An embarassment of succulents

I am exhausted. At 8am today I went to Petaluma with John and his friend Channing and his son Christopher to get some plants from a nice couple who posted a Craigslist ad. When I say "some plants" what I really mean is TWO PICKUPS FULL of agaves and cacti!

Thank goodness Channing and John got some for themselves but they gave the vast majority to me for P. Garden and I can't thank them enough. It was hot, sweaty work and more than a few fingers got cactus spines in them! (Note to self: two pairs of gloves and a towel folded into four layers are barely enough when picking up a cactus)

We came home at about 3pm and unloaded the goods - one simply huge (we are talking probably 60#) Agave parryi went straight in the ground by the arch. Mounds of others went into heaps elsewhere, along with two wheelbarrows full of three different columnar cactus cuttings (one kind is Echinopsis spachiana (Golden Torch Cereus)), a fat lump of barrel cactus and two wheelbarrows full of another unidentified Agave.

You know when you are speaking in wheelbarrowfuls you have a lot of plants on your hands...

As usual I am behind on planting stuff, but this was too good to pass up. I will spend the next week digging holes for these lovelies, and feeling very grateful to John, Channing and Christopher for working so hard to bring them to P. Garden.

All photos by Christopher - thanks!