On the way to Wisconsin: Megan, Kaveh, Gabriel & Matti
Back in late April 2012 we were hanging out on the Central Coast checking out some of the coolest succulent gardens around with Gabriel (Gardens by Gabriel) & Kaveh (Plant Propaganda) on our way back to Wisconsin. We took tons of pics, but haven’t blogged much about our trip back to dairyland. It was too sad for me to look at all the plants I thought I’d never be able to grow again. Now that we’re moving back it’s fun to look at all our pics of plants again. Big thanks to Kaveh for hooking us up with Gabriel’s totally rad gardens! We’ll be definitely be down for a visit once we’re back. *Not all gardens pictured below are Gabriel’s. The first two are Nick Wilkinson owner of Grow Nursery in Cambria. You guys are both gardening gods!
Beach succulents
I think those octopus like aloes are Aloe vanbalenii, but I’m not sure. I am really, really sure I want one. Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the tour below, but you can check them all out on flickr here.
So yesterday’s Bloom Day post was kind of lame. Lots of repeat blooms… nothing really exciting, so I finally got my act together for a Foliage Follow Up post. Not sure why we never did one before. We’ve got way more going on in the foliage department than flowers most of the time. Thanks to Pam at Digging for hosting the leafy online get together!
Dudleya pulverulenta
Momma Dudleya with new little pup. There’s another cutie on the other side.
Succulent friends
You gotta love Oscularia deltoides (the frosty blue guy crawling around in the Aeoniums). This side of the garden gets no direct sun for a couple of months in the winter, but the succulents don’t seem to care.
Othonna capensis
This teeny weeny little succulent is in my top ten favorite succulents list. It’s just so gosh darn cute.
Agave & friends
Dang it, I have no idea what Agave this is. We won it at the SF Succulent Society Sale a couple years ago and I never bothered to write down the name. Anyone know what it might be?
Succulentfest
Sorry the pic is so blown out. This is one of the oldest and least touched (rearranged) succulent sections of the garden besides the succulents under our Agave americana.
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Plectranthus neochilus & Aeoniums
The Plectranthus buds don’t count as blooms, do they? I love this plant and its herby smell. You either hate the smell or love it. It’s super tough if you have a spot where nothing else with grow. Happy Foliage Follow Up!
Happy March Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day! I have to admit I’ve been kind of bloom picture taking slacker lately (some of these pics are from a week or two ago). The California poppies are in action out back and they’re cabbage looper free so far. Last year all our poppies were covered in holes and little green caterpillars. I’m not bitter.
Grill full o'plants
So the crazy orange flowered Lotus maculatus (parrot’s beak) has been blooming its little heart out for months and months. It doesn’t stop. I shake the spent blooms off now and then and trim parts of it that start strangle the other plants in the grill.
Gilia capitata
The California native section is starting to take off and after all the rain stops in the next few days stops it’s going to be insane. I’m a big fan of all the Gilias.
Awesome Aeonium
The Aeoniums have been a bit sad with so little rain this winter. We’re not seeing very many blooms. It looks like birds have been hitting the leaves of this guy (a free score from a neighborhood garage sale a couple years back).
Aristolochia californica
The pitcher party is almost over and the leaf (crazy freak out take over the world) party is taking over. This pic was taken at the start of the month.
Helleborus foetidus 'Gold Bullion'
Our one and only hellebore is doing its thing. I was hoping it would be a little more gold, but still love it. If you crush the leaves it’s supposed to stink hence it’s common name “Stinking hellebore”. We’ll have to give it a try to experience the stench.
Crested Euphorbia 'Tiny Tim'
As soon as the rain started all of the freakazoid crested blooms weighed down this poor plant, so they’re no longer standing up.
Crested Euphorbia 'Tiny Tim'
How can you not love the monster like blooms?
Kalanchoe prolifera
I can’t believe how long this thing has been going for. We lost a stalk in a wind storm a month or two ago, but this one’s still standing tall.
Kalanchoe prolifera & friends
Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the flower share-a-thon!
We’ve been eyeballing this project all last summer. Just down the road from us along the Great Highway, there are some old garden plots marked by narrow one-foot concrete borders. Most of them are abandoned and overgrow, but I remember that this garden circle was re-established about 2 years ago mostly with succulents. You can see above what a 30 minute cleanup can accomplish…below is what this succulent circle was looking like before we popped in.
Before...end of summer.
These garden circles have a lot of challenges to overcome. First, it doesn’t rain here in San Francisco during the summer. The only irrigation they see is the fog drip that rolls in around May and lingers until Fogust (August is the foggiest month). Second, salty winds can be fierce here. This garden is only a stones throw to the ocean and lots of salt spray can be found in the air. Lastly, it all sandy soil in these parts. Sometime so much sand blows in, that they close down the Great Highway until the sand plows can get it removed.
Car full of succulents.
We loaded up the car with some of our succulent cuttings and that giant agave baby from out backyard (mostly crassula, sedum, aloe and aeoniums). They all should do pretty well in the well draining sandy soil and summer drought. I’m not certain about the salt in the air, but we see these types of plants growing nearby. I’d say these new succulents have high odds of surviving.
Almost done.
In about 30 minutes, we weeded out the crap, shifted some of the existing plants around, and planted most of our cuttings and that big fatty Agave americana. There was so much sand piled up on this dune, that we really couldn’t get the concrete circle to expose…but that could be another project day.
Two months later.
After a slow start, it finally started raining this winter and this succulent circle should start looking lusher. We can’t wait to check in over the next couple of months to see how it’s coming along.
