Step on up! Or down - your choice.

Big project today! The steps at the back of the garden that Ron, Matt and I had created were sadly coming apart - the front bricks kept falling off at inopportune moments. I decreed they much be made more solid, due to fear of litigation.

This project took the time and resources of a number of volunteers, but it was well worth it.

On Friday night I went to Home Despot armed with a materials list written in minute detail by Gary. Using money donated by Dorothy I bought:

- 24 3/8" rebar stakes, 24" long.
- 2 landscaping timbers, 8' long.

This is in addition to:

- 60+ bricks (donated by Ron)
- 4 landscaping timbers I bought, previously doing duty as edgers for the Canna bed (now we really need some branches)

Then on Saturday morning, we took the materials to Gary. He brought out his Serious Power Tools and had those bits of wood sawn and drilled in no time flat. Then he showed us (left) how to do the first step using his fiendish calculations for riser height/step depth/average stride length of an average height European female gardener weighed down with garden tools, and all sorts of other details, as well as his level and hammer.

Today, I got into the garden at about 11am, and was dismayed to discover the people have been cutting off Opuntia pads (aka nopales in Mexican cuisine) from the front cactus. Gah! Then I talked with Alison about Mission Bay plantings, and Ron about his artistic vision for sculpture at P. Garden. I'm fussy about art in gardens - I think Ron makes beautiful stuff though so maybe I need to loosen up!

Matt came back from his softball game and we met fellow gardener Emily at the garden. She weeded like a dervish for about an hour and a half, totally cleaning up the left bed, which I was simply amazed by. Quick, somebody mulch it before the weeds come back! (Thanks Emily!) I gave her a bucket of horse poo for her garden. I think I know who got the better end of the deal (me!) ;)

Then two of our neighbors whose names, I am ashamed to admit, I can't remember at this second, dropped by with a great big lavender bush and a Penstemon x mexicali "Red Rocks" for the garden. Sweet! I immediately planted the lavender in the new lavender hedge up top (as well as two small lavenders I picked up at Home Despot) and the Penstemon in the red bed. All I can say is thank goodness for the Texas toothpick (aka digging bar) because the dirt ain't soft up there...













Also John came by with plants. Oooh, where does he get his plants? He's like a crack dealer. He always calls and says "I don't know if you're going to want this (insert plant I've never heard of)" and I always say "yes please!" and it always turns out be to something awesome. Today, it was:

- 4 Yucca flaccida "Garland's Gold" in one huge pot
- 1 Doryanthes palmeri (15 gallon pot, kids!)
- 1 Agave shawii (above left - yeah!)
- 1 Sempervivum arachnoideum (Cobweb Houseleek) (above right)

So, that was exciting. I had to plant the excellent, spiky Agave and succulent right away, along with a Portulacaria afra (Elephant Bush - variegated) to picked up at Home Despot. Just too beat to plant the others but I know where they're going.

While Emily weeded, and I watered/weeded, Matt built the steps with unparalleled fervor. Wow, they look good - 5 are finished, 5 need bricks added but the bulk of the heavy work is finished. See below!













So, a BIG thank you to Gary, Ron, Matt, Emily and Dorothy. I hope you will enjoy the steps for many years to come!

It's now almost 7pm and we have just come in the house in a state of exhaustion - almost 8 hours of nonstop gardening (we even had lunch in the garden!) Thank goodness Matt has just brought me a glass of sangria... :D

Spoilt

Left: Dasylirion wheeleri. Right: Aeonium "Kiwi"

Last night as I was weeding the steps and removing bricks in preparation for Sunday's big stairway project, my phone rang. It was John and he wanted to know if I was available to receive some plants. Oh, let me think about that.... Yes!

As usual he was there in a flash and we now have the exciting, unusual, unlikely task of deciding where to plant not-one-but-two LARGE Dasylirions (above left, below right.) Let me tell you, these things grow slowly and are usually very expensive, so for us to have two is a big deal. They are like strips of razor wire so I doubt they'll be stolen... in fact I think they need to amend the exasperated saying: "if I told you to put your hand in a Dasylirion, would you?" They need to go somewhere special to show them off properly, and out of the way of legs and dogs that might be lacerated. Hmmm...













Left: Senecio scaposus "Silver Spider" Right: Dasylirion wheeleri

Aside from the Dasylirions, John also brought us a bucket o' Aeoniums, three Aloe branches, two big fat chunks of cactus (San Pedro?) and a very cute Euphorbia cactus that looks like a bunch of pickles that have been run through with spikes. Oh the glee! I am so spolit. I dragged them all into the house for potting up, along with some Conicosia pugioniformis (Narrow-leaved iceplant) I got in Morro Bay - I expect they'll make their debut in the garden in about 6 months, when they have grown some roots.

Thanks John!

I have also, in my "spare time," been writing up the required planting and maintenance schedule for Caltrans. 9 pages done so far... hope they approve it all!

Gratuitous flower picture at left: Lavender, Tulbaghia, Osteospermum

Plant profile: Dietes

The genus Dietes has six species, five African and one oddball from Lord Howe Island between Australia and New Zealand, D. robinsoniana. We have two types: Dietes bicolor (light yellow) and Dietes iridioides (white.) They're lovely, elegant plants with pretty little flowers that look like miniature irises.

Latin name: Dietes spp. ("dye-EET-ees")
Common name: Various names, but most people call them Fortnight lily, Moraea, or African iris.
Originally from: Africa, mostly.
Blooms: From Spring to Fall, every couple of weeks (hence the common name) you'll see a new flush of white or pale yellow iris-like flowers, with yellow, lilac or dark purple/brown markings.
Light: Full sun.
Water: Drought tolerant, but does best with some water.
Drainage: Excellent to average
Height x width: 30-40' tall and wide
USDA Zones: 8-10
Where to find in P. Garden: We have many clumps in the left and top beds.

Dietes are a municipal gardening cliché in San Francisco for good reason. They flower all the time, require little water, and grow happily on poor soil. Ours are just starting to bloom - I think they might want more water. We'll see.

UPDATE: Tough as old boots - this plant cannot be killed by 5 years of drought and benign neglect. We have loads of clumps and now we have three clumps of a variegated form too. Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Tuesday night fix

Above: the front border showing three pics of before, during and after, from two angles. Befores are December 08 or February 09, afters are today!

I rushed home to plant the rest of the plants from the weekend's Pacifica haul, and managed to get the following in the ground:

2 clumps Plectranthus tomentosa (I think - smells like lemon!)
4 clumps Echeveria "Sun Dancer" (probably)
3 clumps Crassula corymbulosa “Red Pagoda”

Of course lots of little bits fell off, as is the way with succulents, so I scooped them up and took them in the house. They are potted in 4' pots now - we have 2 flats full. Yep, house is starting to look a little Sanford and Sons-esque again...

I also chatted with my charming neighbors and their dogs, and a stranger who crossed the road to tell me that the garden fills his heart. Well, gosh! *blush*

This morning I brought out a bucket of water for the Cardoon (floppy) and emptied our compost bucket into the bin. There's some good compost brewing in there!

Plant profile: Cordyline

Cordyline australis

Cordyline is a genus of about 15 species of plants related to asparagus. Not cabbages, not palms, and not yuccas - despite looking a lot like some of them, and having a misleading common name (Cabbage Palm)!

Latin name: Cordyline spp. ("KOR-dill-ine")
Common name: Cordyline, Cabbage Palm, Cabbage Tree
Originally from: Western Pacific Ocean region, from New Zealand, eastern Australia, southeastern Asia, Polynesia and Hawaii.
Blooms: Weird twigs full of little white flowers show up on mature plants.
Light: Full sun to part shade.

Water: Some of them like the occasional sip in hot weather. Others need a lot of moisture, but we don't have any of those species.
Where to find in P. Garden: One in every bed - see below.

Clockwise from top left:
C. australis, "Red Sensation,"
"Torbay Dazzler"

As mentioned above there was a Cordyline australis in the garden when we got there which must be 10 years old (top right.) We removed some tips from it to propagate, but they proved unwilling - not as easy as yuccas, it seems!

Aside from that one, we have several of the various color forms available in the garden. Two Cordyline australis "Red Sensation" which are burgundy-colored live left bed - one in the middle, the other by the arch.

"Electric Pink" with
"Sundance" in the background

We also have a C. australis "Red Sensation" (might be "Red Star" actually...) and a C. australis "Torbay Dazzler" in the middle back bed, and a C. australis x banksii "Electric Pink," a C. australis "Sundance" and a C. australis "Kiwi Dazzler" in the middle front bed.

In the brights bed we have "Red Sensation," "Torbay Dazzler, ""Coral" and "Sundance" in a group, and lastly we have a "Torbay Dazzler" by the steps.

UPDATE: we lost the "Electric Pink" "Kiwi Dazzler" and "Sundance" in the middle front bed, sadly, due to the drought, and the plain green C. Australis in the middle back bed too. But we got a few others to replace them in the brights bed.

Watering

Up at 7am to water. Done at 8.30am. We really soaked everything well, as they probably won't get watered again until next Tuesday. I also sprinkled red California poppy seeds at the front edge of the "red bed."

We water by putting the "wand" at the base of each plant for a 5-8 second soak. Hopefully this waters deeply, encouraging the roots to dive down and get water from deeper soil layers. This is considered less wasteful than sprinklers, and also prevents all the roots being at the (hot, dry) surface.

Of course we also mulch heavily - recently we mulched the Cinerarias and Cannas, and always mulch a new plant thoroughly. This prevents moisture loss through evaporation really well.

We have also been watering only once a week, unlike others who sprinkle 3 or more times a week. It's true that some of the less drought resistant plants won't do as well with weekly watering, but I feel it's more important to conserve water than common plants. After this summer we'll see which plants can manage with less, and which ones will never look good and can make the short trip to the compost heap, or go live in a damper garden.

The jury's still out on whether or not we'll install a drip system into some beds. Matt says he doesn't mind rewinding the hose we now use but I hate that job! It'd also save a lot of time to have a drip go on with a timer, but that does require equipment and setup... and one great thing about watering each plant by hand is that it gives you time to really look at them and see how they're doing.

Heatstroke

It's hotter than a hot thing. Hotter today than yesterday - feels like 90 degrees in the garden!

Matt, John and I went to Pacifica to a plant sale. Picked up loads of massive pots of succulents that need to be divided and planted. Don't know what half of them are, but the prices were reasonable.

Among them:

Half a dozen orange Calendula daisies
4-5 Echeveria (the pink, ruffled kind)
Several Crassula corymbulosa “Red Pagoda”
Opuntia of some sort
Sedum rubrotinctum "Jelly Beans" or "Pork and Beans"
Aeonium "Zwartkop"
Euphorbia tirucalli "Sticks on Fire" (Red Pencil Tree)
Assorted little Aloes and suchlike.
Crassula lycopedioides (Watch Chain)
Kalanchoe tubiflora (Chandelier Plant)

So we planted some of those, as well as the little fuzzy Opuntia microdasys albata "Angel Wings" which split into two so there you go. So hot, so sweaty, so full of cactus spines - I'm knackered. And I still have to water! I think I'll work on propagating more Lavenders from cuttings in the house for a while...

Later:

So far I have 36 Lavender cuttings in. 72 cells of Aster seeds, about 50 Gazania and some Foxgloves and assorted other stuff - all from a friend in Tasmania! I've had mixed results with Lavenders (I kept them too dry) and seeds (too wet) in the past, with my main successes being sunflowers and Gaillardias.

Matt came back from his softball game and we went over to meet Emily at the community garden at 22nd and Connecticut. She saw the sunflower strip we planted, and emailed offering a massive 15 gallon tub of red Cannas, and more than a dozen paperwhite (Narcissus "Ariel") bulbs. Sweet! Two of my favorites! We admired her plot at the garden, and enjoyed talking with a fellow enthusiast. Thanks Emily.

Then we went to Flora Grubb Gardens for a bit of eye candy. Phew - it's like Whole Foods for plants! Managed to get away with only:

- Gazania rigens "Talent" (Treasure Flower)
- Cynara cardunculus (Cardoon) (I had been admiring our neighbor David's specimen just yesterday!)

So, quickly we planted the above, plus Cannas and paperwhites. The former in the "red bed" and the latter all around the bench area for a fragrant Springtime effect.

It's dark now - too late to water. We're going to get up extra early and do that before it gets hot, allegedly...

Hot in the city, hot in the city today...

If Billy Idol had been at the garden this week, he'd have joined me in a lip-curling snarl. Someone stole the dog poop trash can (a very large plant pot) and a few members of the local dog owning fraternity decided, as usual, to dump their dog crap bags either where the trash can used to be, or at the entrance to the garden. Disgusting.

It's not in my contract with Caltrans to pick up dog crap. Also, leaving your dog crap is against the law. So, if I see someone doing it they'll get one polite warning from me, face to face, and then a ticket. And that's a promise.

The crap continued to pile up this week, until, a little bird told me, lovely dog owner Diana cleaned it all up. And then another lovely dog owner, Dorothy (from Alterpop - or as she joked, Alterpoop) donated two wooden barrels to use as trash cans. One's in use as of today, one's stashed for the next time someone steals the poop can.

The generosity of both of these ladies is just wonderful. Thank you both so much for going out of your way to make the garden cleaner and nicer to be in. *Applause*

Anyway, with that annoyance behind us, I decided to spruce up the top area a bit today. I had been hand weeding the area (groan) but on walking out to the garden I saw Jim had beaten me to it - he was weed-whacking all the weeds for us! Thanks Jim - what a back-saver you are :)

I decided to add a Lavender hedge to the perimeter (left.) This will provide somewhat of a visual barrier to the traffic, will smell nice, and should be very easy to maintain. Today Matt and I planted/moved 7 assorted Lavenders, and there's room for about 17 more which I will buy or propagate as time goes on. They could not go right up to the edge of the kerb because there's about a yard wide stretch of concrete along the garden side of the kerb, but the placement is also good for the line of sight of traffic exiting the off-ramp.

We also planted the following:

2 Cuphea hyssopifolia (False Heather)
2 Iberis sempervirens (Dwarf Candytuft) (and moved another to join them under a cherry tree)
1 Opuntia microdasys albata "Angel Wings"

We moved a few crocus bulbs to the fronts of beds, mulched the bamboo area, weeded, and bought a manure fork for turning the compost heaps. Had a nice chat with Annelle and Gary, watered in the new plants, and called it a day - phew, it's hot out!


Above left: Malcolmia. Right: Flanders Poppy. Left: Dietes

Lots of new flowers in the garden!













L: Lotus berthelotii (Parrot's Beak, Coral Gem)
R: Agapanthus with Nasturtiums and California poppies behind













L: Kniphofia uvaria (Red Hot Poker)
R: Hemerocallis (Day Lilly)













L: Alstromeria (Peruvian Lilly)
R: Buddleja (Butterfly Bush)

Yellow things in bloom

A couple more flowers sprouted in the garden this week - both yellow.

First, I present Hymenocallis "Sulphur Queen" (Peruvian Daffodil) as planted by my mother just a few weeks ago. Wow! Quick work, and quite a look there - we could use lots more of these bulbs I think. Smells interestingly like fabric softener, too... Sadly the flowers don't last very long, but I'll pick up more of them when I see them on sale, and perhaps next year we'll have a little patch of them.

Next we have a flower on one of three plants that have been growing bigger, and bigger, and... suspiciously bigger... for weeks, in the front bed. I had thought they were weeds, and my hands itched to pull them out - they were simply doing too well to be normal plants! However, as they were arranged in a straight line, I stopped myself - someone (me? Matt?) must have planted them on purpose. And, voila! They are Evening Primroses (Oenothera biennis) and should smell fantastic. They must have some from Matt's dad, Kendrick :)

Plant profile: Aeonium



Aeonium haworthii
with A. arboreum "Zwartkop"
in the background

Aeonium arboreum
"Atropurpureum"

Aeonium is a genus of about 35 species of succulent plants that are very easy to grow and propagate, require little water, and are common in Bay area gardens.

Latin name: Aeonium spp. ("ay-OH-nee-um")
Common name: Aeonium
Originally from: The Canary Islands, Madeira, Morocco and in eastern Africa.
Blooms: Yellow, cream or white cones of flowers are produced - the bees love them. After blooming, some species die. With a bit of luck you have plenty of others growing at the base though!
Light: Full sun to part shade.
Water: Don't need extra water, although some of them like the occasional sip in hot weather.
Where to find in P. Garden: Along the cactus wall, and in both of the round middle beds.

Aeonium davidbramwelli
"Sunburst"

Aeonium leucoblepharum?
A. percarneum?

These are fun, easy plants. We have the following types:

Aeonium leucoblepharum? percarneum?
Aeonium arboreum "Atropurpureum"
Aeonium canariense
Aeonium davidbramwelli "Sunburst"
Aeonium haworthii
Aeonium haworthii "Kiwi"
Aeonium arboreum "Zwartkop"
Aeonium nobile

Aeonium arboreum
"Zwartkop"

Aeonium arboreum
"Atropurpureum"



Weed, mulch, water. Repeat.

Images left to right, top to bottom:
Looking towards the entrance - 2 angles
Echeveria pulv-oliver
Mimulus

Happy day: today Leah left us a big tub of plants, and John came by with almost instant gratification: our Purple Smoketree. The sun was out, so we busily planted everything and watered for the week.

- Moved the bricks up to the bench area.
- Planted Oxalis, Viola, Cotinus coggygria (Royal Purple Smoketree), Melianthus major (Honeybush), Chrysanthemum.
- Moved 3 ferns (Didymochlaena truncatula) and 2 Clivias to deeper shade.
- Weeded, mulched, watered (the never-ending triad of tasks.)

It seems like we should be running out of space for new plants, but really, when you look at all the daffodils (and remember how they will die down soon) there's a lot of space to fill!

We need a drought-tolerant ground cover for under the ornamental cherries for those between-crocus-and-daffs times. We have a patch near the evergreens that's empty, one by the steps and another by the trellis. Where the bricks used to be needs a soft (not spiky), extremely dog-and-drought-resistant shrub. We're on the hunt...

Images left to right, top to bottom:
Graptoveria
Rose of unknown sort
Arctotis stoechadifolia "Pink Sugar" (African Daisy)
Trailing Ice Plants (Lampranthus spectabilis) and Agave