Above: the leaf imprints on Agave impressa look like white zippers.
Below: Aloes and Agaves just peaking out of long bunch grasses. I love the look.
The sleek lines of Agave vilmoriniana emerge from a froth of flower-dotted long grass.
A silver-white...uh...Helichrysum? Artemisia?
Foliage removed: the lawn in front of the Conservatory has been removed. We'll be watching to see what gets planted.
Agave silhouette with seed pods and Mockingbird
A variegated Acanthus!
Aloe rubroviolacea needs no flower to impress. Aloe dorotheae foliage turns bright orange with stress.
A small, young Bismarkia noblis, perhaps 12' wide. I'm wondering where to plant my own Bismarkia--they need more ground space when young than they do as they grow tall and lift their foliage higher and higher above ground.
Garden blogger, in habitat:
Photo by Beloved
And to end, an enormous Platycerium superbum growing on a dead palm trunk. For support, the dead palm trunk has been secured to the live palm trunk adjacent to it.
Beautiful photographs. I am always so jealous of your huntington visits.
ReplyDeleteI know I am lucky to get to visit so often. But there are at least one or two tolerable gardens in your country--I am the one who should be jealous!
DeleteBeautiful pictures! I also saw that they removed all the grass... It will be interesting to see what they replace it with.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. I hope we get some continued cool weather so I can get back there and see.
DeleteYour silver-white foliage creature reminds me of Lavandula pinnata v buchii, but I do have Canary Island things on the brain at the moment. That Bismarckia is heartbreakingly gorgeous. And I'd love to see more front lawns replaced with large clumping grasses (panicgrasses, in particular, fare really well here but are sadly underused out my direction, and I like them especially when paired with miscanthus) and less arboreal woody lilies.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers were button like, I thought Helichrysum for that reason.
DeleteI like that Aloes-Agaves-Grasses look so much, tempted to pull out a bunch of stuff and make a section just like that. Nutty idea.
I love how the portrait the The Gardener displays the size of the plants. Good job Beloved !
ReplyDeleteIsn't he a gem? :)
DeleteI have a friend who returned from a visit to the Huntingon and other LA area gardens and was convinced Agaves should always be grown as you show in the first couple of photos, surrounded by grass, or some other such suitable plant. Problem is if we tried that up here they would rot very quickly. That's a combo only you guys can do! We need air circulation in this truly winter-wet part of the west.
ReplyDeleteWell if you look at the invaluable habitat photos, Agaves live on rocky sparsely-grassed or bare slopes in open pine and wood forests at higher altitudes, while some Aloes such as marlothii are indeed found in grassy meadows or on grassy slopes just as photographed. So it's really for certain Aloes this is "natural", while Agaves love slopes, even cliffs--I have a few on a very very steep slope--and they are happy.
DeleteOur big problem is enough water to keep the grasses alive! Yours is a super wet winter, if that can be called a "problem", (as I green up with jealousy).
>> I'm wondering where to plant my own Bismarkia--they need more ground space when young than they do as they grow tall and lift their foliage higher and higher above ground. <<
ReplyDeleteSurrounded at a safe distance with low creeping groundcover plants that will grow toward the Bismarckia trunk as it extends and lifts its big fans out of the ground plane? Something you can easily pull out bits (or swaths) of if it begins to get too close. The Huntington uses "lawn", cut away at an appropriate diameter, but yours doesn't have to tolerate foot traffic.
I'm looking for a spot while the plant is still pot-sized. It will take me a year or two to figure it out...I'm even considering offering it to a couple of houses in the neighborhood with extensive palm-collections, provided they can place it where I can walk or drive by frequently to admire it. It's such a beauty, I want it to live long and prosper.
DeleteThe palms at the Huntington look so very elegant in their lawn. Another look I love, but lawn is out of the question.
Interesantes fotos. mira que son elegantes los Agave. Un abrazo desde Plantukis y feliz fin de semana
ReplyDeleteSí un muy elegante Agave. Raúl Feliz fin de semana!
DeleteLove the look of Agaves in grass, but I bet Loree is right. It probably wouldn't work up here... I always enjoy your photos, but my favorite out of this batch was the one your husband took. Nothing like a scale figure to really convey the size of those things! Wow!
ReplyDeleteHe takes good pictures. Yep, they are big palms! A Bismarkia frond is as long and wide as a car.
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