Expanded Edition of Intern Fridays

Diane, Stephanie, Ryan,
Brittany and Shelby!

What a full workday on Friday! The task of the day was to clear out the dog area of weeds and lay down something that would act to suppress weeds - in this case, a very large piece of free jute carpet. Did I mention free?

Our regular interns were there, Shelby and Brittany and Brittany's beau Ryan was also there to help. At the last work day Diane and Stephanie had said they wanted to come back as well, so I invited them too. So, this expanded edition of 'interns' was set to clear out weeds, and they did a fantastic job. The mulch we laid down last Fall has composted significantly more than I expected, so I've made a note to get extra mulch delivered when we mulch the new street park. All in all, looking much better up in the dog area. Go team intern!

So much lovely

Flower ladies: Kimiko & Mary

First off, the fundraiser last night with Mariquita Farms was a great success! We sold all of the bouquets and received so much goodwill from the neighborhood. Lots of thank-you's, smiles, and even extra donations. It was great talking with everyone, and I hope to see you all at the garden sometime soon too.

Our display; half sold!

Carol, a big supporter of the garden!

Mary, Kimiko and I arranged all of the flowers in my kitchen. We were able to make two different arrangements, one more of a 'Fall' theme with sunflowers, solidago, rose hips, mums and so on. The second arrangement was a rich assortment of blue-greens (honeywort, hydrangea), deep pinks (carnations), and soft purples (mums). Both were lovely, great job Mary and Kimiko!

Next, we rushed off to Piccino to setup. Gary and Annelle donated a card table for us to use (thank you!) and as the customers came to pickup their veggie boxes from Mariquita Farms, they stopped to pickup a bouquet too.

Nate came by as well to help work the table, and we were sold out before the event was over, with Mattie, a volunteer from last Saturday, stopping by to purchase the last bouquet! It was a wonderful evening, and we are so grateful for everyones support!

$10 bouquet is for real - a fundraiser for the new garden!

Bentley anticipating his bouquet

As if things couldn't get any better around the garden! So many awesome volunteers over the weekend got Pennsylvania Garden into shipshape, and the new garden on the 100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue is going in this month, a big wow there! Now, we've been given the opportunity as part of the Mariquita Farms Mystery Box Thursday at Piccino to have a fundraiser. Cloud nine!
This Thursday from 4:30-7pm we will have bouquets available for a suggested donation of $10, outside Piccino at the corner of Tennessee and 22nd. The lovely bouquets have been donated by local florists to help raise funds for a new garden on the 100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Wow!
Which reminds me, if you are ever able to make a donation, no matter how small or quirky, just send me an email and I bet we can make good use of it.

Hope to see you all Thursday,

Emily
emily@psgsf.org

Volunteer Day: mental!

Carlin, deep in a bed

Today's volunteer day was busy. Very busy. When Emily and I arrived the arch at the top of the steps had been knocked down, so we quickly straightened it and fixed the broken ties holding it in place. Seems like the jasmine on it survived, but I think the arch is rotting out.... do we need a new one?

Then people started arriving. We had 18 people working away in the garden and got so much done it's outrageous! We divided all the tasks between the people, and this is how it all went down:

Stephanie & Diane

Carlin and Patrick weeded assiduously all around the paths and into the borders. They can always be counted on to do that job perfectly! Carlin also moved Dahlia and lily bulbs around.

Stephanie and Diane weeded the steps area. I pulled out 5 weeds to show them what had to go, and left them to it. 2 hours later the steps are weeded very carefully and with great attention to detail - yay!

Nate and Tania pulled nasturtiums (aka weeds) out of the front border, which is an ongoing problem there.   

Eliot: before and after

Eliott, Nate, Emily and Steve worked together to make a low wooden shoring for the bottom of the steps where the slope tends to crumble. Not anymore it doesn't!

They installed several pieces of redwood with wooden stakes and replanted the lamb's ears on top of the little retaining wall. It'll be lovely when they grow over the edge and cascade down.

Molly gets dug in

Molly and Matt weeded the border behind the wrong way sign, and pulled out the Agave gypsophila there. It had 6 pups that went in along the front of the border, and the original plant went back in.

They also moved an Agave scabra, some Aeonium zwartkop, and added three more clumps of regular Aeonium arboreum too, into better positions height-wise. They pulled out 4 Limonium perezi that were not really doing well there (not enough water, and the purple flowers got lost among the Agapanthus behind them) and set them aside so we could decide where to plant them later on.

Erika and Mattie

Erika and Mattie helped me remove all the Aloe maculatas and Festuca glauca (Blue Fescue) from the middle back bed and rearranged them much more cleverly.  There was a great deal of digging going on there, but the end result is so much more pleasing!

We also took out the two Sedums and Matt replanted them in the middle front bed, and 3 variegated Society Garlics (Tulbahgia violacea) as they didn't match the planting plan.

Later on, Matt moved the 4 Limonium he'd dug out, and the 3 variegated Society Garlics from the middle back bed to various spots to the front border, and also moved a Euphorbia myrsinites to the arch area from the middle front bed. Matt took the three Aeonium nobile from the middle back bed and set them under the Euphorbia lambii tree there, which is a much better place for them I think.

Steve

Brittany and Ryan energetically turned the compost and removed two wheelbarrow loads which were spread about the garden - great to see that happening! Sometimes you think you'll be buried under all the plant waste, and when it turns into something useful - whew!

And with that, we were done. Another glorious, sunny, fun day in the garden. thank you all for helping to make the community look so much better!

Groundbreaking info

DPW has removed all the homeless encampments and cut down the weeds on the street per our request (and the requests of countless other residents and businesses) and we're delighted to announce that our contractor Mike Glynn will be starting work on the retaining wall at the north end of the street in the next 10 days. 

We will be reaching out to businesses on the street to ensure accessibility can be maintained as much as possible, and regular street parking will be affected - please bear with us during this work phase and contact annie at psgsf.org or emily at psgsf.org if and issues come up.

We will be having three work days in December where volunteers can join us in making this project happen. We're volunteer led and believe in the power of the community to get things like this done, so please come out and help! Volunteer days are as follows:

Dec. 1st. 10am-1pm:
Tree planting with Friends of the Urban Forest - FILLED (more always welcome!)

Dec. 8th. 10am-1pm:
Building the sidewalk: installing edging and landscape fabric, and putting in decomposed grantite - NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Dec. 15th. 10am-1pm:
Installing sidewalk edging rocks as wheel stops to prevent cars driving on the sidewalk  - NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

We hope you can join us - please sign up here to get involved (there will be drinks and snacks for everyone, as well as buckets of good karma to take home!)  http://pennsylvaniagarden.blogspot.com/p/volunteer.html

Introducing: Garden Interns!

Brittany & Shelby

Last Friday there was a very special workday scheduled especially for our interns, Brittany and Shelby, from San Francisco City College! These lovely ladies contacted me about earning their 16 hours of horticulture experience with us at Pennsylvania Garden. Our neighborhood is so lucky to have them pitching in! My mom, Debbie, was visiting for the day, so she helped as well.

After giving them a mini-tour we all set into to weeding the dog area. It has gotten pretty weedy up there, and we need to prepare the site in order to install some physical barrier under the mulch (carpet tiles? landscaping fabric?). Next task was to dispose of all the trash that has collected down at the Mariposa Center Garden. It was a productive workday, and I'll have to devise some fun gardening for us next week.

A few hours on a sunny Saturday

Yesterday Matt and I went to the garden to do a few quick tasks and noticed that the Aloe ferox (Bitter Aloe) is about to flower for the first time.

This was a tiny little 4" plant from Annie's Annuals less than 3 short years ago in April 2009 and it has grown magnificently.  It'll be an awesome sight when the flowers open - I can't wait to see how it looks. This is a tree Aloe meaning it'll grow into a 9' high tree eventually. Or maybe sooner than we thought at this rate!

After that I planted some Amaryllis belladonna (Naked Lady) bulbs in three spots in the brights bed. These were on the lower left bed path, and doing OK, but I think some pink flowers in the brights bed will be fab.

They like to be planted with the tips of the bulbs showing - as you can see in the photo the ones on the right are covered with dirt correctly, the ones on the left are about to be covered. I hope they like their new spots. Sometimes they get upset by being moved and won't flower the following year but hopefully I've moved them at a time when they're totally dormant and won't care.

There are a few more of these bulbs around the garden (in the left bed) that I want to consolidate into clumps in the brights bed - better do that soon.

Lastly Matt and I sat on the steps and started delicately weeding the grass and other weeds from the sides. This job takes quite some time to do correctly - there are a lot of little Sisyrinchium californicum (Yellow-eyed Grass) clumps that look like grass there, mixed with grass.

We want to keep the Yellow-eyed Grass, and not the boring grass. Tricky work, but oddly rewarding. In the pic you can see a before and after section.

Sunny Rainy Kind of Day

Kate pauses from weeding

Bonkers may be the word Annie would use to describe the weather on Monday, and I think it fits! Masses of rain clouds blew over the garden and were followed by bright sunshine, warm sunshine even, while Kate and I gardened.

Tasks of the day included weeding the walkway from the bench up and around the brights bed, weeding the bed along the pathway adjacent to the brights bed, and pruning back a Salvia that had overtaken a Leucadendron.

We weren't in the garden very long, but it was so beautiful out we couldn't help but get outside and do some work in the rain/sun! Be on the lookout of interesting mushrooms around the garden and remember to look but not touch, mushrooms can be some seriously bad stuff even when just touched.

Rain's a-comin'

A Dahlia, earlier today

On Tuesday or so we're supposed to get 1/2" of rain, and I for one would be delighted. Especially if it rains from 10am to 4pm. Or from midnight to 8am, for example... as things are so dry and all.

Today Matt and I went to the garden for the first time in ages - we got married (!) and went on honeymoon to Thailand, so it was quite a treat to see how much the garden has grown under Emily's watchful eye since we were away.

We decided to fix up an area on the lower path side of the left bed, where a previously lush clump of Bulbine had failed to look good at all this year for reasons unknown.

Before and after

First we ripped out the Bulbine, then we rearranged the Agave attenuatas that were there (two) and added several more, including a large one from the middle front bed that was getting overgrown with Aloe.

Matt moved two large clumps of Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) up-slope, as they were encroaching on the pathway, and we took out a big clump of Naked Lady (Amaryllis belladonna) bulbs that need to go in the brights bed instead. Next we planted 16 small pots of Graptopetalum paraguayense "Pinky" around the base of the Agaves, and half a dozen cuttings of Finger Aloe (Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga) along the front slope to hopefully prevent it sliding downhill.

The whole lot got watered in heavily, and it was done!

The middle back, middle front, and left beds also got a load of water. I weeded the middle front bed, and Matt transplanted some volunteer Euphorbia characias from the middle front bed to the front border. Emily, Ryan and Bentley popped by, and all in all, it was a productive day.

Plant profile: Philadephus (Mock Orange)

Latin name: Philadelphus ("fill-ah-DELL-fuss")
Common name: Mock Orange
Originally from: North America, Central America, Asia and southeast Europe.
Blooms: Sweet scented white flowers from Spring to mid Summer.
Light: Full sun to part shade
Water: Rain is plenty. No summer water needed, but enjoys a little.
Height x width: 5' tall x 6' wide
USDA Zones: 5-10
Where to find in P. Garden: When you're sitting on the bench, it's to your right, by the arch.

Talk about old fashioned plants! Our Philadelphus is "Belle Etoile," a hybrid of uncertain parentage from the 1900s, is one of the most fragrant in the bunch, and has a longer flowering period than others, as well as a more compact habit. That said, she's still a blowsy gal with loose arching branches. I will prune her annually to see if we can make the form a bit tighter. Since Philadelphus flowers best on second year wood, the time to prune is right after they're done flowering. Happily, this year's blooms were plentiful, very long lasting and very sweet smelling.

They are named "mock orange" in reference to their flowers, which in wild species look somewhat similar to those of oranges and lemons at first glance, and smell of orange flowers and jasmine. The scent is strong enough to waft on the breeze, which is why I planted this by the bench. We tend to get a lot of car fumes wafting in from the freeway, so I hope this counteracts that smell a bit.

Philadelphus californicus is the Mock Orange native to our state, and we'd like to get a specimen for the garden sometime.

FUF & Stuff

Ok, first off I know everyone that reads this blog probably already has a street tree or wants one in front of their home or business. However, if you are needing more trees or know people that should have a tree, please contact Doug at Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF). 

FUF is organizing a street tree planting day for our neighborhood - maybe you saw the signs - so this is your opportunity to get a new tree put in front of your home or business at a VERY low cost! You can also volunteer to help put in the trees - should be a fun day You know Annie and I will be there!

Contact: Doug Lybeck
Community Outreach Coordinator
Friends of the Urban Forest
dougly@fuf.net
415-268-0773

Second, just did some tidying up around the garden which included weeding out from underneath the Agave in the middle bed, weeding and cutting back in the bed with the Linaria in it (among other lovely plants) and general well, you may have guessed.... more weeding. Cardoon is coming back in style also, and butterflies are everywhere! To summarize, get yourself to the garden!

Bring it On Volunteer Workday

Paloma introduces Cleo

 So much was done on Saturday I am not even sure where to start! It was a beautiful day, perfect for getting work done in the garden. Almost everyone brought something special to the garden today- I brought my mom Debbie, and Mary brought herself there early with expert gardening skills (!). We all chatted while I hauled out all the supplies for the day. Then came Carlin, who brought a bundle of branches for making twig borders and on top of that, Jackie came and brought a flat of tomatoes from her garden to share with everyone. Paloma and Jim brought the littlest gardener, their baby Cleo. Whew! After a bit Elliot even showed up, and he brought a great attitude for getting stuff done.

Here is what we accomplished:

Elliot & Jackie's twig border 

- Front left bed mostly de-grassed and mulched; path swept
- Twig border repair
  - Weeding pathways and french drain
  - Watering terrace plants, aloe bed in dog area and lavenders
  - Cutback Crocosmia 'lucifer', Canna, Yarrow, general dead-heading around the garden

After all that hard work we drank some Izze's by the bench and watched a cute little mouse scampering back and forth from under the Tibouchina to the Agastache just inches away from all of us. The mouse resisted a good photograph, but we all agreed, it was cute and very outgoing to get so close to all of us humans!

Jackie and her tomato bounty