branch and the tree will resprout from the base, but at least for the next couple of years that plant will look bad. Not cool, and very selfish, when we are working so hard to make this area of the city look better. So we are removing the flowers before someone steals them and trashes the garden more.
Originally from: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Blooms: Monocarpic with 20 foot tall flower stalks in spring.
Light: Full sun to part sun.
Water: Winter rain is enough.
Height x width: 10' x 10'
Zones: 9b - 11
Where to find in P. Garden: Several are planted at PRG, in the left bed
Unless you walk near it, or fall in it: those leaves are lined with hooked spines, and the effect will likely not be impressive so much as painful. Perfect for a plant that has to survive on the street, to be fair.
Similar to an agave it's monocarpic, meaning it flowers and then dies. The flowers are green, and held on a 20' tall flower spike which will be ultra cool. After that, bulbils (mini plants) are produced along the flower stem, which in the wild would fall on the ground and root. No fiddling around with seeds here! This plant also creates pups at the base (which is why we have quite a few plants.)
Another use for Furcraeas is saponins - those bitter tasting organic chemicals that are foamy and used for making soap.
This plant was thought to have come from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala,
though
no current specimens have been found growing in the wild in Central
America, so it's a bit of a mystery. It certainly has the glossy-leaved
tropical look to it, and with very low water requirements is a great
choice for SF's water deprived gardener looking for a jungly effect.
In 1839 General Perovski led an invasion of the Khanate of Khiva to free Russian slaves. His expeditionary force consisted of 5,200 infantry and 10,000 camels. So you could see his name is apt for a smart looking, upright and drought tolerant plant.
General Perovski's left forefinger was lost in the Battle of Borodino in 1812 during Napoleon's French invasion of Russia. He was never able to find the missing digit, and it was replaced with gold fillet. If one wanted to make a further comparison with the Russian Sage, one might find something in the need to cut this plant back to the base each year. Perhaps that's a stretch though.
It is native to the steppes
and hills of southwestern and central Asia, and does well in a wide
range of climate and soil conditions - we find it very drought tolerant. Several cultivars
have been developed too, with different leaf shapes and overall
heights.
Not strictly ornamental, Wikipedia says "The species has a long history of use in traditional medicine in its native range, where it is employed as a treatment for a variety of ailments. This has led to the investigation of its phytochemistry. Its flowers can be eaten in salads or crushed for dyemaking, and the plant has been considered for potential use in the phytoremediation of contaminated soil."
We never water ours - I bet if we did it would be even nice. Give it a try in your garden!
As we have done this sort of thing before, Matt and I looked at her photos for a split second and then said yes. We drove over with the tools needed and proceeded to remove 5 LARGE plants, and also took home some Aloe maculatas for the garden too.
We got them planted a week ago down at PRG, next to the solo Agave attenuata that we got from John that has been there for a couple years. And can we say they look fabulous? Yes, they do. We need to go back and get one last one from Susan, but meanwhile please stop by and enjoy this gorgeous contribution she has made to our fair city.
Come on down to the volunteer workday this Saturday to see the newness!
However, lots got done at the volunteer day so here's a belated post and thank you to everyone who helped!
First of all Aditi came out to visit which made me very happy. She brought her lovely fluffy pup Coco and we enjoyed a good catch up :)
As you can see from this pic she is totally up for things - I thought a fun pic would be her jumping for joy after fixing the path and she didn't laugh at me. Good sign!
I'm pretty sure Chris has had enough of this task, but I hereby declare that if I am ever hit by a bus he can take over decision-making for the tool chest completely and do with it as he pleases, up to and including setting it on fire.
