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Family Visit To Brief Golden Tree/Roger's Has A New Vertical Planter
The Agave marmorata is now in full bloom, with vivid gold flowers. Nearly tree sized at over 20' tall, its glory is brief.
The plant is slowly shrinking and drying out. There are at least two offsets, so the Agave will live on, renewed.
While admiring it, I noticed an entire family of Orioles arrive to drink its nectar.
Mama and one of the fledglings, indicated by arrows.
Mama and the other fledgling. These are very cautious birds, the males most especially. Wise, when you are screaming bright gold.
The female investigates the Agave
The male was there as well, but carefully kept foliage and flowers between my camera and him. His intense gold feathers were the same vivid gold as the Agave flowers. They were perfect camouflage for him. The female is less dazzling, but the Agave flowers were also good camouflage for her.
Fuzzy fledgling perched on Aloe 'Hercules'. The two fledglings were flying well and looked healthy. They were learning the ropes of survival from Mama Oriole. It was a special treat to see the whole family together in the Agave.
Then, a quick trip to Roger's Gardens, a local garden center. We discovered they were installing a new, large, two-sided vertical garden planter, replacing a wall of sheared conifers that have been in that location for about 15 years.
Phone-tos by Beloved
The plant roots are in a fabric encased "sausage" of planting mix. The "sausages" are about 18" long and 5" in diameter. The clever aspect is that each "sausage" is easily removable. "Sausages" can be quickly replanted and replaced. This is ideal for Roger's, which is constantly changing their displays.
The "sausages" rest in plastic rain-gutter type troughs. The troughs have holes in them for drainage.
There is a drip system to keep the roots moist, critical for a planter in which the roots do not have a large amount of space in which to grow. Multiple vertical 1/2" water supply tubes (pink arrow) run vertically; from the vertical tube, 1/4" tubes (red arrow) run horizontally to each "sausage" of plants. Each of the 1/4" tubes has a shut-off valve (aqua arrow).
There is a lot of infrastructure involved in a planter of this type and size.
Dwarf mondo grass, Ophiopogon japonicus 'Nana', Black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', Ajuga, Dichondra argentea, Coleus...
And there are some succulents in there as well.
A vertical garden is a serious piece of infrastructure, when done right.
The oriole family visit is charming, and seems like a minor miracle of observation on your part. Not necessarily on the orioles': that tower of nectar must have jumped out of the landscape for them. And how convenient is that nearby 'Hercules', offering safe cover from which the fledglings can watch and learn. Wonder how far away they were when they spotted it. The blooms are so intense they seem as if they'd show up on a satellite image!
ReplyDeleteThe adult Orioles have been at the Grevilleas, the Aloes, and other Agaves since late winter; their nest is in a palm tree somewhere a few houses away. I see them usually every day. This was the first time I saw the fledgies.
DeleteAlways a reassuring sign to see the successful results of nesting season. Their nearby location makes sense now; I think I saved an earlier image of yours with one of the parents in an aloe. They've probably been tapping their tiny toes waiting for the agave blooms to reach nectaring stage!
DeleteYes it was so heartwarming to see the fledgies!
DeleteLots of nectar in this garden. We aim to please.
That is a lot of infrastructure on the wall o'plants, but so much more engaging than a sheared conifer -- a good gamble for a place like Roger's. It reminds me of the vertical succulent planting at Kris' South Coast Botanical Garden; wonder how it's holding up now that the heat's beginning to ramp up.
ReplyDeleteRoger's has the advantage of being very close to the Pacific, so they are always cooler. Also plenty of resources to replace whatever doesn't work. I think they also "grow on" small plants and then use them as material in their landscaping business. SCBG doesn't quite have the same kind of budget being a public institution. The trend of the past 40 years to ignore public institutions and local pride in favor of tax cuts is creating a shabby country.
DeleteI sometimes think I'd like to have some kind of vertical garden to hang on my fence, but I've worried about the logistics of it. I don't want to put something together only to have it all die on me. I wonder how many of the small ones I see at the flower show in February are dead within a year? Roger's is going to look great when all the plants have grown in, and it looks like they're putting the work into doing it right.
ReplyDeleteI've seen some very successful verticals made from a discarded shipping pallet. Doing a full shade version with ferns, say would also be far easier to manage. You might try that.
DeleteI look forward to updates as that wall fills in, and your agave wraps things up.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. The more the plant shrinks the happier I am--it's going to be a lot of effort to remove it.
DeleteLove the golden Agave "tree" and the family gathering! And how exciting with a green wall in the making! It's quite an endeavor.
DeleteKeeping vertical garden plant roots moist in our dry dry climate is the biggest endeavor!
DeleteThe agave looks fantastic and the arrival of the oriole family is a delightful bonus. I just received notice of my "bonus" award from Roger's so I look forward to checking out the new vertical garden soon. One can't just leave a whole $8 credit on the table - I need all the excuses to get away from the construction zone I can get.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to meet for lunch or just a walk around chat at Rogers, let me know. Keep you out of the construction zone a little longer!
DeleteIt is amazing how such a colorful bird can dive into plant and disappear. I bet it felt magical when the Orioles 'disappeared' into the agave blooms. The blooms themselves are always enchanting to me. I have only seen them in person a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteThe color on the male oriole can be seen a block away. No wonder they are good at hiding! All the hawks must be after them.
DeleteIt's always so amazing to see how big agaves in bloom get. My first thought was 'I wonder if all those flowers lure in any wildlife' and then saw the next picture. I love orioles, the males are so surprisingly bright, even more unusual on this end of the continent where I think of things as more 'temperate'.
ReplyDeleteBees, butterflies, Orioles, Hummingbirds, Warblers, Scrub Jays, Mockingbirds...
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