Fall Project 2015 #3

 Above:  a spring impulse buy Echinacea, swallowed up by a summer impulse buy Salvia 'Amistad', surprised us with a bloom. 

Iris removed:
I must avoid heavy exertion for at least another week, so the eye heals properly.  So this week only small plants are being pulled or moved for The Project. The big patch of Iris 'Paprika Fonos' removed--a dozen or so saved and replanted elsewhere.  If they bloom this spring, great.  

I'm still adding to the previous Fall Project.  I never did do a "reveal" post because nothing has grown--that durn drought again.  Everything up on that slope is just hanging on.  What that area needs is a good rainy winter to set everything growing.  In the meantime, we wait, and avoid looking.  I had impulse-bought a pair of Leucadendron 'Pom Pom' and planted one up there in violation of the design.  'Pom Pom' grew most of the summer, then died suddenly during our particularly brutal October heat wave.  More water would have helped, but it didn't get that.  On a different slope with better irrigation, the other 'Pom Pom' is doing well.  According to the design, what should have planted in the first place was a red grassy Cordyline, either 'Festival Grass' or 'Design A Line Burgundy'.  Now there is:  planted 'Burgundy':
I bought two Grevillea 'Superb' for the current project, as the airy-shrubby component against the wall.  I admit it, an impulse buy yet again:  when will I learn?  'Superb', mature, has a rounded or haystack shape to it, and I am unsure if it will work next to the wall.  Now I am imagining Maireana sedifolia (zero water required) against the wall instead.  There is space for two 'Superb's near Aloe thraskii at the back of the driveway. 
An Agave titanota 'White Ice' (circled in red) came home along with the 'Superb's and the Cordyline.  It went on the front slope, to create a titanota trio (red arrows).  I have one more precious wonderful Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls' offset to place where the green "X" is, as soon as it grows a root system.  Another 'Ivory Curls' is establishing in a patch of shade (green arrow), to make another trio.  The original 'Ivory Curls' is just out of the frame to the left.  Planted last week, Aloe capitata var quartzicola (blue circle) agrees with the silver/blue color scheme.  Planted a month or two ago, very silvery Aloe dhufarensis (half circled by rocks) has grown some new leaves already, so I'm assuming it likes where it is.  What I learned and now know for sure, is that on a slope, you put the watering basin just above the plant, on the uphill side--gravity does the rest.  Below the plant, and gravity does too much. 

Comments

  1. You obviously have been very busy with your fall project, Gail, and you made great progress! I really like the blue/silver color scheme and think it looks wonderful already. I especially love the Agave titanota 'White Ice'. Hope you eye heals well!
    Warm regards,
    Christina

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  2. So glad your eye is better! Your front slope with the agaves and aloes is going to be gorgeous. 'White Ice' -- [swoons].

    I'm nursing along a tiny 'Ivory Curls' that somehow survived last winter -- our cold temps are not good for this species, but my big green gypsophila (covered up during the snow) is hanging in there, so I have hopes for the little 'Ivory Curls.' It's one of the most beautiful agaves, IMHO.

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  3. Oh those Agaves! (and the sunshine!) We're being positively dumped on right now, over and inch and a half of rain since midnight. I want to share with you...

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    1. Enjoy it for me. Inch and a half since midnight...that would be good for 2 weeks here.

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  4. Impulse buys are a necessary part of gardening -- you can't plan everything! It's difficult to restrain yourself when you're healing and there's a project to get finished, isn't it? I suggest lounging. :)

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  5. You've done well despite your unplanned time-out. I'm going to follow your lead on the slope-planting strategy in the area recently denuded by the removal of 2 half-dead Ceanothus. I'm enamored with 'White Ice' too. I have one serving as the centerpiece of my birdbath-style planter, although I'll have to move it eventually. I have a couple of pups from the mother plant waiting for their forever homes.

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    1. My 'White Ice' provided one big fat offset. Whee!

      The basin-behind-the-plant method I first saw in a landscaping book, Taylor's Guide To Landscaping, something like that. Taylor proved to be correct.

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  6. The Echinacea flower is beautiful, such a blend of lovely colours on the petals. You have been busy in the garden but please be careful when you are gardening as bending over planting and weeding puts pressure on your eye.
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. I'm being real careful, but your reminder is wise. Thanks!

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  7. Sorry to hear about the troubles with your eye! I guess it gives you more time for planning out your project seeing as you're forced to rest, or it would in my case (I tend to rush in and plant and think about the repercussions later). Take it easy!

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    1. Thanks, Amy. I tend to plant very, very slowly and regret the repercussions later anyway!

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