Too hot to trot

Watch this space...

Today Matt and I wanted to get our customary "one task and out" done, but we ended up not completing it because it was so hot!

We started out weeding in the left bed as we tried to decide on the Task of the Day. I wanted to move a tree aloe (Aloe bainesii aka Aloe barberae) from the cactus wall where it was not thriving, to the left bed.

When we got in there, we realized we'd need to weed the slope in front of it, then cut out a few long branches of yucca to access it.

OK with that done, the nearby area looked ratty. A recent failed experiment with a huge puya had left a gap, and the columnar cacti in the spot looked unplanned: the Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro cacti) we laid on the ground to root have grown about 12" of height since 2009. That's slow. Now you know why I get really upset when people lop them off and steal them. The Euphorbia ammak cactus we planted in 2009 looks great, but it's off to one side. Another sits behind a thick yucca nearby, so that needs to move into center stage, and be joined by a third from over by the compost heap so we can make a nice looking trio.

I removed an ordinary looking Opuntia and some Crassula ovata (Jade Plants), and also the Echinopsis pachanoi cacti. We'll put them elsewhere. Then I started trying to move a Euphorbia ammak.  But the heat! We left the area cleaned up, planted the yucca branches quickly, and retreated to the house to recover.

Another outstanding volunteer day

Today we had a bunch of volunteers from The Presidio Group who, as it turns out, are a hard working bunch! With their help, and that of several other marvelous volunteers, we completed a number of tasks - some that have been lingering for way, way too long.

First we got not one but two compost heaps turned over by a pair of enthusiastic volunteers.

Next a whole gang went up to the dog area with Emily and weeded it clean, then buried a long section of carpet under the wood chips as weed suppressant. They also sorted through a pile of twigs to prepare for twig border manufacture at some later date.

Matt led a group down at the arch. He removed an area of bricks that were being pushed up by a root, and had created a tripping hazard. He flattened it and redid the brickwork, while his team pruned back the Dipogon lignosus (Cape Sweet Pea) on the arch, prevented it spreading into nearby beds, and cut back the Salvia leucantha there too.

After that was done he took his team into the storm drain area - a land populated with dangerous things (cacti) that have been left in post there for Much Too Long. They removed all the cacti - risking life and limb I might add - and sorted them into three groups: Store in the dog area for later, throw on the compost pile and plant now.

In the meantime, I took a team to the bottom of the steps and we eradicated all the ivy (evil, and something we've battled in the spot since May 2009) and Aptenia cordifolia (useful groundcover planted in January 2011 and since then gone berserk) from a good-sized area, and cut back all the Chasmanthe that are done flowering. When the area was cleared, we were ready to plant some new stuff - always fun.

We moved an Agave americana and some Aloe nobilis to better sites, and added an Aloe cameronii (Red Aloe), an Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro Cactus) from the storm drain and a gorgeous Agave salmiana "Butterfingers" bought for PG recently. Huge improvement!

Patrick weeded and swept the entrances and Keyvan weeded the pathways very carefully, Anna separated out a huge clump of the bromeliad Fascicularia pitcairnifolia recently donated by Josh into separate plants ready for planting, and at the end of the volunteer day the whole garden was looking really great. Go check it out!


Who did all this work? Nate, Patrick, Anna, Vitalia, Tom, Tony, Lilly, Nora, Julianna, Keyvan, Annie B., Victor, Susie, Carrie, Susan B., William, Susan S., and Anthony. Please take a bow!

Thanks to all the volunteers and to The Presidio Group for encouraging volunteer activities among their staff: what a productive, sunny day it was :)

Aeoniums being stolen

Aeoniums, hacked off...

I've noticed this week that a lot of the Aeonium "Zwartkop" - the really cool almost black one - have been stolen. 14 heads from one plant, half a dozen from another, all cut off. If you notice anyone with a whole load of these in their back garden recently, or selling them at a flea market, let me know! :(

Today Matt and I went to the garden to plant some more of the cactus wall/terrace base. We planted the following:

1 Agave americana  "Xanthoria" (har har)
1 Agave filiera
3 Echinopsis pachanoi (San Pedro cactus)
1 Opuntia subulata
2 Yucca aloifolia (Spanish Dagger)
1 Yucca variegated, white-edged type whose name I can't remember...
1 Yucca "Silver Star"

Bottom of terraces - looking good.

That was a bit of hard digging work, so after the planting, some weeding and trimming, we went home for lunch.

Minister of Propagation

Matt, the self-proclaimed Minister of Propagation, has been spending countless hours recently potting up plants for the next plant sale on October 16th (that's right - pick up a red pen and go striaght to your calendars, people!)  He's got dozens of 1 gallon pots of many of the garden's favorites cooking away already: various Aloes, Agaves, grasses, Clivias, Echeverias, Cotyledons, Sedums, Plectranthus, Aeoniums, Brugmansias, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Sanseverias, Salvias and so on and on. And today he's taking them all up to Mendocino to his dad's massive greenhouse to grow on for the summer.Yay - less watering for us to do!

I have to say, I think the next plant sale is going to be really good. We propagated many of the plants people asked for at the last sale, and ones people always ask about in the garden. And they're going to all be bigger specimens too!

Many people donated plants for the last sale, which was a massive help. If you have plants for the next one, let us know now: we are accepting donations up to 2 weeks before the sale - after that we don't have enough time to inventory and label them.

While we were selecting plants for the Mendocino trip this morning, I took pics of a flowering cactus in the garden (above) - pretty cool! Apparently it's an Echinopsis spachiana (Golden Torch Cereus).

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!