Plant planting expedition

OK, well the plants we bought have been planted! Matt and I headed out there this morning to plant in the brief gap in the torrential rain.

6 Santolina chamaecyparissus (Lavender Cotton)

5 Phlomis lanata (Woolly Jerusalem Sage)

10 Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii

5 Agave parryi - we bought 3 but one had big offsets that I spread around.

7 Agave palmeri subsp. chrysantha

 

 

Plant shopping expedition

Matt and I took a trip to wholesale plant joy purveyors Pacific Nurseries in Colma at lunchtime today, to shop for plants for PRG.

Over time, plants can succumb to the hard life on the streets. In this case, we were looking for plants to replace the dozens killed when a homeless encampment set fire to an area down at PRG. We got a nice load to start us off:

6 Santolina chamaecyparissus (Lavender Cotton) - awesome plant. if you remember to prune it back hard in winter. Ahem...

5 Phlomis lanata (Woolly Jerusalem Sage - pictured) - a new species of this genus that does so well for us

10 Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii

3 Agave parryi - a new kind for us - we have the A. parryi truncata everywhere, but these have longer leaves

5 Agave palmeri subsp. chrysantha - another new species, and one that pups a lot. Meaning: lots of freebies fir us!

We'll plant these next weekend. Can't wait.

Plantings!

Our volunteer workday today was done before the rain, and we got a ton of plants into the ground. Matt, Chris and Josh worked away and not only did we do a little weeding and turn the compost at PG, but also planted a Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta - left). We also planted:

13 Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion)

3 Agave americana striata

1 Cussonia paniculata

1 Peritoma arborea (Bladderpod)

Moved 1 Yucca from PG to PRG and planted two Yucca cuttings alongside it.

Josh and I cut back a Phlomis at PRG, I picked up litter, and Chris cut back a Lavatera with his usual decisiveness. We also put new signs into the kiosks at both PG and PRG - I hope they work to get more interest in our volunteer days!

By the way - all but the Lychnis and Peritoma plants were kindly donated by Mat McGrath of Farallon Gardens. Thanks Mat! Check him out on Facebook and Instagram!

Plant Profile: Nolina nelsonii (Blue Nolina)

Latin name: Nolina nelsonii  ("no-LEE-nah nell-SOWN-ee-eye")
Common name: Blue Nolina, Nelson's Bear Grass
Originally from: Northern Mexico
Blooms: Tiny white flowers on a giant spike in spring.
Light: Full sun.
Water: Winter rain is enough.
Height x width: 6-10' x 3-4'
Zones: 8a to 10b
Where to find in P. Garden: We have three nice big ones down at the North end of PRG

At some point in your plant growing life you think "Yeah - I've really got this down: I can tell the difference between an Agave, an Aloe and a Yucca at 20 paces. Send me my Girl Scout Plant ID badge please!" Shortly thereafter you stumble across a Nolina and there's a lot of humming and hawing while you try to figure it out.

In this case, I decided to get some Nolinas so I could get to know the genus. We have three Nolina nelsonii down at PRG and they have grown into nice big plants with lovely blue leaves. So far, they're very tough - no water, full sun, and nobody has killed one by stomping on it or letting their dog pee or poop on it yet.

Commonly called bear grass, perhaps because members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, 19th century explorers of western America thought they were big, tough, bear-like grasses, even though they're not a grass. And since they couldn't tell the difference between several genera of plants they called them all bear grass (Yuccas, Xerophyllum and various Nolinas) so that only adds to the confusion.

According to San Marcos Growers: 

The genus was named by Andre Michaux (1746-1802), a French botanist sent to North America by King Louis XVI. His name honors Abbé Pierre Charles (P.C.) Nolin, a French agriculturist and horticultural author. This species was first collected in 1898 by the naturalist Edward W. Nelson (1855-1934) at an elevation in the mountains near Miquihuana between 7,000-9,000 feet in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It was described in 1906 and named to honor Nelson by famed American botanist Joseph Nelson Rose (1862-1928), who with Nathaniel Lord Britton published the four volume tome "The Cactaceae".

There are 28 species in the genus, all native to Mexico and the Southern US. They're dioecious plants, meaning they have males and females.

Nolina nelsonii comes from the desert and mountain regions of Northern Mexico. It's easy to grow, grows slowly with (eventually) one or more trunks to create outstanding 3-4’ across heads of slightly serrated (but not sharp) bluish 1” wide leaves. One mature, a thick bloom stalk 4’ tall pops up, holding thousands of creamy yellow, scented flowers - after flowering, that head dies but the plant will produce more. It likes ordinary soil, hates wet feet, is very deer resistant, and needs nothing but rain to water it in the Bay Area.

 

 

New year, (more) new plants!

Yep we did it again: Matt and I went to PRG and planted 3 Yucca filifera, then up to PG to plant 10 Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion). And guess what? The dirt at PG in some areas is still BONE DRY under the mulch, which is startling given all the rain we have had.

The rain runoff also washed out some of the path at PRG so watch your step. Lastly, I also cut back some Santolinas at PRG - that's a plant that need an annual haircut to stay neat, and somehow I forget every year.

Happy holidays!

Matt and I ran to the garden today to plant some plants! We put in three Santolina chamaecyparissus (Lavender Cotton) and ten Lychnis coronaria (Rose Campion) at PG. I grew the latter from seed this year, and I'm really hoping they take off as they are such pretty plants. We also cut back the dying (dead?) Cherry Plum tree and I used the branches to make some border edging.

After that we headed down to PRG and planted three Yucca filifera plants. Lots more to new plants come this winter, but it was great to get these in ahead of the rain. I also cleaned up some trash and put in a 311 request to pick up the pile.

Happy holidays friends! I hope it's relaxing, warm and rejuvenating.

New plants, new plans

Today Matt and I popped out to the garden to plant some plants at PRG.

We put in a 15 gallon Austrocylindropuntia subulata (tall spiky cactus), a 15 gallon Yucca filifera (tall spiky yucca), a 10 gallon Agave weberi "Arizona Star" and a 10 gallon Agave valenciana that came from Mat at Farallon Gardens.

We put the A.valenciana down by the larger group of the same species at the North end, and also moved two others to join them. They're looking great - and will get absolutely huge, so that's something to look forwards to.

Lastly we cut some yucca branches that were growing into other plants and put them to one side so we can get them rooted and plant them elsewhere.

Another great GROWTH Project day

I met the team from UCSF's GROWTH Project today to work at the gardens, and while we were supposed to spread mulch at the Triangle garden, we ended up planting at PRG instead because the mulch delivery truck died.

We weeded and picked trash up, and then spent some time clearing dead or damaged plants from a stretch of PRG first. Looks like someone set a big fire down there and a lot of plants were damaged... always sad to see. Now I have an area about 30' x 5' to replant.

After that we planted a Eucalyptus gunnii "Silver Drop" which was donated by Mat McGrath of Farallon Gardens recently. Exciting new plant for us! And we put in three new Yucca filifera as well - the ultimate ankle biter (aka plant that's very good at protecting areas of the garden). The ground was nice and moist so I feel like all these plants will do really well.

Wet from sky

It rained at the volunteer day, as it is apt to do this time of year, but nevertheless Matt, Chris and Josh helped with some fun tasks.

Matt harvested some Agave attenuatas and variegated Yucca branches so we can grow them on the for the garden. more plants!

Josh, Chris and I set about planting. We put in a dozen 1gallon Limonium sinuatum (Statice) plants that I have been growing for the last several months, and they are all along the front bed now - will look great! Then Josh planted four Leucophyta brownii that I'd also grown on for the garden.

Chris moved a Salvia canariensis up to the top of the garden, and rearranged some Agave filiferas in the front bed. After that he turned the compost which was a bit of a heavy task. I added some water and left the lids open so hopefully all that material composts down a bit faster.

And yeah - we watered in all the new plants. In the rain. Because the rains we have had so far have only dampened the top couple inches of dirt. It's amazing to see, we never stop being surprised by it, but we really, really are in a drought.

Photo: Lovely  Aloe "David Verity" that we got from Mat McGrath flowering away today.

Adios, tool chest

No surprise in winter, but we got some good rain last night. The gardens will be LOVING it. Last week Matt and I popped out to PG and removed the tool chest from the back area.

We built that tool chest back in October of 2015 and it's given is 7 long years of use. but the sad fact is that as much as we fortified it over the years, it was honestly just sitting there waiting for people to break in and steal all our stuff. More recently we have only used it for equipment we don't mind losing, but a recent break-in made me give up - so the chest has sat empty for a while. We will reuse the wood for something else.

We also did some trimming and pruning, and noted that the last rain meant the weed seeds are sprouting. JUST when you think they are all gone - oh no. Also sprouting is the very first flower we have ever had on an Agave attenuata. It's going to be a crazy bloom: watch out for that!

We have a volunteer day this weekend - Saturday 10-12 as usual - and the GROWTH Project will be joining us again next week. Come on down and help prepare for more rains - we might even be planting stuff (The. Most. Fun!) if the ground is damp enough!

Rain! It's that time of year.

Our Volunteer Day on Saturday was fine and clear - we had a sprinkle of rain but it wasn't really noticeable.

Chris emptied the middle compost bin and spread the resulting product around the garden. We left the other bins open so they can get a soaking from the rains due this week. He also valiantly weeded what's left of the dried up weeds... who are right this moment charging up for a big flourish of growth thanks to aforementioned rain... *side eye*

Josh weeded the front bed and lots of other areas. I have to say, despite being dry it's looking pretty good. The Chasmanthe have started to sprout and that's always welcome at this time of year.

I cleared up lots of fallen cactus fruits around the front kiosk, and Chris helped by cutting flowers off the Yucca plants, which you can see him holding up in the first photo. Someone has been lopping the tops off the yucca plants to get the flowers - if you see anyone doing that tell them to knock it off! It damages the trees and makes them look ugly for a long time - it's so rude!

Today we're having lots of rain. The GROWTH Project team came by and we weeded the Triangle Garden through showers, and turned the compost which will soon be steaming away merrily. They're making a big impact on the garden, and I can't wait to see what they do next!

Volunteer days - October and November

Just like that October is over! And we have a volunteer day at the garden this weekend, but I still haven't blogged the last volunteer day.

Well, what happened? We went down to PRG and weeded a lot - we also cleaned up the pathways (Bill helped me and we sheared back anything hanging over the path. Also looks like Bill really got into it. I'm a bit scared... :P ) and picked up trash. There's always a lot of trash down there. 

Then Chris took some pups off the huge Agave "Green Giant" at the bottom end, and we replanted them in various places. You can see from the photo that this is work that brings Chris joy and contentment. Also who the heck is cutting the leaves off bigger Agaves? Kindly knock it off - you're ruining them!

We probably did a whole load of other things but I can't remember them now.

The following week we had a new volunteer group come by. The GROWTH Project is a UCSF program and we had about a dozen participants and two group leaders come by PG to help. We weeded (always!), turned compost, cut back Salvias and deadheaded Echiums. The team were great - and we got lots done. They're coming back monthly to help us out, and I'm excited for that!

But, enough - come down this Saturday from 10-12 and help us prepare for winter. It's gonna be a great day to get some fresh air!