Thinking? Me?

 

The above hedge of Callistemon (Meleleuca) viminalis 'Slim' is what I've been thinking about.  I spent days chopping it shorter, a little at a time, and had to think about something during all the chopping and maneuvering.     Planted to screen out the house behind ours, the hedge of 'Slim's has done so.  I realized while working on it,  it may no longer be needed.   

 

The owners of the house behind ours eventually planted--something--Olives? Acacias? which now largely screen their house from my garden.  

In addition to my hedge, I also planted another 'Slim' behind the hedge, visible in the first photo of this post (the light green foliage above the black line).  Here it is from another angle:

The problem with the hedge is the narrowness of the space--'Slim', though slim, somewhat blocks the path to the back gate.  I did shear it back again so the pass is usable:

I thought and thought:  remove the 'Slim' hedge because it's no longer necessary as screening?  Another idea:  limb up the 'Slim's as a pleached hedge:  a "hedge on stilts".  The narrow area below it could host small succulents like Echeverias, Sedums, and petite Aloes like A, brevifolia.  This has been a good scheme for the narrow strip in another part of the garden, along the tomato fortress:

It's been fairly easy to maintain.  When a rosette develops a long bare stem, I pull the rosette out by the roots, snap off the stem and old roots, and push the rosette with its now stubby stem back into the soil, where it re-roots.  These small plants have proven far healthier and prettier in the ground than they ever were in patio pots.

 So I'm thinking I will limb up those 'Slim's when they start blocking the path again.  

 

Speaking of the tomato fortress, it currently hosts a rampant table grape vine, a fig tree sprouting a lot of new growth, and three tomato plants thriving in ten gallon containers.  These are the healthiest tomato plants I've bought in many years.  They were four-inchers marked down to a get-them-out-of-here-quick price at Home Cheapo.  You never know what plant is going to be a winner.  Well, sometimes you do.  

More thinking:  recently I bought three native milkweed plants, Asclepias fascicularis, to support any Monarchs that might wander by, but where to plant them? 

Two of three: 

 

 Thought required.  I see Monarchs most frequently along the front of the property, where it is hot, sunny and very dry.  Perhaps in one of the empty spots between Agaves and Aloes?

#3 went near Aloe vera, temporarily caged while it roots in:  

 The native local Salvia, S. apiana, has proven a successful example of this idea.  The plant itself, a few feet across, sprouts flower stalks 10-12' long, loaded with hundreds of flowers.  Besides the non-native honeybees, it is feeding many different small native pollinators:

Plant behind Aloe ferox trunk, flower stems reaching out everywhere: 

When summer heat arrives, sending the Salvia into dormancy, I am able to reach and cut it back hard with a pole pruner, leaving the Salvia to rest until it wakes up in mid- to late fall.  That works.  

The same idea has worked with Salvia 'Marine Blue', a tough plant of obscure origins.  It was a disappointment last year (its first) but our excellent '25-'26 rainy season made it "leap".  Tiny pollinators love this one, too.  

Just wish the flowers were bigger:

 They're a gorgeous blue, but tiny:

 So the plan is to do the same with the milkweed: the front bank.    

But that's enough thinking.  Time for some mindless enjoyment of spring flowers.

I felt lazy just walking around staring at the garden for weeks, but thought seems to pay off.  Sometimes.