Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Agaveland!

Remember all those rescue agaves I brought home last November? Well I’d been saving a little corner of the “new” planting area with them in mind, and once the monster Echium x ‘Rocket’ came out and the galvanized dish planters were in place it was finally time to plant them!

Since this had been my plan for awhile I’d been saving every rock I dug up around the garden, as well as used gravel from container topdressing (which is nearly impossible to salvage when repotting) to help with drainage. I also wanted some basalt chunks, since they are so similar in color to the soil and don’t scream “decorative rocks here!” and brought back a couple dozen when I visited my parents last April (Spokane, WA, is basalt central).

I thought long and hard about creating a crevice garden here and almost did it, however I slowly came to the conclusion my garden is too small to have pulled that one off. It would have looked out of place and like I was just trying to check another thing off the list of garden features.

So I took a photo of the plants in to get a rough idea of their placement and utilizing my stash of rocks set to planting…

Not taking a single photo during the process! I was in a bit of a funk that day and just forged on. So I give you the finished product…

In addition to the rescue agaves I also planted a few other agave pups, a couple of aloes, several opuntia pads, a few cylindropuntia, a dyckia and a couple of other things I’d bought or salvaged. It's impossible to tell from this photo by the area is built up a but from the surrounding ground level...

There is also a Callistemon pityoides 'Excellent’ bordering the area between the other plants and the spiky group..

It seemed the perfect transition plant with its tiny needle-like foliage.

Theoretically most of these should be hardy here in my zone 8 climate, as long as I provided adequate drainage. Only time will tell! Meanwhile I’m questioning my decision to only use mulch here rather than pea gravel as I have on the other backyard agave plantings. Decisions, decisions….

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

39 comments:

  1. The new space looks splendid an I'll bet your adoptees are trilled to have their roots in the ground! You're such a good plant mom and designer!

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    1. I wonder if the adoptees will think I'm a good plant mom come next winter?

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    2. Nope, then they'll think you're bitch but nice that they're happy for now, right?

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  2. agave land is wonderful!!! There are some gems in there! There are some serious pokes going on there! LOVE.

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    1. Thanks Louis! I can just hear someone from the SW looking at those and thinking "doesn't she realize they're all too close together???"...Oh if only that were an issue here. Some will live, some may die and just maybe some will get BIG!

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  3. Looks good, well done! Sometimes I hate stopping to take photos, it slows things down when you get up a good head of steam and just want to forge ahead. I really like the longer view of the new Agaves with the Yucca rostrata in the background (third picture down from the top).

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    1. Thanks Alison...I figure I take enough pictures there's no need to push it when it doesn't come naturally. Glad you agree.

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  4. It's those "feathery" plants that will get me if I ever visit your garden. Some plants look so friendly and are, some look friendly and are not, and some are clearly not friendly. I think I'd probably end up touching too many plants. :)

    Also, I've found that the only way to adequately show a mound is to get down on your belly to take the photo.

    p.s. Why do I never see weeds in your photos?

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    1. If you do ever visit my garden I'll hand hand you a pair of tweezers right away! Regarding the weeds I am pretty lucky. The worst offender for me is the brown oxalis. You should have seen the explosion of it when I returned from SF! I try to stay on top of pulling/digging it before it blooms and sets seed, but I think since it is brown it also fades into the soil when I take a picture so it's hard to see.

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  5. It looks great! I like how you used the callistemon for height. I'll be very interested to see how it weathers our next winter. But having them all gathered together here will make it easier to cover them against too much rain, if you need to. I, too, wonder about using mulch versus pea gravel. You'll find out!

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    1. The pea gravel would really just be for looks, as the mulch just looks "wrong" to my eye. It's a pretty lean mulch, and a thin coat at that, so I hope rot won't be an issue...(fingers crossed).

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  6. Looks beautiful and a good mix of plants too!

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  7. Yeah!!! What could be better than agaveland. It's great that you were able to finally plant these agaves--and to utilize the rocks you'd collected. I find basalt to be excellent for landscaping with succulents because of its sharp edges and chunky looks.

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    1. Hey what are you doing reading blogs when you're in Hawaii!?

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  8. Agaveland is beyond stunning, spikemeister!

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    1. Thanks David! (spikemeister...I love it!)

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  9. This looks awesome. In the eighth photo down, what is the plant just below the blue chalk senecio?

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    1. Oh gosh...you're gonna make me go dig in my pile of tags! (I'll organize them over the winter, for now they're just stuck into a small plant pot). I picked it up at Portland Nursery cause it looked interesting and then later saw it at Cistus, so I knew I'd made a good choice. I'll look it up in a bit and email you the name and post it here too.

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    2. We have a name! Othonna cheirifolia, yellow flowers be damned...

      http://plantlust.com/plants/othonna-cheirifolia/

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  10. Rocks creeping into your garden? I know you never say never, but rocks and garden art are about as close as you got. What's next? Oh, and please keep us posted on the debate: pea gravel v mulch. Dynamite use of your newly claimed planting space.

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    1. Ah Ricki I started adding them last year when I did the other two agave plantings...the basalt is perfect for helping me build up the planting area to allow for better drainage. The rocks are less "rocky" there since I used pea gravel around them. I may still end up doing that here too.

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  11. Your garden is stunning. I love the dish planters and all the textures and shades.

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  12. Nice! love agaveland! It looks terrific

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  13. Strike while iron is hot, even if it means not taking pics of the process. Love the end result!

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    1. The iron was more like lukewarm that day, I was feeling so pokey I didn't think I'd complete the project but alas...I did!

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  14. I'm going to enjoy your updates on this area Loree(I know there will be updates !)- will you have to construct some sort of Ruth Bancroft-ish rain shelter for these ?

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    1. Oh yes, there will be updates! (uhm...I'm overdue for an update on my other in-ground agaves). I don't plan to build a shelter but if some biblical rains come I suppose I might.

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  15. Absolutely outstanding! Oh my gosh, I am so jealous of the beautiful garden you have. Mine is so crowded now and needs some major work and thinning out. So much to do with a hurt back! And I looooove those raised pedestal planters!

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    1. Thank you Candice, in my climate plants like this take three steps forward (growth) in the summer and then two backwards (mushy bits) in the winter so I doubt crowding will ever become an issue here. My sympathies for your back pain, that is NO FUN!

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  16. It looks really nice!! every garden should have one agaveland!

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  17. This looks great! The first shot looks like it could be straight out of Sunset magazine. Do I spy a Sarracenia growing in that little lime green pot? And what is that fantastic serrated green leaved thing in the lower left?

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    1. You do spy a Sarracenia growing in a lime green pot! I bought a bird bath earlier this spring with big ideas of turning it into a carnivorous wonderland but haven't had the opportunity yet. Thankfully that plant seems happy in the small pot for now. Re: the serrated thing I think you might be asking about the Eryngium agavifolium?

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  18. That looks wonderful there - I like how you put plants together - you are a true artist. :)

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    1. And you are a very kind commenter Heather!

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  19. Fantabulous, Loree! I shared your post on Facebook and feel sure you will inspire many others to attempt this look.

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