Out In Front

Today they are going to re-coat the asphalt on our little street, so yesterday I spent the day out front harvesting the rest of the Agave bulbils and cutting the stalks down, because the Agaves are tilted over and would have interfered with the machines on the street.  Can't have that.   I tried pulling out the dried remains of the mother plants, but they are still attached to something.  Another day for that.  

'Jude the Obscure' is out front:
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Done:
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All done:
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Each "mother" plant  has six or seven beautiful offsets to move and replant.  3x6 = at least 18 new plants, all of which about the same size as the "mother" plants were when we bought them.  Agaves give you your money's worth.  Three are now eighteen!  Not even including the bulbils.  
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I saved a few of the largest and most perfect bulbils, and all of the other bulbils with extensive variegation.  I noticed the ones with extensive variegation were pinched or crammed between other bulbils--does stress or pressure create the variegation?  A couple hundred bulbils--surely some will grow. 

Also out front, the Urginea is about done blooming.
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The 'Holland Festival' Dahlia had its best year ever.  It limped along for so many years in the shade of the Cercis, and grew/bloomed like gangbusters once the Cercis were gone and it was in full sun again.   Still getting some great flowers:
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Along with an oddball flower, fluffy and wildly curly, like 80's hairstyles.  
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I've been whining about the heat for a month now.  Yesterday I just got out there and did the work anyway.  The summer, and the blooming Agaves, are nearly complete.  Good to be out in front of autumn.  
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Comments

  1. The close up photos of the Dahlias looks superb!

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  2. Your roses are so gorgeous! I don't grow a lot of dahlias here anymore because if mildew issues.

    So how many of those variegated agaves are you going to pot up? and how large are those little bulbils?

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    1. I will plant all the variegated agaves, about 100 of them. The largest bulbils are 4" long, the smallest about three quarters of one inch--pretty small!

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  3. Nice scenes...though being an ex-San Diegan, summer does come in fall...and winter not at all. Enjoy as the high deserts are plunging into a well-deserved fall...it is chilly in Abq to well S of El Paso today! Your photos keep me going until the wind stops and warmth returns.

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    1. San Diego, the word "balmy" always comes to mind. Always a little warmer in winter, and a little cooler in summer, than here. "Chilly"--I'm trying to remember what that feels like after our month of icky-sticky heat...

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  4. It will be interesting to see if the more variegated plants grow out normally when they have more light.
    You are so lucky with all those offsets as well.

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    1. Yes, very lucky, and I know it. I am thinking probably most of them will lose the dramatic variegation, but if I get a dozen that stay striped out of 100, I will consider myself extremely fortunate, and the other 90 will still be good looking, since it is a beautiful species anyway.

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  5. The curly 'Holland Festival' dahlia makes me think of Phyllis Diller's hair. The agave bulbils are so promising!

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  6. Those agave offsets are lovely. How long did the biggest offsets take to reach that size?

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