Profound, Relief-Induced Euphoria

'The Poet's Wife'
  

Profound, relief-enduced, hope-enducing euphoria can take many forms.  In current events this past week, that's what seemed to be happening.  In a far smaller, plant-based way, I experienced it myself.

Whew!

I felt it yesterday after a small team came to clean up and mulch the far west side of the garden.  It's something I have been unable to do because of the knee.  The area looked terrible.  I was in full cringe about it.

Before, from a distance, because close-up was worse:

 After:

 Now it looks great.  The team I hired did a fine job.  They trimmed my side of the neighbor's hedge , cut the Russellias to the ground, pulled weeds, removed dried up foliage, removed the giant spent Agave, and fixed a couple of irrigation leaks.  Then, they mulched.  Undoubtedly they felt tired when they finished.

I felt relief-induced euphoria.

The towering, drying Agave flower stem I cut down myself the previous week;  It was over 30 feet (9 m) tall. 

I'm not expecting any seedlings.

The team, using a chain saw and a pick, removed the dregs of the plant.

There on the left, grrr gone!

Relief, relief.  It was tough, even for them.

It's not time yet for fall planting, but you can feel it approaching.  The daylight hours ebb and the nights cool, little by little.  Relief, relief.

I managed to limb up Baby the oak tree a bit.

Even a few branches filled two green waste bins:

It's hard to tell anything at all was removed, but now the 'Frosty Blue' Agave ovatifolia will get a little direct sunlight:

Baby the Oak has potential babies of her own this year, and plenty of them:

This week a Scrub Jay was defending "his" oak from six Acorn Woodpeckers that flew in to investigate all those unripe acorns.  Quite a squawkfest erupted.  The Scrub Jay won that battle, but the Woodies will be back.  They work as a team.  He should not feel relieved.

 Bit of a surprise, some bulbs I planted quite a few years ago flowered with multiple stems per bulb.  A garden friend insist I take them.  She had no idea what they were.  She said with happy enthusiasm, "They'll spread everywhere!" 

I have to say, in my opinion, "spreading everywhere" is not a virtue.  (See Eriocapitella huphensis.) I planted them in an un-irrigated location in poor soil.  For maybe seven or eight years they were covered up by a Maireana sedifolia.  When I pulled the Maireana last year, the bulbs were there, apparently dormant, decidedly not spreading, amazingly, not dead. 

After the generous rainfall of winter 22-23 one of the bulbs flowered.  This year, they all have.  Amacrinum, maybe?  Crinodonna?  Amarine, because they've been flowering towards autumn, (or are they just late)?  They have more flowers per bulb than Amaryllis belladonna. 

-Hmm.  What's that?

Aww. Cool!

I'm relieved the bulbs haven't spread everywhere.  

 Dahlia 'Duet' has flowered.  Always reliable, if late. 

Enough roses to keep me and the aphids happy.  'Rouge Royale' didn't have much of a spring, but her August has been impressive:
The glory of August continues to be the Lagerstroemias, not only in my garden but all over the neighborhood.  My 'Dynamite's look great:
A neighbor's pale cool pink, too.  He asked me one day a few years ago why his never flowered.  I said my guess was that he should not have them pruned right before they were about to flower, which is what he was doing. "Oh," he said, but took the advice.
If not relief, than at least a touch of euphoria. 

Comments

  1. They did a GREAT job, it looks wonderful! It looks clean and the agaves are really showing off. *You're not the only one, I have an area in the front with salvia & lobelia that makes me feel sick to my stomach. I'm going to tackle it today, thanks to this inspiration. Those look like crinum to me? Dynamite is exactly that! Nice work, your garden looks wonderful, and in August.

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    1. It has been a surprisingly good August in this garden. It pulls me outdoors even on a hot day.

      Mulch, it does wonders!

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  2. You've had a very good week, HB! Everything looks great. Sometimes it makes a LOT of sense to bring in help. My husband and I both tend to be do-it-ourselfers. I was ecstatic when he decided to turn over the chimney project to experts (even if he still spent a lot of time on the roof anyway). I think I probably need to turn over at least a couple more big pruning jobs to my tree service this year too as some of my shrubs insist on growing as large as trees...Meanwhile, I'm trying to get more mulching done. I have 5 more bags waiting to be spread and I know I probably need at least 5 more on top of the 8 I've already emptied.

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    1. A good August for a change! I try to do as much as I can, but fear of falling knocked some sense into me. There is a grey area between shrubs and trees. Good old Ligustrum is actually a tree--it just takes many decades to get there.

      Good luck with the mulch--it is work but so very satisfying to look at it once it's done.

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  3. It's such a relief isn't it, when an area like that is taken care of, and done well. Good on you for knowing to call in assistance!

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    1. A neighbor fell and broke her leg--I took it as a warning!

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  4. Those surprise bulbs are lovely, whatever they are. Placing them in a tough spot help preventing them from being a menace. Good on ya for spotting that grasshopper (?) in full camouflage! It looks like a dead leaf :-D
    Chavli

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    1. Praying Mantis. :)

      Grasshoppers get their heads snipped off. :(

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  5. Glad you've had success and euphoria this past week. :) It all looks fabulous! I always love your roses. I wonder if the pink mystery blooms are Lycoris? They look similar to my L. squamigera, which just finished blooming. Love those blooms! I love Dahlia 'Duet,' too!

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    1. That's a thought--could be Lycoris or a cross?--though the leaves are there and they have leaves through the winter. Must go sniff to see if there is fragrance. Should buy some bulbs to compare. (Excuse to buy some bulbs, ;^)) It's nice they are blooming in a relatively "quiet" month when so much else is waiting for the weather to cool off. (The gardener of course awaits that, too.)

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  6. I love the theme of this post. Relief and euphoria. I expect to feel both when we finally get started on the backyard overhaul.

    That Agave marmorata *was* a behemoth. A 30 ft flower stalk! I take it you're not going to replace it with another one that size?

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  7. My guess on the mystery bulb is Lycoris (or a Lycoris cross), because I can't imagine Crinums increasing fast enough to make s/o say "they spread everywhere".

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  8. Avoiding my own chores, calling in the troops as you have may be the answer for getting some of the bigger projects done. Sometimes it is hard to know where to begin. Your new mulch looks great. Refreshing.

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    1. It was such a relief when it was done...and still is every time I look up there!

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