Friday, June 12, 2015

Monsters (!) in the parking strip...

I remember reading of a gardener in the Los Angeles area who had a neighbor yell at her for planting Euphorbia in the front garden. How DARE she plant something that was so incredibly toxic where children might come in contact with it (never mind that those children had no business being in the gardener's front garden, since it wasn't their home). I wonder how that lady would feel about this hell-strip garden I found in North Hollywood?

With it's three monster Agaves waiting to impale an careless pedestrian.

Wait, did I say three? Well three monsters, plus three-hundred monster babies.

Who've had their arms amputated.

Ouch!

I watch with horror as the kids from up the street learn to ride their bikes down our sidewalk, towards my tiny Agaves. Can you even imagine what would happen if a face came into contact with these spikes? More than just an eye getting poked out I'm afraid.

Just for good measure there's a Euphorbia too!

I'm so jealous.

Opuntia tree!

Look, the soft Agave gets pride of place where it won't scratch a car pulling into the driveway.

A quick reminder for those of you in the Portland area, hope you can make it to our sale tomorrow!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

29 comments:

  1. Holy Moly, those enormous Agaves are fearsome. But those poor babies, that sight makes me sad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some of these Agave americana do scare me. Imagine them on a foggy night, lurking in the dark, LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do wonder about agave planted near where people walk. I see them in pots next to front entrances around here all the time. It is the same with sego, Cycas revoluta I imagine they plant them when they are cute and small, then over time they out grow their space. I saw a fun picture of a agave with wine corks on the spikes. I sent it to a local restaurant that has to large pots flanking the entrance walkway with agave Americana's in them. They didn't take the hint!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do like the wine cork method better than those who wack off the tips.

      Delete
  4. They are beefy imposing specimens, he'll strip with definite presence!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, a living sculpture hell strip! I love that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wouldn't it be great if we could do that here? Missed you today at the bazaar!

      Delete
  6. Until I got some decent-sized agaves I didn't understand how deadly the leaf tips could be. At least they don't break off in your skin when they poke you...

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's fine, really. No one walks in Southern California except tourists. ;^)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay...that is a good point! Actually I walked all the time when I live in SoCal....much harder here in Houston especially in the summer, unless you convince yourself you get the double benefit of a sauna and exercise : )

      Delete
    2. Haha! That's why everyone was staring at me like I was a freak!

      Delete
  8. My inner curmudgeon taps fingers together with anticipatory glee at the thought of annoying neighbors impaling themselves on those agave. What? Dark side? Me? Never. If we could grow agave like that here, I would definitely have some. I love the giant ones.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haha, I wouldn't like to have an accident with those agaves... but they are beautiful.
    There are plenty of euphorbias in the countryside where I live in Spain...I´ve never heard of children having an accident with it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Evidently one has a bad enough accident here that they're suing McMenamin's: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/06/lawsuit_blames_poisonous_plant.html#incart_2box_

      Delete
  10. I love that, I can imagine quite a few complaints if we planted a verge like that here in the uk!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I love the word verge, so much classier than "hellstrip"!

      Delete
  11. Interesting pruning technique. You'd think with all the trouble they go through to do that, they'd just dig the pups out. The strip looks great though, doesn't hurt that they have all that space to let each plant shine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True, it really couldn't be that much more work to dig/pull them and would look better.

      Delete
  12. They're not monsters, they're just misunderstood. Poor decapitated babies! I can see why you're jealous; your cub scouts wouldn't stand a chance against these beauties!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with Evan though. My inner curmudgeon loves the idea!

      Delete
  13. I think the hellstrip is fabulous, and what the heck...if you're traveling through hell, you gotta expect a little discomfort. I must say that the white picket fence on the other side of the sidewalk is a strange juxtaposition.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think the owners of this garden need to impale gummy bears on each tip as a warning of what lies ahead. They can use it as a type of liability waiver: "They saw what awaited and chose death, officer."

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousJune 14, 2015

    I snuck a small Opuntia into my 1st home's juniper strip, where the "kids with low self-esteem", purposefully rode over. Flat tires both of them in a few days, their dad loved it, and never again did they ride there! (and I've planted such things more ever since)

    Of course, common sense when placing such plants that overgrow their spaces, but sometimes they also deter human animals from walking where they shouldn't. And in or near Hollywood, it makes sense!

    Dasylirion does the trick, in areas where people often wear shorts...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Blinding pedestrians with poor landscape choices, sounds like something from an Edward Gorey book.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!