New menu, Sloat sale, and minor drama

Let's get straight to the minor drama - you know you want to hear about it more than some Latin plant names!

Yesterday while I was at work Matt called me. "There's someone in the garden, with a shovel" he said. *gasp* Apparently our neighbor Barbara spied some Caltrans workers in the garden, pointing and looking dangerous... She called her hubby Sage. He called Matt. Matt called me. Immediately I called Annelle (Didn't we used to play a game like this when I was a kid?) and she said she would go out and see what was up. Maybe next time we can cut out the four middle men and I can give Barbara a megaphone so she can yell at people right out of her window, like a booming voice from the sky. "Drop that shovel, mortal!" :P

Anywho, Annelle went out and gave them men a death stare. Apparently this worked, and they scampered away. She called me to fill me in the situation. I was jittery. Would Caltrans find some reason to punish me for gardening incorrectly?

After work I scurried home to inspect everything. Plant roll call. Is everyone OK? Did they hurt you? (tears, hugs) Looks like they dug out one of the water junction boxes which I had carefully not planted anything on top of just in case. They dumped the dirt on top of a scared Gaillardia, but I rescued it. Aside from that, they seem to have been very careful. H'mmm...

Then this morning Gary sent me a picture of the lot from before the garden, and pretended that Caltrans had scraped P. Garden off the face of the earth, as a joke. Waaah! Shortly after, he emailed to say "Ricky from Caltrans" dropped by, and apparently:

"He is working on getting the watering system in place. In the mean time he showed me how to turn on all the bubblers on the lot. I'll show you. He also gave me some fittings to set up a hose by the trees. He is very impressed with the garden. He was thinking of using sprinklers on timers. I mentioned drip hose. He said you should contact his boss to discuss what Caltrans should put in."

Stupendous! So I have ceased palpitating, and am now experiencing gardening joy again. *phew*

In other news, recently I had been wondering if I should buy and host a domain for the garden. Sadly www.pennsylvaniagarden.com is already taken (by some people in Pennsylvania! Who garden! Pshaw!) and to be honest, yet another website to design, build, maintain and pay for is not high on my wishlist. So, the blog stays - it's free and easy to use.

Yesterday I rearranged the info on this site so it performs a little more like a website, and somewhat less like a straight list of blog posts. I added a menu to the top of the right column, with sections that hopefully will answer questions people have about the garden. If you have suggestions, additions or corrections, let me know.

This morning I got up early again to head out to the Sloat Garden Center sale. We arrived at 7.55am and got in line. It was buy one, get one free 4" perennials and succulents, and we got eight additions to the garden:

- Artemisia x absinthum "Powis Castle" (Wormwood) (shouldn't that be "Powys"?)
- Sedum rupestre "Lemon Coral"
- Lantana montevidensis "New Gold"
- Crassula pellucida
- Adromischus cristatus (Crinkleleaf plant)
- Kalanchoe bracteata "Silvermint"
- Osteospermum "Margarita Yellow Improved" (we got two - one is cream, the other yellow - wonder how they'll turn out)

I managed to resist buying Cupheas, Pennisetums, Kniphofias, all manner of clever Salvias and of course could have come home with several dozen cute Aloes and so on... but I am trying to keep the spending down (honest!). 4" plants certainly take a while to grow big, and are more prone to damage from feet and paws, but they're in our price range. Note To Self: Stay strong!

Matt also got three big glazed ceramic pots for the three cactus tips we have rooting in the living room. Once they are rooted, I warned him, you will have to let them go into the garden. I think he thinks we can talk about that when the time comes... hah!

Early start

For some reason I got up at 5.30am today so I decided to go and investigate some branches that John told me about, piled up by Esprit Park. Got two loads. Amazing what will get me excited these days!

This evening I planted some sage and violets, and met lovely neighbors Kyle and Hector.

Gratuitous picture of a flowering Canna above!

Windy evening

Popped out for a bit of twig weaving tonight - all my current branches are used up and it made about 4 yards along the Canna bed. I need enough to do the rest of that strip, up to the dog waste tub, and along the back of the "red bed" (top strip). Then I can rest. I think the beds close to the slope can wait as people don't often walk down there.

I planted two Helichrysum petiolare "Lemon Licorice" next to a dark Phormium, and I think it looks quite fetching (above).

Finally I potted up some Aster seedlings in the house. OK, they're supposed to be Asters... but, are they?* The seeds came from a friend in Tasmania. As you can see above they sprouted really well, and I'm all out of pots to accommodate them, after potting about 20 of them! Perhaps I can trade the leftovers for something else with a Craigslister...

That's all!

* Yes, apparently they are, according to Google images. (Callistephus chinensis)

Plant profile: Sedum

Above left: Sedum rubrotinctum "Jelly Beans" or "Pork and Beans"
Above right: Sedum telephium "Autumn Delight"













Above left: Sedum nevii "Silver Frost"
Above right: Sedum telephium ssp. ruprechtii "Hab Grey"

Above left: Sedum spectabile "Neon"
Above right: Sedum spathulifolium "Cape Blanco" (probably)

Sedums comprise about 400 species of leafy succulents, found throughout the northern hemisphere, varying from annual and creeping herbs to shrubs. When I was a kid we had a Sedum shrub by the house and I wasn't very fond of it's dusty pink, broccoli-like flowers. Probably because I didn't like broccoli! However, I've since come to appreciate Sedums because they're tough, easy to propagate and coming in all sorts of interesting leaf colors. We have about 10 species in P. Garden.

Latin name: Sedum spp. ("SEED-um")
Common name: Various names, but both Sedum and Stonecrop are often used.
Originally from: The old and new world, in the northern hemisphere.
Blooms: From yellow to neon pink, all with 5 petals.
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Water: Drought tolerant, but does best with some water.
Where to find in P. Garden: Low, creeping versions along the front of the cactus wall, small shrubs in the top/middle, front/round and left beds.















Above left: Sedum makinoi (Golden Japanese Sedum)
Above right: Sedum rupestre "Angelina"













Above left: Sedum spathulifolium ssp. pruinosum "Carnera" (probably)
Above right: An unnamed dark red Sedum (I love this one!)
Below: Sedum spirium "Voodoo"

Arch and sparkle!

An old coworker of mine, in a far distant retail job, once told me the secret to sales: show the object for sale to the customer, touch the object, and "arch and sparkle!" In other works, assume a pose and expression of thrilledness, purely derived from proximity to the item for sale.

Today, there was a lot of similar "arch and sparkling" going on at P. Garden, mostly due to the excitement we got from helping Our Fearless Metalwork Artist (can we name him?) to install the brand-new-and-shiny garden arch!

8am this morning I was to be found in the Mission picking up some freebie plants (Craigslist posting forwarded to me by both John and Joan, separately!):

- 1 Ginger (Latin name unknown)
- 6 Aeoniums
- Various small bits of succulent and cactus















On arriving home I couldn't help but notice a large truck parked outside P. Garden... it turned out to be our friend, busily digging a hole for one of the posts for the arch! I gulped down my coffee and set to work digging too.... pretty soon Matt joined us, and before you know it, both posts are in. Then came the moving of the top part which weighed a lot. I was worried it would fall off and smash me flat, but no, we made it - the arch is up! Our friend went off to get his welding equipment, and on returning Jim allowed him to use his power to attach the top part.

It even has "PG" welded to it, which was painted a lovely copper color so it stands out, and the attention to detail in installing it went as far as making sure the wine barrel planters were level too. Shame the plants in them are wonky!

Lots of people stopped by to admire it - it is a huge hit. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm just thrilled at the look of our entranceway now! All that is left to do is pick the perfect, scented vine to climb up it.













We also had help in the garden today from Leah, who weeded the entire dog area as well as pruning many scraggly areas: the garden looks 1000% better, and I must get more mulch to prevent it from reverting to a weed pile.

Amar and his lovely wife Liza (sp?) came too, and they moved some wayward daffodils to a much better spot, as well as making a good start on some twig weaving. I must say it's not fair to ask a pregnant woman to help in the garden, but there you go - I'm a slave driver!

Other tasks that got done included moving a Penstemon, a Cosmos and an Acorus gramineus "Minimus Aureus" and of course a lot of weeding.

Cactus show, and more

Today we went to the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society show in Golden Gate Park. Matt decided to get some tiny succulents for his vertical garden project, and I got some small ground cover-ish things:

Sedum nevii "Silver Frost"
Sedum makinoi (Golden Japanese Sedum)
Senecio haworthii
Senecio mandraliscae

The we went and planted them. I also sprayed the white rose for blackspot, trimmed and weeded and poked around in general. Right after we got really hungry and were about to leave, Leah dropped by, with planty donations! Oh, I felt so bad leaving her but we had to go... we left her, guiltily, pruning away. Thanks Leah!

Later that evening, I transplanted 16 Asters that I grew from seed into 4" pots, and we watered the whole garden. Matt planted 7-8 clumps of creeping thyme, and some Sisyrinchium californicum (Yellow-Eyed Grass) by the steps and I prepped the two big Yucca cuttings to be ready to plant inside by removing all the lower leaves.

Quiet week, in fact!

Sort of a quiet week - I've been working a lot. However, I did manage to:

- Plant 2 Cosmos, 1 Lantana camera, 1 Senecio kleiniiformis.
- Water them, and the other recent newbies.
- Meet a guy who was out running and donated $20 (Thanks Amar!) and a very nice couple from the Dogpatch area.
- Move some bricks into the base of the metal cabinet to stop it falling over (ouch!)
- With John's help, pick up two huge Yucca branches donated by Elizabeth (thanks guys!)

I'm making plans for the weekend. If anyone's up for gardening I'll be at the garden Sunday morning for sure, in and out on Saturday. :)

Quiet Sunday

On Sunday we planned to simply water for the week. So we got up and watered. Weeded. Collected a few Arctotis seeds. Nothing strenuous.

Then I got an email from Alison - would I like some Jade Plants, already dug up, and delivered? Shockingly lazy person that I am, of course I said yes (perfect for the back slope's succulent garden).

We went to the barn and on the way home had a hankering to see what was cheap and cheerful at Lowes. Matt wanted some Lantanas, too. Anyway, by some devious means they are able to produce 4" pots of useful stuff for about $2.50... Here's what we could not turn down:

- 4 Lantana camera (Lantana - red/orange/yellow)
- 1 Lantana camera (Lantana - purple)
- 1 Senecio kleiniiformis
- 2 Thymus praecox "Pink Chintz" (Thyme)
- 2 Cosmos bipinnatus (Cosmos)

Thyme for the steps, Lantanas for the wine barrel planters, Cosmos for the big middle bed, and so on. More holes to dig...!

Steps, part deux

Today we finished the steps. I put black plastic under the bricks, and finished bricking the whole stairway. Gary cut off the one bit of rebar that was sticking up. It's done! Phew.

Joan dropped by and we had a lovely chat. If we had our bench done we could have chatted all day!

We also planted some plants that had been waiting:

- 4 Yucca flaccida "Garland's Gold" in one huge pot, from John
- 1 Doryanthes palmeri (Spear Lily) - John again
- 1 Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmation Bellflower) "Get Mee" from my lovely friend Lise.
1 Bougainvillea - a nice golden yellow-colored one.

Quick watering for this week's new plants, and we are done. Now, what shall we plant by the steps...?

Plant profile: Eschscholzia and other poppies

What bright orange flower is the official flower of California? Hint: April 6 is California Poppy Day.

It was selected as the state flower by the California State Floral Society in December 1890, winning out over the Mariposa lily (genus Calochortus) and the Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) by a landslide. Oh dear - Matilija fans (ie Matt) not amused...

There are several subspecies - we've seen very small, yellow versions in Morro Bay, compared to the bigger, orange versions here in San Francisco.

Latin name: Eschscholzia californica ("eshz-KOL-zee-ah kal-ee-FOR-nik-ah")
Common name: California poppy
Originally from: Well, um, California! Officially, the western United States throughout California, extending to Oregon, southern Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and in Mexico in Sonora and northwest Baja California.
Blooms: February to September, and always covered in bees.
Light: Full sun.
Water: Drought tolerant - in fact, they go floppy if you water them too much!
Where to find in P. Garden: Front beds, top bed and top middle bed.

By the off ramp

I got a big packet of California poppy seeds and sprinkled them liberally in the garden. Quickly, small plants emerged. Assuming they were weeds, I just as quickly pulled them out! Oops. But many survived, and after weeks of watching they started to bloom. Talk about a show! These things are seriously good bang for your buck - a "fling 'em and forget 'em" seed. I've added red California poppy seeds to the top bed too, and "White Linen" in the left bed. Can't wait to see those bloom.

Some clever gardeners have cultivated other various colors, but those seeds didn't germinate for me due to lack of watering I suppose. Bah. Also worth noting is that the poppies hate to be moved with a burning, fiery passion, and will die no matter how careful you are. Lesson learned.

"White Linen"

Interesting note from Wikipedia: "A common misconception associated with the plant, because of its status as a state flower, is that the cutting or damaging of the California poppy is illegal. There is no such law in California, outside of state law that makes it a misdemeanor to cut or remove any plant growing on state or county highways or public lands except by authorized government employees and contractors; it is also against the law to remove plants on private property without the permission of the owner (Cal. Penal Code Section 384a) California Penal Code."

Other plants that are also commonly known as poppies that we have in the garden are the Flanders poppy (left, Papaver rhoeas - red with a black center, in the front bed) and Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri - white with a yellow center, like a fried egg, and very tall (left bed).

Storage solution

The back area of the garden has been a storage zone (i.e. mess) for a while now - hard to get to, out of sight (more or less) - it's where all the empty pots, unused bricks and so on go. But what about garden tools? So stealable, yet too dirty to keep in the house. They have been living variously in the back of the car or hidden under the compost pile (!)

So, I have been looking out for a metal storage cabinet to keep stuff in, and recently found one on craigslist.org. We went to buy it, but sadly, the owner left it on the street that day and oops, someone ran off with it. He said he'd email when he was ready to sell his other one... and was very apologetic. Happily, on Monday he emailed, and last night we went to pick up the other cabinet for $60. I quicky rearranged the storage area to accommodate it, and leveled the spot a bit.

It is quite large, so getting it into the back of the garden in the dark was an adventure, but luckily Matt is a strapping lad and did it almost all on his own. Now we just have to figure out how to make it more secure (Gary says that a cable wrapped around with padlock is the way to go) and figure out whether or not to paint it now, or wait til it gets tagged to do that... urban garden joy!

Today my half price sale order from Bluestone Perennials in Ohio came in the mail. First time I've ordered plants online, and probably the last. While they were in good shape, they're all quite small (3-4" pots) and if I'd paid full price I'd be quite disappointed I think. However, 18 plants for about $3.50 each is OK. I got:

- 3 Achillea millefolium "Walter Funke"
- 3 Armeria pseudarmeria "Joystick Lilac" (Sea Thrift)
- 3 Festuca glauca (Blue Fescue)
- 3 Kniphofia uvaria "Flamenco"
- 3 Oenothera versicolor "Sunset Blvd." (Evening Primrose)
- 3 Silene coronaria "Gardener's World" (Rose Campion)

I got them all planted and watered in right away - I hope they hit the ground running!

Where ma hose at? And other assorted wit.

I have been stewing on an idea to raise some funds for the garden, while at the same time having fun. One of the ideas I had was to make a Pennsylvania Garden tee shirt using CafePress.com which would allow me to set a price that allows a $5 or so donation to the garden for every tee bought. Plus, I want a P. Garden shirt!

Some of the slogans I could put on a shirt are listed below, along with a couple of quick design ideas - what do you think? Would you buy one? Any other ideas? Yes, they are all rather silly... surely that's no surprise by now? ;)

I like to play in the dirt.
Wanna see my compost pile?
Pennsylvania Garden. Can you dig it?
Talk dirt to me.
Where my hose at?
Get off your grass and garden!
Runs with pruners.
Garden hoe.