Podocarpus 'Icee Blue' Five Year Growth And Speaking Ofs

 Above, Podocarpus 'Icee Blue' waiting to be planted in 2018

Planted in the ground April 2018.  The wall behind it is 4'/1.2m tall:

Yesterday.  It's about 12' /3.6 m tall:

It's no Eucalyptus rocketing skyward, but it's been faster than expected.

And endlessly gorgeous: 

Speaking of Eucalyptus, August's tropical storm Hilary may have contributed to this burst of new growth from E. 'Moon Lagoon:

Is it time to chop off the two large trunks hanging over the driveway?  And then stake this new stem so that 'Moon Lagoon' grows vertically rather than at a 45 degree angle?  

Silver-blue,  ooooh!

Perhaps stake the new, future trunk for a while to make sure it can grow vertically first.  Then remove the other two trunks.   That sounds good. 

Speaking of gorgeous blue foliage...

Time and experience shows me Agave mitis 'Nova' is better in this garden than similar, also beautiful Agave 'Blue Flame'.  'Nova' is bluer and easier to manage because of its smaller size.   

The oldest 'Blue Flame' in the garden (foreground) is even bigger than 'Mr. Ripple' (behind and left of 'Blue Flame'):  

 A. mitis (celsii) 'Nova' is a bit fussy compared to 'Blue Flame', but as Agaves go, hardly fussy.  

Speaking of fussy...at least in this garden, A. mitis (celsii) var. albidior is just as happy to rot as it is to grow.  My first rotted, but produced three tiny offsets before it did.  One offset rotted, and the other two struggled in various locations until replanted finally in spots where they survived if not thrived.  

This one needs to be moved into more sun.  You can tell by the leaves flattening out, trying to maximize what light exposure they get.   The rose started shading the Agave because the rabbits stopped eating the rose because I screened the rabbits out. 

Well grown and happy, this is a gorgeous Agave.  I hope to get at least one to that state--eventually.

Getting there:

Agave pablocarolli 'Ivory Curls' is unfortunately another beautiful Agave that has issues.  It burns in sun too hot for its liking.

The brown edges on the lower leaves of the largest A. 'Ivory Curls' is a chronic flaw in excessive hot sun:

The above group of Agave pablocarolli 'Ivory Curls', Rhodanthemum hosmarensis, Aloe striata, and Lotus hirstutus is the junior varsity "blue crew".  The varsity "silver squad" is:

Clockwise from top center, Leucadendron 'More Silver', Didelta 'Silver Strand' , Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie', A. 'Blue Glow', two A. titanota 'White Ice', Aloe dhufarensis, A. parrasana sending up a flower stalk, and A. titanota grown from seed.  That one is preparing to flower also and it will be difficult to remove, being crowed in with other plants. 

Speaking of removal difficulty, when a Polystichum fern sprouted in the top of the pond shower, I left it.  It became massive, so massive its weight knocked the shower over during a Santa Ana wind event in 2018.  Removing it was as difficult as digging out a tree stump.  It took something like two weeks.

Speaking of ferns in the pond shower, this year an offspring of a fern growing nearby appeared in the pond shower...

Pteris cretica, I think.  Growing in full sun without a problem since aerated water continuously runs over its roots:

...then lately, another, unidentified fern...

Thankfully not a sword fern as far I can tell.  Who are you?

There was also a Trachelium and tropical Milkweed seedling in the shower, which I pulled.  I think I should pull that unidentified fern, just in case.  

Speaking of unidentified, I was gobsmacked cutting out some dead branches in Grevillea 'Peaches n Cream' when I spotted something that had sprouted from seed but has been hidden by the Grevillea for potentially years.   What. Is. This?

No.  Couldn't be...could it?  I've purchased and killed three of these, none of them cheap.  I did plant a few seeds one of them produced before it died.   

The biggest mistake a gardener makes is believing she is in control.