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!