Sit still

Today the San Francisco Botanical Garden was having a sale, so naturally I was drawn there at a brisk trot. I dragged Matt along and we got one plant (One! Plant!) which was an incredible display of restraint if I do say so myself. The plant was Eriogonum giganteum (St. Catherine's Lace - the largest of the native "Buckwheats") and it will make a good 4' tall and wide shrub on the far side of the steps to block the view and sound of the freeway. It's a very drought tolerant native from Santa Catalina Island with lovely white flowers, which are an important food source for butterflies and bees galore.

Matt also moved some Mexican feather grass, a Dianthus, and we put the Leucadendron from the front of the left bed up in the red bed before it was killed: it's branches were being broken off and it smelled like dog pee: not the hardiest specimen to pose as a dog urinal. We replaced the Leucadendron with a variegated Agave americana (left) which will echo the large one in the middle bed, and should be tough enough to survive.

While Matt was busy moving plants around I enjoyed a chat with Joan who was in the neighborhood. Suzannah, a yoga instructor on the hill, once told her class that when you sit still (in a pose) for quite a while, things change. It was great to sit still on the bench with Joan and hear her talk, our feet resting on the Victorian bricks she found for the garden, and her Buddleja growing behind us. Thanks Joan.