Best thing to do after it rains

An honor: first daff of the season

Given the rather wimpy storms we get here in San Francisco, I knew in between rain showers I could get to the garden today and get some work done. I was not wrong! The best thing to do right after a good rain is to pull out weeds, they will be much easier to remove. I weeded the brights bed, pruned back the old parts of the Glaucium grandiflora there that is one of my favorite plants, took off the dead bits on the Echinacea and tidied up the Iris by removing dead leaves. I also took a walk throughout the entire garden admiring how lovely the plantings are right now and pulling out offending weeds as necessary. I highly recommend taking a quick walk through the garden before it rains again, and you can spot the first daffodil of the season blooming. The Salvia and Yarrow next to it are blooming are well, we are so lucky here throughout the winter to have so much color!

A favorite: Echeveria 'Fred Ives'

Aerial views and more!

Maybe it looks even better from above!

Annie and I received two great emails this morning from neighbors Jason and Nataly. Not only did they tell us how happy they were about the new street park, they sent over aerial photos of the site. A double whammy of happiness! I hope they continue to take aerial shots of the street park as it progresses. If you have photos of the site you'd like to share, please email them to me at emily@psgsf.org.

Yea, heavy equipment!

Just as it was getting dark I was able to take my dog Bentley on a walk and check out the day's progress. A good portion of the street has been roped off so that the asphalt can be safely removed. We are still maintaining two-way traffic and perpendicular parking on both sides, so don't worry! The area between the parking and the fence has a bunch of rock, asphalt, and unmentionables dumped over the years by countless people of questionable morals, so it all has to be dug up and safely removed. No more dumping allowed in our street park!

Bentley checks out the BRC to be

In addition to the area being removed along the fence, there some additional features that will have the asphalt removed from them as well - these are labeled 'BRCs' for bio-retention cell. It is basically a fancy way of saying a planted area that acts to slow down and filter rainwater. There are 4 of these located along the parking zone to slow and filter water as it travels down the street. You'll love them, we promise.

Beautiful, level park

The site was originally quite sloped, so much so that if you stood at the bottom by the fence you could not be seen from the street level. Now with the retaining wall finished and the area back-filled with dirt, the site is almost level. I am honestly overjoyed to see things at this stage of completion - so many meetings about the retaining wall,  grading of the site, the eventual redwood fence that will top the structure... endless.

Night-time Agaves at P garden

After walking through the new street park Bentley and I headed up to Pennsylvania Garden to dispose of his doggy waste and enjoy night-time at the garden. With the new street park we may incorporate some features that are not found at Pennsylvania Garden - like a larger seating area with lighting - but for now we're just dreaming up the possibilities.

Make hay while the sun shines

Agave, Bulbinella, Phormium

Whenever people complain about the weather in Frisky Town I think that a little perspective would not go amiss. I grew up in Wales so if you think 10 inches of rain a year is bad, try 10 FEET.  On a local level though, I also spent many years living in the Haight and yes - it gets pretty foggy there, which is depressing. But Potrero Hill? No so much! When I look back on my blog posts the sunny weather gets mentioned so often it's almost relentless.

Anyway, today Matt and I went out in the, yes, warm sun and checked a few tasks off the list.

First I staked the Cordyline "Electric Pink" in the middle front bed - it got wobbly recently, and I really want it to suceed.

Matt removed a good-sized Agave americana from the cactus wall, along with a dozen pups. These gorgeous blue-green plants are almost a weed. We planted these as small pups back in January 2009 and they have grown so much they're out of control. The plan is to remove all but one, and replace them with other types of Agave for variety. The removed ones will go to the SPUR project (now known as the Pennsylvania Railroad Garden) down the block.

Yucca gloriosa "Variegata"

He planted the mother plant temporarily in the gap behind a still-weak recently planted Phormium tenax near the shed in the dog area.  Recently it's clear someone scrambled through that area, mashing the Phormium and an Aloe vera among other things, so the Agave should stop intruders dead!

I planted a plant of new genus for us in the same area - Bulbinella robusta (Cat's Tail) - a lovely yellow-flowered plant from Africa that's similar to a Kniphofia. It loves summer drought, so it should be happy in that spot...

While Matt was potting up some seedlings he found at the base of the Bladderpod (Cleome arboria) I planted a small Yucca gloriosa "Variegata" at the bottom of the steps. It's tiny now, but should grow strongly - another drought buster! I gave the Salvia involucrata in the dog area a quick prune, and we called it a day.

Just half an hour

Matt and I ran up to the garden to move an Agave today.

We had 30 minutes and Matt got to work right away and removed the Agave vilmoriniana (Octopus Agave) from the cactus wall, where it was being overpowered by the massive Agave tequilana (Tequila Agave) sitting next to it.

I cleared a space at the top of the steps of yarrow (Achillea) and popped the Agave in. Done!

I think it'll do very well there - the cactus wall was a bit hot for that particular Agave in my opinion.

Retaining wall progress

Yesterday work continued at the project site, with lining fabric being attached to the inside of the wall, as you can see in this photo.

Tomorrow Emily and I will meet to  mark the locations for the trees on the streets so that Friends of the Urban Forest can augur holes on November 30th for the December 1st tree planting day.

We are also going to delineate the areas of asphalt to be removed from the street which will be planted in order to prevent the erosion at the bottom of the street, and to slow traffic - one of DPW's stipulations for the project. If you've ever tried to turn the corner at the bottom in a car you'll know it's perilous, and there's been more than one speed-related accident as people zoom round there to avoid the 4-way stop at Mississippi and Mariposa. Simlarly people park very haphazardly at the corner, often leaving cars almost in the middle of the street.

As a result we plan to make 3 or 4 car-sized bulb-outs into the parking on the east side only to collect storm water and slow traffic. We will not be performing any work to the West side of the street at all.

This is why we live in California!

During and after

So sunny and warm in the garden today - Matt and I worked up a sweat in tee shirts. Not bad for late November.

We decided to tackle one part of the middle back bed that has got out of control. The Aster "Bill's Big Blue" is done flowering, and needed to be cut back. Bill is a bit of a handful, so we are pretty tough on him - Matt cut him back and dug a whole lot of him out (anyone want some?) s well as installing a board below ground to stop Bill creeping back over and leaning on the Aloes and Kniphofias next door.

While he was doing that, I was similarly quite aggressive towards a clump of Crassula lycopodioides that, while it's a good ground cover, can also be a bit of a pest - it was mashing my row of Aloe brevifolia.

Aloe ferox

After cleaning that out I removed a Dudleya farinosa that was in great shape, but whose green color was a bit lost there - I replanted it along the edge of the left bed. Then I added 7 more Aloe brevifolias to my group in the middle back bed, we rearranged some Aeonium arboreums, removed a floppy-headed Aeonium haworthii (why do they do that?) and brought the Echeveria "Fred Ives" to the front. Matt put a big rock in, I added a Nassella tenuissima and voila! Makeover complete.

In other news the Aloe ferox flower is starting to open - it's so bad ass!

Thankful for our neighbors

Retaining wall in progress

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Today we're feeling grateful to our friends and neighbors on the street who have come together to help make this project happen.

This week contractor Mike Glynn has been hard at work with his crew installing the retaining wall - as you can see the wooden supports are also now almost complete.

Next week he'll be removing some asphalt and back-filling the retaining wall to create a slightly sloped area we can plant on. The design for this wall was donated by geotechnical engineer Bryce Neuman, and all the hardcore storm water calculations and intense water flow math was donated by landscape architect Andrea Alfonso.  Jerad Wiener and Sandra Zuniga at DPW cleared the path for us to make this project happen, and DPW Director Mohammed Nuru gave us the nod when others said it couldn't be done. heck, even Mayor Ed Lee said he wanted to see this happen when he came by the project site!

Steve Schweigerdt and Maria D'Angelico at the San Francisco Parks Alliance helped us through the painful grant process, and kept us going when we wanted to give up.

Richie Hart and Eamonn Herlihy who own the Dorsett & Jackson property on the street will be donating a 5' tall, approx 200' long redwood fence to go on top of the retaining wall in case anyone things driving over the edge is a good idea, and it should mitigate a little of the noise from the train track as well.

On November 30th our pals Heidi and Doug at Friends of the Urban Forest will be delivering our trees to the Regent's Cab parking lot at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue - thanks Steve Anton for letting us use that space! December 1st is tree planting day - we hope to see everyone there! (Put December 8th and 15th on your calendars too - it's a 3 workday series and we need as much help as we can get!)

And yesterday James Fregosi of Fregosi Paints gave us a key to his water bib so the very awesome  Emily Gogol and I could perform a water pressure and flow test last night (it's looking good!) He's giving us water for the new trees.

Thank you all (and everyone else who's been involved in any way at all - there are many more!) for helping us with this project. It's going to be so darned cool when it's done.

New beams added to the retaining wall

Beams ready to go!

Today I went down to the site to talk with our contractor, Mike, about the placement of the decomposed granite pathway and removal of asphalt from the site. There could be a lot of asphalt underground that we do not know about, so we have to wait and hope the process will go quickly and smoothly. Asphalt removal will be after Thanksgiving, and I can hardly wait. It is so exciting to see the street park taking shape, one week at a time!

When I was onsite they were installing the wooden beams that bridge the steel posts. Measure twice and cut once! It was a beautiful day outside, and I am hoping they were able to get all of the wooden beams put in.

Trees on the way

We have worked with Friends of the Urban Forest to select trees for this project, and it looks like we have candidates lined up with the help of Heidi L. our contact over there.

Our requirements were quite stringent, and we did a lot of research on the best species for the spot. Here's our wishlist:

1. Extremely drought tolerant, or xeric.
2. Evergreen, so they look good year 'round.
3. Not too tall (we have overhead wires.)
4. Low litter - less fruits, nuts and leaves falling all over the place.
5. A nice mix of 4-5 species.

These are the trees it looks like we're getting:

1. Olea europea (Olive tree)
2. Agonis flexuosa "Jervis Bay Afterdark" (Purple Peppermint Tree)
3. Acacia stenophylla (Shoestring Acacia)
4. Tristaniopsis laurina "Elegant" (Small-Leafed Tristania)
5. Acacia baileyana "Purpurea" (Purple Fernleaf Acacia)

We tried for a few other species but they weren't available - Psoralea pinnata, Cussonia species and the like - but we're happy with the one's we've got. They're sure to look fantastic on the street. Planting day is December 1st at 10am: join us!

Plant Profile: Aloe ferox (Bitter Aloe)

About to flower

Latin name: Aloe ferox ("AL-oh FER-ox")
Common name: Bitter Aloe
Originally from: The Cape Region of South Africa
Blooms: In fall a huge candelabra of orangey-red flowers emerges.
Light: Full sun
Water: Rain is plenty. No summer water needed.
Drainage: Excellent
Height x width: 9' tall x 4' wide
USDA Zones: 9 - 11
Where to find in P. Garden: On the cactus wall, near the entrance arch,

Also known as Cape Aloe, Bitter Aloe, Red Aloe and Tap Aloe, this species is one of over 500 indigenous species that are concentrated in Southern and Eastern Africa. Common in the south western Cape through to southern Kwazulu-Natal, it is also found in the south eastern corner of the Free State and southern Lesotho. 

The Latin name Ferox means "fierce" or "war-like" and refers to the leaves that not only have spiny edges, but also spines randomly growing on each side, with younger plants being spinier than older ones. It's not even half as vicious as your average Agave, but compared to the average plant it's pretty scary looking.

A form of Aloe ferox is found in Kwazulu-Natal, particularly between the midlands and the coast in the Umkomaas and Umlaas river catchment areas. This used to be known as A. candelabrum and has subsequently been included in the species. The "A. candelabrum form" has an elegant shape with the leaf tips curving slightly downwards. 

Just planted

Our A. ferox was just a little mite when we bought in April 2009 it at Annie's Annuals - a mere 4" pot sized baby. I planted it on the cactus wall and hoped for the best, assuming it'd be quite some time before it amounted to anything. As is often the case, I was wrong. It has grown from 6 inches high, with 6 leaves, to a good 30" tall and about 50 leaves, and is flowering for the first time in 2012. It makes me proud!

Growing into a short tree, the single trunk will eventually reach about 9-10' tall. Old, dried leaves cling to the trunk as the Aloe grows, creating a crisp brown skirt that Aloe fanciers admire. Any Aloe that makes it to tree size is an object of wonder to gardeners outside Africa!

One day it'll look like this!

A. ferox is most famous for the medicinal qualities of the plant, which contains anthrone C-glucoside aloin (=barbaloin) in the leaves, and for over 200 years has been farmed for that purpose in the Cape region of South Africa.

The hard, black, resinous stuff that is produced from the bitter, yellow juice just under the skin of the leaves is known as Cape aloes or aloe lump and is used mainly for its laxative properties but is also taken for arthritis. "Schwedenbitters," which is found in many pharmacies contains Aloe ferox and has been sold for over 430 years. It was first brought to Germany during the 30 year war by Swedish troops in the 17th Century. The plant is also used in cosmetic products and is reported to have wound healing properties.

Here Comes Street Park!

It reads better as street park

Finally, after years of waiting and struggling to get the green light, today is the first day of big trucks and workers in high visibility jackets! It was an awesome sight to walk West on Mariposa street, and see all the heavy equipment.

As soon as reached the corner of Mariposa and Pennsylvania, I spotted our contractor, Mike, heading out for the day. I stopped to chat, thanking him for all of his hard, and avoided getting hit by the commute traffic as I walked north on Pennsylvania towards the site.

All that work getting done!

As I got closer it was obvious that major changes were happening - numerous steel posts were already cemented into the ground, and they were busy positioning more at the very northern end. The guys running the concrete truck were waiting for the next pour, so I went over to say hello and thank them for their work. They were also keen to know what the final plan was for the street. One worker was looking forward to rain tomorrow, as he has been working 10-15 hour days and wanted a break, business has been too good. Nice to hear business is going well! My vote however is for no rain - that park can't go in fast enough.

Kessler and Crew

The crew positioning the steel posts were busy working, so no commentary from them, but I was able to take a bit of a group photo. Hopefully I can go back tomorrow and continue the progress, so stay tuned!

Baby it's cold outside!

A Red Admiral butterfly having
a snack on an Echinacea

Well that spot of hot weather ended with a cold bucket of water to the face, didn't it? Today was sunny but with a wintery chill in the air thanks to a lot of icy air blowing down from Alaska.

Matt and I popped out and looked at the damp garden, and noted how quickly every weed in the place is growing right now. A pox on weeds!

I pulled common white yarrow (Achillea) - a once-favored plant and now a weed - from the steps area where it was busy taking numbers and unmercifully kicking the asses of the other plants in that area.

Matt moved three Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Avena Grass) clumps in the back border around to better spots nearby. Sometimes I look at where a plant is growing and think "what blind person put that there? It clearly should have been put a foot to the left!" and then remember that it was me who did the planting. Oh well. Plants love to be moved around and appreciate a change of scenery as much as you or I!*

We need another accent plant in that border, among the Blue Avena Grasses,  Agapanthus, Aeoniums and orange Calendulas. I'm thinking of adding some Aeonium "Zwartkop," and another Phormium "Guardsman" or two to tie in the burgundy colors further down, plus a few clumps of the variegated mini Agapanthus that are getting swamped in the middle back bed for a bit of brightness.

*This is not true.