Wet from sky

It rained at the volunteer day, as it is apt to do this time of year, but nevertheless Matt, Chris and Josh helped with some fun tasks.

Matt harvested some Agave attenuatas and variegated Yucca branches so we can grow them on the for the garden. more plants!

Josh, Chris and I set about planting. We put in a dozen 1gallon Limonium sinuatum (Statice) plants that I have been growing for the last several months, and they are all along the front bed now - will look great! Then Josh planted four Leucophyta brownii that I'd also grown on for the garden.

Chris moved a Salvia canariensis up to the top of the garden, and rearranged some Agave filiferas in the front bed. After that he turned the compost which was a bit of a heavy task. I added some water and left the lids open so hopefully all that material composts down a bit faster.

And yeah - we watered in all the new plants. In the rain. Because the rains we have had so far have only dampened the top couple inches of dirt. It's amazing to see, we never stop being surprised by it, but we really, really are in a drought.

Photo: Lovely  Aloe "David Verity" that we got from Mat McGrath flowering away today.

Plant Profile: Leucophyta brownii (Cushion Bush)

Latin name: Leucophyta brownii  ("loo-ko-FYE-tah BROW-nee-eye")
Common name: Cushion Bush, Silver Bush
Originally from: Australia
Blooms: Pale yellow pom poms dot the plant in spring and summer
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Water: Winter rain is enough.
Height x width: about 2' x 2'
Zones: 10-12
Where to find in P. Garden: Up along the top border and also in the brights bed

This is a great little silvery pom-pom of a shrublet with really interesting wiry branching stems, a round shape and tiny, close held leaves that make the whole thing look like a tumbleweed. They grow neatly and are more about the foliage than the flowers, but the flowers are cute little 1/2" pale yellow buttons in spring and summer.

We never water them, and in fact they dislike soggy conditions and don't care for heavy soil, preferring poor and well-draining soil so they are perfect for us. It withstands winds and salt spray, so it's perfect for coastal gardens, and can take a light pruning to keep it tidy if needed.

Not long lived, apparently it propagates easily by seed or semi-hardened stem cuttings, but I've found that Flowercraft often sells inexpensive 6 packs of plug sized (about 2") plants and they grow quickly so I haven't tried propagating them yet.

Occurring naturally on coastal dunes and cliffs along the south coast of Australia’s mainland and on the northern coasts of Tasmania, King Island, and Flinders Islands the more compact form that is in cultivation was a selection made from near Cape Le Grand in Western Australia. 

As is common in the plant world, this one had a name change along the way, so you might see it referred to by both names. The plant has long been referred to as Calocephalus brownii but the genus Calocephalus was found to be "an unnatural group" (whatever that means) and this plant was segregated into the monotypic genus Leucophyta. 

This previous name for the genus, Calocephalus comes from the Greek words 'calos' meaning "beautiful' and 'cephale' meaning "head" because of the silver rounded heads of flowers. The etymology of the newer name is from the Greek words 'leuco', meaning gray-white and 'phyta' meaning plant so combined as "white plant", which is also appropriate. The species name honors Robert Brown the Scottish botanist and surgeon who botanized and collected nearly 5,000 plants in Australia on the voyage of the Investigator from 1801 until 1805.

Calocephalus brownii syn. Leucophyta brownii

Read more at Gardening Know How: Cushion Bush Information: Tips On Cushion Bush Care In The Garden https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/cushion-bush/cushion-bush-information.htm

Calocephalus brownii syn. Leucophyta brownii

Read more at Gardening Know How: Cushion Bush Information: Tips On Cushion Bush Care In The Garden https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/cushion-bush/cushion-bush-information.htm

Cushion bush, also known as silver bush (Calocephalus brownii syn. Leucophyta brownii) is a very tough and attractive perennial, native to the southern coast of Australia and nearby islands. It’s very popular in pots, borders, and larger clumps in the garden, most notably because of its striking silver to white color. Keep reading to learn more about how to grow a cushion bush and cushion bush growing conditions. Cushion Bush Information Cushion bush does produce small yellow flowers on the tips of its stems, but most gardeners grow the plant for its foliage. The stems grow thick and outward in a shape very much like a tumbleweed, and the soft leaves stay close to the stems.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Cushion Bush Information: Tips On Cushion Bush Care In The Garden https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/cushion-bush/cushion-bush-information.htm

Planting continues

Today and yesterday Matt and I planted a slew of new plants at the gardens.

A total of 4 Aloe tomentosa went in at the bottom of the steps at PG. The biggest plant was one that was not doing well at PG years ago, and we swooped in and rescued it. We collected seed when it flowered, and the three smaller ones are the result. We will keep an eye on them to see how they do in this much shadier spot.

Similarly, a Yucca linearifolia from the steps had been rehabbed at home. It's replanted now, in much better condition. A really cool (but small) Yucca faxoniana went in the top bed, and an Echium gentianoides too.

We removed all the bearded iris that had stopped flowering for us, and I put them on NextDoor. Very shortly after a woman came to pick them up - good luck! In their place we planted six Leucophyta brownii, all around the Agave ovatifolias.

Yesterday we planted an Echium hybrid (Echium candicans x Echium pinninnata, a natural cross that happened in our garden) in the top bed, along with  Agave "Huastecta Giant (shown at the top in the image at left)," Agave americana striata (bottom left) and Agave americana "Lemon Lime" (bottom right.)  Agave "Mr Ripple" went in the left bed.

Overall that's six totally new species for us and the return of some nice ones. Hope they do really well.

The weeds tho...

Matt and I headed to the garden to do some planting last weekend. For me it was more of a "point where I want it" as my knee is still iffy, but Matt was up for that.

We put in 6 Leucophyta brownii (syn. Calocephalus brownii)  "Silver Stone" which I grew on from plugs and 4" plants to this 1 gallon size over the last 6 months. I have 6 more at home that need to grow a bit more, too. This is a nice, super drought tolerant plant from Australia that we have had in the past - not very long lived but good for a few years.

We also put in two 15 gallon Yucca guatemalensis down at PRG which we grew from cuttings (on the right), and an Austrocylindropuntia subulata - the lovely Eve's Needle cactus that grows so well for us (on the left). More spines, less trouble, in my experience - at least, less trouble with theft, damage and destruction. More trouble with weeding, I must confess...

We watered the new Cussonias and pondered more planting. Loads more plants are waiting to go in at home, but lots of them need to get bigger before they can withstand life at the garden where people stand on them, let their dogs pee on them, and generally abuse them!

We got some rain

Well it's fairly cold and wet in the Bay area right now as a strong cold front passes through. Nice for the garden though - a little rain, even though it didn't penetrate more than 3" into the bone dry dirt, is better than nothing.

Today Matt and I had planned to be out of town but due to an unforeseen set of circumstances, ended up coming home early. A spot of gardening was in order, so we popped out and accomplished a few tasks.

I weeded the steps area and planted a few specimens that had been waiting for a while:

4 Leucophyta brownii (Cushion Bush)
4 Euphorbia amygdaloides "Purpurea/Rubra"

I also sadly noted that almost all of the Sisyrinchium californica (Yellow-Eyed Grass) and Calla lilies by the steps are gone - probably weeded out by a volunteer who mistook the former for grass and the latter for...dead stuff? I also found three piles of dog poo in the steps area - disgusting. Come on people: keep an eye on your pets and pick it up! The majority of dog owners are cool - it's the one or two lazy ones...

I cut back the lamb's ears (Stachys) and the yellow Crocosmia in the left bed, and Matt transplanted a Verbascum from behind the wrong way sign to be with the other Verbascums in the left bed. He also weeded the area behind the wrong way sign, and moved two of the Asphodeline lutea to be next to the third one, as they were being engulfed by Artemisias.

Matt also moved an Agave filifera to the front of the middle back bed (digging up the remnants of the deceased yellowjacket colony) Lastly, he worked on flattening the new shed area, which is (slightly) easier to do when the ground is wet.

Another marathon day

Today Matt and I set out to plant as many plants on the terraces as we could, since we need to prove to the people who gave us grants that we've spent their money as we said we would by November 15th. Eeek!

We worked from 10am to about 3.30pm, and we planted a lot. Here's the list:

1 Aeonium arborescens "Atropurpureum"
3 Aeonium haworthii
5 Aeonium sp. 
1 Agave lechuguilla (Shin Dagger Agave)
4 Agave parryi
1 Agave sp. (smooth leaf edges and long apical spine - ideas?)
1 Agave vilmoriniana (Octopus Agave)
7 Aloe brevifolia
1 Aloe polyphylla
4 Calandrinia spectabilis (Rock Purslane)
1 Crassula lycopodioides (Watch Chain Crassula)
6 columnar cacti, unidentified
1 Echeveria rgida
3 Euphorbia characias
4 Euphorbia lambii
3 Euphorbia "Silver Swan"
1 Furcraea sp. (variegated)
3 Gasteria acinacifolia (Giant Gasteria)
1 Hesperaloe parviflora
2 Opuntia subulata
Lots of Senecio mandraliscae (Blue Chalk Sticks) cuttings
5 Yucca sp.

That's at least 60+ plants, and we probably have almost as many to plant where the shed is. When we remove the shed and landscape that area. Oh yes, another big job coming up!

Matt also worked on flattening the path to the composters and added rebar stakes to the steps too.

Later on we went by Home Depot, Flowercraft and Lowes looking for tall Cordylines for the middle front bed.  No luck, but I did find some nice Australian natives for the steps area - Leucophyta brownii. A silvery, mounding shrub that's supposed to be tough as nails, and has little yellow flowers.

All in all a pretty productive day!