Another Fine Mess

If it ain't broke, don't fix it


Any improvement--hopefully an improvement--to the garden involves making a mess.  Another fine mess being:  the new fountain has arrived.   It is to be the focal point of the area to the left of the front door, and it is to be a place for hummingbirds to take baths in the morning so we can watch them from that window indicated by the arrow:
 It is going where the Coprosma 'Pacific Sunset' is.  I've fallen completely out with the multi-colored Coprosmas.  They all revert to plain green and do so rather quickly.  

I wasn't thrilled when the fountain arrived.  

Yecch.  Ugh. 
 We selected the fountain based on size, footprint, ability to hide some ugly stuff in the corner of the house, and functionality as a hummingbird bath visible from the window.  Looks were not the very first requirement in line.  
Maybe they should have been
 Though if you look closely, it looks better.  Cool colors. 
 At any rate,  rake back the mulch, yank the Coprosma that used to be 'Pacific Sunset' before it reverted, and get the fountain basin into place.  But first, move some drip lines out of the space by adding elbows and thus a jag in the line so the line goes around the basin.  Several trips to the garage ensue.  Bring a level, too.  The basin must be perfectly level. 
 That basin is grey.  A can of spray paint of a color something bronzey or copper-ish, to banish the grey.  That plastic flower pot full of soil in the photo above, the pot the color of oiled bronze, was once upon a time a shade of bashed-up terra cotta orange.  Any leftover bronze paint in the garage?  Go look.  

I'm doing all this while the sun is behind a cloud.  When the sun emerges it is suddenly 10 degrees hotter and time to run into the shade and wait for another cloud. 

Ah, like that one.  A scrub Jay squawks.  The hummingbirds click and jabber in their endless battle over ownership of Salvia 'Amistad'.  The UPS man drives by. 
 On trips back and forth to the garage I notice the Leucophyta brownii (Calocephalus brownii) 'Silver Stone' across the driveway and behind a 'Joe Hoak' is dead.  
 Hey, while I have the shovel in my hand, I'll real quick pop Leucadendron 'Jester' in the spot.  It will be so quick and so easy and so satisfying!  Instant gratification and feeling of accomplishment!
 Except it won't be quick or easy.  The Leucophytum died likely because it wasn't getting enough water.  Leucophytums need very little water, but it wasn't getting enough even to reach the "very little" level.    

And Leucadendrons need more water than Leucophytums.  Best to add another drip line--let's use the sprinkler head supply there, currently shut off, as the water source for the Leucadendron's new line.   A bucket to put the dug-out soil in, to keep everything neat.  Another trip to the garage for drip line, fittings, scissors, then back out there.

The sun emerges again.  Gasp as the air turns into lava and the eyes are blinded by a river of stinging perspiration.  Drop the shovel!  Flee to the shade!  Go inside where it is cool and I don't know, blog or something!
Another fine mess.  Two fine messes abandoned, baking in the heat, waiting for completion.   It will all be beautiful when another big wonderful cloud scuds in front of the sun and lingers.  Or anyway, soon. 

Comments

  1. Cool enough for you to work outside today? That's good news! Yay for clouds!

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    1. Only for a short time. Looks like Wednesday will be better. But I like clouds anyway!

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  2. Forgeot to say. I'm a sticky mess, too. Pruned an overlarge Euphorbia cotinifolia and am covered with white sap. Oh, well, the view has improved.

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    1. Oh, wash that stuff off! It doesn't irritate your skin?

      Nice to have a view. And a day in the garden.

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  3. A day in the life of...any gardener...wait...any FUNNY gardener.

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    1. Or at least a very disorganized gardener who hates hot weather.

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  4. My god Hoov, that Joe Hoak is truly magnificent. I too have had to hide inside over the weekend. Cooling trend on the way.

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    1. Tomorrow, tomorrow, they say. Everything abandoned until then.

      Agave 'Joe Hoak': :^)

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  5. The fountain-to-be has a very pretty finish! Your projects sounds like most of my own - one domino sets off another and where does the afternoon go? I have 3 cubic yards of topsoil scheduled for delivery Wednesday morning, the timing selected to take advantage of what AccuWeather projected would be the coolest week this month but yesterday and today definitely weren't cool! For both our sakes, I'm hoping the rest of the week will be better.

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    1. One thing leads to another and they all lead to a mess. Wednesday/Thursday promise to be the two coolest days of the week, so fingers crossed for you project...that stuff is heavy to move. Coolest week of the month?!? Say not so! It was 92F yesterday!

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  6. Hahaha! Perfect pooch photo. Thanks for the laugh! Clouds. I love beautiful, sun-blocking clouds. Actually, I was outside today and it was only 85 or so. With the coolish breeze, it almost felt chilly after the weather we've been having! Heh. Buckets for soil. You're so much tidier than I am. I guess that's why my mulch becomes a mess.

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    1. A tarp for larger amounts of soil is also very handy. Learned that from the guys who fix the irrigation in the local park. Actually less work than cleaning up a pile on the ground.

      85 is still hellish! The mid-60sF is my sweet spot. Be a while before we get that here.

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  7. Making a mess first seems to be the way it always goes. But in your case, progress looks to be very quick. My messes sometimes last for months :-).

    P.S. At least one of my four leucophytums is dead too. I'm still hoping they're only "dormant."

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    1. A couple of my messes lasted for years, so months is nothing! This was one of my quickest projects of all time, so maybe I'm getting the hang of this gardening stuff.

      Hope your plant comes back; in my experience they don't. They are not long-lived, unfortunately.

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