Good timing on that rain...

Jackie!

Well we're getting a little rain at last! Hurrah - and just a day after the volunteer day so the timing is just right.

However, we're still in a major drought so we're switching off the water and the plants are actually looking good despite it all.

Matt and Jackie met up yesterday and sorted out a few problem areas in the garden. Jackie pruned back some Salvia leucanthas - perfect timing, as they'll be sprouting new growth soon.

Before

Matt pruned the Aster "Bill's Big Blue" and also the Salvia elegans (Pineapple Sage)

After that he cut back the Melianthus major (honey flower) which was looking much too scraggly, and planted some Bulbinellas at the base to tidy up the area at the bottom of the steps.

After

Anna and Janet were over at the Triangle Garden clearing out trash and tidying up the Buddlejas and so on. All in all the gardens are looking petty darn good right now considering!

Weed, mulch, water. Repeat.

Images left to right, top to bottom:
Looking towards the entrance - 2 angles
Echeveria pulv-oliver
Mimulus

Happy day: today Leah left us a big tub of plants, and John came by with almost instant gratification: our Purple Smoketree. The sun was out, so we busily planted everything and watered for the week.

- Moved the bricks up to the bench area.
- Planted Oxalis, Viola, Cotinus coggygria (Royal Purple Smoketree), Melianthus major (Honeybush), Chrysanthemum.
- Moved 3 ferns (Didymochlaena truncatula) and 2 Clivias to deeper shade.
- Weeded, mulched, watered (the never-ending triad of tasks.)

It seems like we should be running out of space for new plants, but really, when you look at all the daffodils (and remember how they will die down soon) there's a lot of space to fill!

We need a drought-tolerant ground cover for under the ornamental cherries for those between-crocus-and-daffs times. We have a patch near the evergreens that's empty, one by the steps and another by the trellis. Where the bricks used to be needs a soft (not spiky), extremely dog-and-drought-resistant shrub. We're on the hunt...

Images left to right, top to bottom:
Graptoveria
Rose of unknown sort
Arctotis stoechadifolia "Pink Sugar" (African Daisy)
Trailing Ice Plants (Lampranthus spectabilis) and Agave

Annie's Annuals

I have long wanted to make a pilgrimage to Annie's Annuals in the Beast (that's what East Bay is pig latin for) and today I got my wish. Most of the interesting plants I see for sale at local plant shops are from Annie's and naturally the name alone appeals to me, so I quickly did my taxes (!) and off we went...

Well, it's not in the best area, but lemme tell you Annie can grow a plant or two. Everything is in 4" pots, and no greenhouses there - all plants were on the tiny side. In other words cheapish. And yes, I am getting a tax refund, so I decided to blow a small part of it on the garden.

I had made a list but naturally things change when faced with a wall o' colorful plants. Here's what we scooped:

- Aloe ferox - wish I could afford a nice big specimen, but this will teach me patience.
- Sedum spirium "Voodoo"
- 3 Artemisia californica
- Greenovia diplocycla
- 2 Ursinia anthemoides "Solar Fire"
- Melianthus major
- Drosanthemum bicolor (Dew Flower)
- Drosanthemum striatum (Dew Flower)
- Crassula erosula "Campfire"
- Echium russicum
- Mimulus aurantiacus "Point Molate"
- Mimulus puniceus
- Isomeris arborea (Bladderpod)
- Cotyledon orbiculata var. orbiculata (Pig's Ear)
- Dianthus barbatus nigrescens "Sooty"
- Aristea major

OK, so that's a binge. Mostly plants with mega impact though - the Drosanthemums are on fire, the Aloe has teeth and a plant called "Sooty"? Sold.