'Joe Hoak' Bloom Progress; Princess Power

The flower stalk has grown at least a foot in one week.
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Has the Azara microphylla grown in a year?  
October 2013:
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September 2014: 
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It doesn't look much different, does it?  On the other hand, it looks just as good as it did when it arrived, and it isn't dead.   
 
Speaking of dead, the last little bit of lawn:
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I shut off the irrigation valve to it, and had Mow-Blow Jesus cut it short in preparation for digging it out.  One thing that's never grown well here is lawn.  One of the neighbors has a beautiful lawn.  It gets watered daily until a torrent of water rushes down the gutter in front of our house.  How I wish I could collect that precious water.  How green would my little lawn be this year?   

Unlike the lawn, I can't kill aggresive 'Black And Blue' Salvia, which is having a great year, as usual.  The flowers looked at front-on seem like greedy mouths.  Appropriate.
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Appropriate for September, Aloe 'Cynthia Gitty's color:
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Blooming also for September, 'Black Knight'/'Black Prince' Echeverias:
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The white Princess Natasha, is blooming also, in her own way.  She looks smug because she had just finished jumping on Boris and scaring him off.  Princess power! 
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Comments

  1. It'll be sad to see Joe go. He was such a handsome fellow. Azara is very slow but such a sweet plant. Boris is plotting his revenge Natasha so you might want to sleep with one eye open!

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    1. Joe will live on in his beautiful offsets, so it's okay. He was my gateway drug for Agaves. Azara is slow? So I'm not doing something wrong? That's a relief, thanks for the info!

      Boris, no he is not at all vengeful. He's a laid-back dude at heart.

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  2. I'm interested to see the flower 'Joe Hoak' produces but sad to see it come to the end of its cycle. You and I are on the same page as far as lawn goes, although I'm taking only 1/2 of what remains out this fall with a plan to get rid of the rest next year. When we put an offer in on the house in October 2010, the front lawn was an emerald green - we only discovered that it was kept that way by daily watering after we took possession and it hasn't looked as good since. The lawn across the street is a pretty green year-round but those folks even water their Dymondia several times a week. Still, I'm daunted by the task of planting the denuded area (assuming my lawn service guy ever calls me with a date to get on with it).

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    Replies
    1. I've got another former lawn area I removed in 2013 that's been just mulched for a year. I feel no need to rush into planting it while the drought continues. It's not like I don't have a lot of plants already! The mulch looks neat and tidy in the meantime.

      Take your time, think not only hard, but for a good amount of time, and get it right. :^)

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  3. The Azara hasn't changed much but perhaps it will put on a growth spurt later on and is just taking its time settling in? Bittersweet thing with the Joe Hoak, it'll be a spectacular bloom as usual but sad to see it go.

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  4. Joe Hoak: I wish A. desmettiana and sports lived longer, but at least you'll have an opportunity to switch things up. (Ditto for me next year when my regular A. desmettiana 'Variegata' will bloom and die.)

    'Black And Blue' salvia: I've been trying to kill the d**m thing for three years. Yes, it's beautiful, but it spreads like wildfire.

    Lawn: Good for you. We still have two very small lawns, one in the front and one in the back, but the backyard lawn looks like c**p and is mostly dead anyway. I need to come up with an alternative because I'm sick of looking at it. Maybe dymondia is the answer.

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  5. The flower stalk has certainly grown dear Hoover, everything in your garden looks wonderful, the aloe and salvia are colorful and the echeveria is very pretty. The lawn looks sad ...will you plant a hardy ground-cover or make another garden?
    Princess Natasha is as beautiful as ever, she is so feminine.
    xoxoxo ♡

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