Epic volunteer workday result!

Before and after!

This weekend's volunteer workday was planned to have two tasks: weed the pathways at PRG and a tutorial on how to propagate some Salvias. It didn't quite go as planned...

Since last workday, the homeless encampment at the garden had been growing and becoming more of a concern. I'd contacted 311, Caltrans, DPW, SFPA and others in an effort to clear the site without calling in the police or CHP. It didn't appear that much was happening from any agency as nobody responded that it would be taken care of.

Aditi, Marcus and Sharon

Feeling pretty annoyed by that, I decided we could clear it ourselves as long as it was vacant, and I prepared with extra gloves and trash bags.

On the day though, thank goodness, the camp was empty and in fact had been burned to the ground, which is really concerning as it was very close to a building and clearly burned hotly and for quite some time...

That's a lot of used needles...

Many plants nearby had been destroyed, or burned. Strewn with trash, 20+ used needles, used condoms, vomit and feces, the whole back area was truly disgusting. My brave volunteers dove right in and started cleaning, carefully putting needles in our sharps container and bagging up the waste with no complaints. YOU GUYS ROCK!

Not for trash

I also removed a huge bag of trash from inside one of the composters. Please don't throw trash in there folks!

In total we removed almost a dozen trash bags of waste and a couple of old Christmas trees and other burned wood to the street side. Using the 311 app I called in a pickup, and DPW picked it up a couple of hours later.

One of the Coprosmas

After that task was done, most of the team moved down to PRG and worked to clean weeds from the pathway. In the meantime, I gave Aditi a tutorial on propagating Salvias and sent her home with enough cuttings to keep her busy till next month! She'd donated two lovely Coprosmas to the garden, as well and we planted those right away - they look great.

Chris cleaning trash

Matt cut down some Yucca branches in preparation for planting in the back area as well, and worked on re-leveling the pathway a bit.

Huge thanks to everyone who came and helped: Chris, Aditi, Sharon, Marcus, Leslie, Matt, Sarah, Yannicka and Hilary made a huge difference to our neighborhood today. Thanks also to Louk who dropped off oranges and water for the crew - much appreciated neighbor!

Volunteer Workday

Great sunny day for the workday this Saturday!  We got so much done too.

I turned the compost, and put a lot of the completed product onto the Mexican marigolds we planted last month. Looking good. I also picked a lot of trash and some needles from PRG, and made two big piles for 311 to take away (yay for the 311 app - makes it so easy to report)

Matt redid the side of the middle back bed by dividing the Agave gypsophylla, adding an Agave ovatifolia, and replanting the Aloe brevofolias there. He also cut the flower stalk off an Agave desmettiana marginata that's absolutely STUFFED with bulbils. We set up 4 flats of bulbils and have lots more to share.

Chris took a long-suffering Brahea edulis (Guadelupe palm) from the far back of the terraces and brought it up to the brights bed where I hope it will go nuts.

He also coppiced a Coprosma and helped me down at PRG by picking trash, weeding, and bringing a lovely Agave angustifolia up to a better spot on the steps.

One sad note was all the dog poop at the garden - I picked up 5 large, fresh piles at PG alone! Who is leaving it?

Volunteer day: rain TBD!

Aloe ferox flower!

Despite a forecast for a gloomy, rainy Saturday morning the weather in Potrero Hill was sparkling sunshine and perfect for gardening. Probably as a result of the forecast we only had a few hardy volunteers, but a lot was accomplished.

A few months ago I took some cuttings from the Coprosma "Marble Queen" and rooted them. Four nice 1 gallon plants resulted, and they were ready to go in - a perfect replacement for the Impatiens we pulled out last time, under the cherry plum trees.

Small Coprosmas

Hilary and I prepared the holes and planted the plants, with lashings of compost and solid watering bowls to help funnel rain into them.  Hilary watered them in too - hope we get some more rain so they are off to a good start! I'll be making more cuttings of this plant in spring for sure.


Matt cut back several shading branches from the cherry plum trees, and we used them to protect the new plants by making a barrier to the pathway.

Hilary!

We also planted three Mexican marigolds, Tagetes erecta, which came from our pal John, in the middle back bed, and moved a Dietes to accommodate. Hope they take off!


Matt worked on removing the stump of a huge agave that had flowered behind the wrong way sign. he manfully hacked it out and replaced it with a little Agave "Butterfinger" pup which should be very impressive one day.

Stump: removed!

Matt also moved a few other Agaves around - some about to outgrow their spot - and had a good time wrestling them. And Leslie headed on down to PRG and collected a vast amount of trash - along with a fridge - for the city to pick up. Thanks Leslie - lots of deferred maintenance down there that needs to be done, and it's time someone stepped in. I submitted a 311 request, and as of today it appears they picked up the trash. Good news.

Tiny Butterfinger in there...

During the week Chris accomplished a huge feat - he removed all the compost bins contents and piled it at the top of the garden. This is a huge amount of work, but frees the composters to generate useful compost again, so that was well worth doing. Thanks Chris!

Volunteer day action!

Yesterday's volunteer day was super busy and super effective. We had a great gang, and everyone made a big impact on our rather dry, August garden.

Emily weeded the top area and moved lots of mulch around to uncover some buried Santolinas.

Matt took on the task of hacking fennel. Some of the ones on the back slope had gotten out of control and needed a chop so badly. They really need to be dug out completely to do the job right, btu when you're pressed for time cutting them to the ground is almost as good.

Marcus took a crash course in pruning from me, and proceeded to cut back the Fuchsia boliviana var. alba by 1/2. That ought to slow it's heat stress a bit, or kill it - either way I'm happy! Then he went on to cut back the Brugmansia just as severely, and the same results there will make me equally delighted. Either it dies and we will replace it with something that LOVES a hot dry garden, or it springs back looking good. Lastly Marcus deadheaded the Aloe striatula, then cut back some branches overhanging a nice Agave angustifolia.

I gave the branches to Hilary who came to help again this month, and she set about cutting back Chasmanthe, weeding and replanting a couple of tired looking Agaves that got moved for the last mulch dump. They should pick up again soon - they are such tough plants!

Chris loves to cut down plants, so I think I made him happy by asking him to cut down the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) - it is finished flowering and will be back in about a month with some lovely new growth. He then moved on to the Phormium on the lower path which has never had a real trim. It lost every leaf that looked dry, so quite a severe haircut!

Next to that is a Coprosma australis (variegated) that's had some ill-considered trims over the years. Really it needs to be cut to the ground and started afresh, but he took out quite a lot as an interim measure, and we'll see how it responds by next month.

I weeded the front sidewalk, and showed Aditi how to cut back Euphorbia characias correctly, She went on the clean out the whole front border and donated an unknown Agave to us, which she planted in the front bed.

Plant Profile: Coprosma

Coprosma australis (variegated)

I considered the Coprosmas we planted at PG to be insignificant filler plants initially. However, they've turned out to be lovely tough, evergreen shrubs, and I recommend them.

Latin name: Coprosma (pronounced "co-PROZ-mah)
Common name: Mirror plant

Originally from: New Zealand, Hawaii, Borneo, Java and Australia.

Blooms: The flowers aren't the point here - they're usually yellow and insignificant.
Light: Full sun!

Coprosma "Evening Glow"

Water: Drought tolerant and very tough
Drainage: Excellent
Height x width: Various - from low growing creepers to large shrubs.
USDA Zones: x
Where to find in P. Garden: In the left bed we have Coprosma australis (variegated), Coprosma x Kirkii "Variegata" and C. "Evening Glow" in the brights bed a couple C. "Sunset" and a C. "Evening Glow"

The name Coprosma means "smelling like dung" and refers to the smell (methanethiol) given out by the crushed leaves of a few species. I haven't smelled ours but don't let that put you off - the leaves are glossy and colorful. In fact they are so glossy that Coprosmas have been touted as a means of reducing over heating of the earth by reflecting sunshine away. I can't find the reference now but they are pretty shiny.

We have several Coprosmas in the garden:

Coprosma x Kirkii "Variegata"

Coprosma x Kirkii "Variegata" - this is a nice low growing ground cover. I buried several parts in the ground and it rooted, then I made border edging with them. A cute low hedge! Unfortunately it wants to revert to a non-variegated state so you have to cut those parts out.

Coprosma australis (variegated) is a wonderful bright shrub up to about 5' tall and wide with yellow and green shiny leaves.

C. "Evening Glow" and C. "Sunset" are beautiful smaller shrubs with the same shiny leaves but gorgeous red and orange shades.

Coprosma "Sunset

We'll look out for more Coprosmas for the gardens soon - they have been excellent and look great no matter how poorly you treat them. 

Break in the rain

Arctotis "Cherry Frost"

Last night it rained hard. Torrentially. The sun came out today and Matt and I ran up to the garden to see what it looked like. Damp!

We did some quick planting a tasks to get plants off our patio and into the ground:

1 Puya berteroniana

1 Beschorneria yuccoides 

3 Yucca flaccida "Garlands Gold"

2 Coprosmas - "Sunset" and "Evening Glow"

4 Agaves replanted from yesterday, when I'd had to dig them up to avoid being squashed by the chipper. 

Lycianthes rantonnetii
(Blue Potato Bush)!

We weeded about 4 large tubtrugs of weeds out too, and dumped two loads of mulch on the path below the steps. We also planned a path from the bench to the top of the garden so people can make a loop there. 

The Bronze Loquat (Eriobotrya deflexa) trees are flowering in the gardens now - they smell amazing. Drop by and have a sniff!

Before and after

Here's a good "before, after, and today" evolution of the left bed as you walk into the garden.

L-R: February 2009, February 2010 and February 2016

In 2009 we had a Leucadendron at the front - that was killed by dog pee. You can also see lots of small clumps of Dietes that did really well in the end.

By 2010 the Leucadendron at the front was killed by dog pee. I replaced it with a very successful Cortaderia selloana "Silver Comet" and our Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is to the right, behind it. I'd put a small Agave americana variegata at the front, and some yellow Osteospermum are flowering away merrily to the right of that. The Brugmansia was the biggest plant in the bed, and a small Phormium tenax "Rubrum" and a clump of orange flowering Chasmanthe are poking up at the back. A small Coprosma australis (variegated) and a Euonymus japonica "Microphylla Variegata" (Variegated Boxleaf Euonymus) can be seen as smallish, yellowish blobs on the left side too/ We'd made a nice twig border around the bed front to define it too.

And today in 2016 the Cortaderia selloana "Silver Comet" did so well that we've divided it and retained a clump at the front, with a nice Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) to its left. The Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is still going strong, too. The Agave americana variegata at the front got too big and moved elsewhere, and the yellow Osteospermum didn't last: I replaced them with Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga clumps.

The Brugmansia is still there, but dwarfed by the big Hakea suaveolens, and the small Phormium tenax "Rubrum" is now huge though you can't see it since the Dodonaea viscosa (Purple Hopseed Bush) planted in 2009 is bigger. I moved a red Cordyline nearby, and the clump of orange flowering Chasmanthe got swapped for a yellow clump you can see flowering. The Coprosma australis (variegated) got huge and was very successful, and the Euonymus japonica "Microphylla Variegata" (Variegated Boxleaf Euonymus) struggled a bit but lives on, seeming to do better this last year. The twig border composted away, and was replaced by stones again.

Good to look back now and again to see what plants do best, and remember which ones not to buy again ;)

Cordyline forest

Matt and I planted 4 Cordylines and a Coprosma "Sunset" in a very quick trip today.

The Cordylines went in as a group in the brights bed and are:

• Red Sensation 
• Torbay Dazzler
• Coral
• Sundance

Three more to move/plant and our multicolored Cordyline forest will be complete! Time for rain please :)

Work day chop!

John and Bob clearing
out shrubs

Today's workday had an energetic crew: Janna, Matt, Emily, Bob and John convened on the garden to make a mark on the plants that have died of drought.


Janna got to work turning the compost and the rest of us cleared a huge amount of dead material to the now HUGE pile in the dog area. Today the plants that got removed were two Kunzea baxteri who, despite having survived the drought were too floppy in form to live where they had been planted. Our Cytisus scoparius (Scotch Broom) had died too - a volunteer who had been cheerfully providing a splash of yellow for a few years, but is now as dead as a dodo. It joined the others on the heap.

Janna all smiles
taking a break form the compost

We also lifted the canopy of the nearby Hakea suaveolens and Berberis linearifolia, cut back the Salvia leucantha (Mexican Sage), Salvia canariensis (Canary Island Sage) and Plectranthus argentea severely, and gave the Watsonia bulbs a haircut.

The whole brights bed looks really different now with only one big tree left, and a determined pair of taller plants: Cussonia spicata and a Berberis linearifolia who needs to be cut down to size...

Before

In the meantime, Matt went and fetched a large Agave "Green Giant" from PRG as it was buried under a Malva. It came up to join the other big Agave of the same cultivar by the wrong way sign. I cleared out tons of overgrown Pelargoniums in the area, and we moved a Coprosma "Evening Glow" to the left bed, and a clump of Watsonias to where the others are. All we need to do there now is add a few grasses and the area is transformed.

After

After all this, Matt and I went and bought some new plants to replace the dead ones - plants we know are tougher than tough! We got 5 Cordylines and a Coprosma, all thanks to a great donation by Christopher Johnson of Mississippi Street!

Wrong Way done right

The area behind the Wrong Way sign has been a bit of a mess for a while. After the Cannas were infected with Canna virus we had to throw them all out, which left some Gaillardias and some Watsonias. Spring reminded me that the Watsonias were mostly white ones when they flowered - they need to go to the left bed. But what other plants could go in that spot? The directives were a) xeric or very drought tolerant, b) bright colored if possible c) no taller than 4' high to preserve the line of sight for drivers exiting the freeway.


I'd recently planted a Coprosma there, and Janet moved out Banksia spinulosa over there too. And today Matt and I went by the Flora Grubb sale and we just went for it. We bought:

1 large red Phormium "Guardsman"
3 Elymus magellanicus
1 Agave gypsophila
1 Aloe tomentosa (with three heads - we can divide it!)
1 Arctotis "Burgundy"

These plants make a great rich red and silvery combination. We got back to the garden and started by ripping out a bunch of Gaillardias and Watsonias - that felt good! The stage was set.

We placed the plants we'd bought in various areas, then we hunted through the plants in the back area and added to that group:

1 Agave lophantha
1 Agave salmiana ssp. crassispina
5 Agave parryii
1 Euphorbia "Excalibur"
14 Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion)
5 Aeonium arboreum "Atropurpureum"
2 Aeonium arborium "Zwartkop"

With all these ready to go we started planting. After a few hours all 36 plants were watered in, and we cleaned up and built a fresh new twig border with the lovely branches Deric and Kome gave us. We even gave some Watsonias that were left over to a nice couple from Fremont who were visiting the garden.

Done! I'm really pleased with how it all looks, and it'll all grow in and be beautiful AND low maintenance, I hope. I've decided to add a few Artemisias around the base of the Phormium and Agave lophantha to pick up the silvery theme too - might try rooting up my own.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention I planted some Portulaca grandiflora (Moss-rose Purslane) in the bright bed last week, At $6 for 18 plants from Home Despot these sunny, heat-loving little annuals should fill in the front of that bed nicely.

Bindweed is the antichrist

Francisca

Saturday's volunteer day was great as always. We had a dozen people show up and work away for 2 hours, putting in a total of 24 person-hours of work which had an astonishing effect on the garden. We got so much done and several people asked if there were additional work days planned before the next official one. Well if they're THAT keen,who am I to stand in the way?

I sprinkled some multicolored California poppy seeds and yellow Calendula seeds along the lavender hedge as I pondered project number one for the day: to remove bindweed from the dog area and lay down weed barrier cloth. After covering this with mulch it should prevent bindweed from flourishing there. No, it won't stop it altogether, but it will put a severe dent in the party scene that the bindweed has been enjoying. Fingers crossed!

Uzuri and David

I'd estimated we'd get one 6' x 100' long strip done, but we got two strips done. Emily led the enthusiastic group comprised of Elliot, Paloma, David, Uzuri, Donna, Francisca and Leslie, who systematically rid the area of weeds. Leslie also pruned the Salvia "Anthony Parker" which was a bit overdue for a haircut.

In the meantime, I worked in the left bed alongside Carlin, who managed to prune back several unruly plants in no time at all. The cardoon, Cortaderia, Euphorbia "Blackbird", Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum), Watsonia and Artemisia "Powis Castle" all got a trim.

Donna and Emily

I cut back the red Canna, a rosemary and a lavender, and together we worked on the Helichrysum petiolare and Coprosma that were threatening to take over the Phormium back there.

Emily moved the two Aquilegias from the left bed up by the bench - it was just too hot and dry for them. Janet moved a Banksia spinulosa over to a spot behind the wrong way sign too - that one wasn't getting enough sun. Dee cut back the Watsonias in the brights bed among other tasks, and Debbie cleaned up a great deal of weeds from the steps area.

Paloma and Elliot

While all this was going on, Matt was busy in the back slope. At the end of the day I was astonished to see how much work he'd done in cutting out terraces, securely marking the area for the new steps, and moving the compost bin up slope to the base of the compost heap.

Go team!

Sunny Sunday

 

Watsonia flower

Today was another lovely warm day, so I went to the garden and tried to figure out the best way to organize the area behind the wrong way sign. With the recent demise of all our Cannas due to infection with canna virus, we have had to dig them all out and replace them with something else.

I removed a bunch of leftover Cannas and weeds, and moved a Gaillardia over to the edge. Then I planted a nice red Coprosma of some unknown variety that I'd been saving at home. I'm going to move our Banksia over there too, and add a Euphorbia and some Aloes and Agaves too. I'll have to wait until the white Watsonias are done flowering though - they're just getting started and won't appreciate being moved right now.

Scilla flower

In the top bed I planted a Cussonia spicata as a tall accent on the right end. This is a really cool small African cabbage tree that has lovely unusual leaves. We have room for one more Cussonia at the garden and I'm aiming for one of the blue-grey leaved species.

In the middle back bed I weeded and trimmed, and redid the front border using the branches Deric and Kome gave us. Perfect branches for weaving - long, supple and smooth. I wish we could get loads more, but luckily we have a nice pile that'll last a while.

California poppy "White Linen"

After all that I was a bit hot, so I walked up the street to get a drink. On the way I dropped in to Plow to let the owners know what's wrong with their pear tree out front (a fungus) and on the way back I met Karen who as it turns out owned the original Tibouchina that Jim planted at the garden!

Winter Work Week

Lucky old me – I get a whole week off work at the holidays and I’m planning lots of gardening time! Which is great, because there is a LOT to do in the garden - I need some help.

If you would like to join me in the garden and work off some turkey, escape the relatives, or reduce your carbon footprint if you’re visiting SF for the holidays, please RSVP by emailing annie at psgsf.org and let me know what day(s) you’d like to come do some gardening. Available days are from December 26th to January 1st (our regularly scheduled monthly volunteer day) and we usually get started at 10am, though can start earlier or later.

Here’s a sampling of the sort of tasks we’ve got planned (and ones taken care of are crossed out):

• Pruning Artemisia californicas, Romneya coulteri
• Digging up Dahlia bulbs
• Weeding the red bed, dog area, and pathways thoroughly
• Mulching – trip to the mulch depot!
• Potting up cacti that are being saved for the terraced slope project
• Weeding the cactus wall
• Planting some cool new plants we recently got
• Removing diseased Cannas
• Digging out old concrete on the back border and planting Calandrinias
• Weeding the Mariposa Center Garden
• Move Ceanothus from red bed, and Salvia mellifera from bench area, to dog area
• Remove Vinca from back border
• Plant lavenders in lavender hedge, and Clivias behind bench
• Defoliating rose bushes, then pruning them
• Severely edit the front border - naughty nasturtiums are back!

And here are the days that people have RSVP'd for so far (will be updated as we go):

• December 26th (Annie, Nate)
• December 29th (Annie, Jes)
• December 30th (Annie, David, Emily, Riley) 
• December 31st (Annie, Emily)
• January 1st (Annie, Nate)

Update Dec 26th: Nate and I potted up loads of cacti, defoliated the roses, planted Clivias, rearranged the three Pericallis lanata by the bench, and weeded the paths.

Update Dec 29th: Jes and I thoroughly edited the front border, removing three wheelbarrows full of nasturtiums and corn marigolds and cutting back the floppy Gaillardias. I planted three Society Garlics (Tulbaghia violacea) in the middle back bed, deadheaded all the flowers there, and cut back the aster "Bill's Big Blue." I also planted a Hibbertia astera by the bench.

Update Dec 30th: Emily, Matt, David, Riley and I cut back the Romneya coulteri and Artemisia californica, planted Calandrinias on the back border, removed diseased Cannas, dug up all the Dahlias for storage, weeded some of the red bed, moved the Salvia mellifera to the dog area and various other tidying.

Update Dec 31st: I turned a Ceanothus "King Sipp" into a living hedge by tying it to a twig border with twine, and trimmed up the Agave americanas by the info sign at the front of the garden. Emily joined me and we planted a Phlomis purpurea by the top arch, weeded, and then went down to weed about half the Mariposa Center Garden.

Update January 1st: Nate and I weeded the paths quite a bit after successfully pruning all three roses. Later on I planted three Dudleyas and four Pelargoniums. I tied our Coprosma x Kirkii "Variegata" to the woven twig border next to it (hoping for living edging!) and found two rooted branches - moved them to the twig border too. Lastly I took a division of a Salvia leucantha and planted it in the front border.

Holiday splurge

We went to Mendocino at the holidays and I was able to visit Digging Dog Nursery and go on another plant buying bender, enabled by my parents who gave me a $100 gift certificate to spend there! Of course by the time I had selected everything it cost twice that... it's amazing how much a tiny pot of sad-looking weedy stuff goes for... *mutter*

The people at Digging Dog are nice, and have a fondness for follies (we were interested to find that they are building some pyramids) and ornamental grasses, (which we declined to be interested in.) They did manage to get me to buy just the sort of self-involved, microscopically subtle, austere-looking plants that I despise through the cunning use of floral language in their catalog, which was annoying. However, I grabbed a few obnoxious plant cliches while nobody was looking, so - hah! Take that, modern gardening!

So here's what we hauled home - Matt's parents gave us loads of plants dug from their gardens too, so the car is pretty muddy now:

1 Kniphofia "Wayside Flame" (red hot poker)
1 Achillea "Walter Funke" (yarrow)
1 Buddleja
3 Crocosmia "Lucifer"
2 Euphorbia myrsinites
2 Euphorbia rigida
1 Thymus minor
1 Thymus "Latavin Lucy"
(both to be featured in a Matt-driven path project soon)
3 Eryngium planum "Sapphire Blue"
1 Aster "Bill's Big Blue" (It's a bit obnoxious already - I sort of regret this one. Maybe I should have got 3 based on Ikea display principles?)
1 Cordyline Australis "Red Sensation"
1 Salvia "Anthony Parker"
1 Sedum spectabile "Neon"
1 Yucca flaccida "Garland Gold"
1 Coprosma x Kirkii "Variegata"
3 Rosmarinus officinalis "Santa Barbara"
1 Phlomis (what the hell is this? Why did I buy it? Argh!)
1 Penstemon x Mexicali "Pike's Peak Purple" (Again, no idea how this ended up in the car)















From Matt's Mum and Skip:
Several Peruvian lillies (?)
1 clump of unidentified thing
Loads of iris, unidentified (will probably have to live at the barn where it's damper)
2 roses (ditto)
Watsonia clump (not sure on color)
(and tons of lamb's ears that we must have forgotten to bring home - such a bummer, as I really wanted them!)

Seeds from Matt's dad:
Echium "Pride of Madera"
Malcolmia
Yellow daisy of some sort
And something else I can't remember right now...

So anyway we had to get them all in the ground the minute we arrived home after our 4 hour drive (*mutter*) as they looked as carsick as I felt. Matt decided on a new bed, front and center (above), to showcase the kniphofia, euphorbias, yucca and cordyline, (which are my new favorites) and put anything unidentified on the outside edge by the sidewalk so we can monitor them in case they turn out to be (horrors) uncoordinated malcontents (left.)

Sage showed up and dammit, I had already planted the salvia (oh that would have been funny, right? Right??) but he got stuck in anyway, and he brought wine. Excellent. Mmmm!

Got to do some watering tomorrow...

Got garden?

I live on Pennsylvania Avenue with my boyfriend Matt. We have no garden, which is a bit sad. The patch of land that the Mariposa St exit curves around is up the street from us, and we though it would be an ideal spot to plant a few things on. It gets full sun, is in warm Potrero Hill, and the Department of Public Works shows up annually and just mulches the tar out of it.

I emailed DPW, and they said getting a permit from CalTrans who owns the land could take months or even years. But the woman I spoke to told me to just go ahead and plant stuff (no trees) and she would tell the works guys to keep an eye out and try not to demolish them... but it's at our own risk!

Yesterday I found myself at the Strybing Arboretum plant sale... everything half off! I went into a plant buying frenzy, and with the help of the friendly volunteers came home with a car full of plants for just $35! When they found out where I was planting them, they gave me a big discount and lots of encouragement - I'll be going back there, for sure!

The plants I got were (after dividing some of them up):

4 Dietes
8 Agapanthus
3 Hakea suaveolens
3 Kunzea baxterii
1 Coprosma australis (variegated)
2 Geranium maderense
3 Ceanothus "King Sip" (ground covering/low)
2 Geranium macrorhizum
2 Dianella Tasmanica
1 Aeonium

Next post: the planting adventure begins...