Tuesday, May 16, 2017

The St. John's Pub, and a look at more Agaves

Since I was driving right by I figured I'd better stop and check out the Agaves, up-close. Five A. ovatifolia planted curbside back in 2012...

While I was there to check up on winter damage, I think most of the ugliness I observed was do to violent passers-by, as well as perhaps snow removal equipment during the worst of our winter. Poor things.

Otherwise they look good and solid.

Oh! Check out the Agave 'Mateo' on the right!

These guys will live on to see another summer.

And hopefully a few after that. I think their main enemy isn't the weather so much as lame humans.

A parting glance before we check out a few other plants...

Huh. I first spotted a pair of rusted metal sphere's planted up and placed in the hellstrip back in 2015. I hadn't seen them in awhile so I thought they'd been removed.

I guess maybe just buried?

And lest we forget there's a reason they call them hellstrips.

Hmmm...

Happy Opuntia (right next to the sidewalk, gotta love bold planting)...

And this! Wow, Euphorbia stygiana. If I'm not mistaken this plant has also been growing here since at least 2012. Pretty impressive for a marginally hardy Euphorbia. I planted one (my second) a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed.

Fremontodendron

I loved, I bought, I lost. Just as well. There are plenty out there in the landscape for me to enjoy.

Catalina Ironwood, or properly known as Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. asplenifolius.

A tree I would love to have in my hellstrip.

If only...

Wow, a Beschorneria? Huh, looks like it didn't care about winter.

I wanted to venture further into the courtyard to snap photos but the harsh shadows told me not to bother.

Instead it was time to head home.

Weather Diary, May 15: Hi 60, Low 45/ Precip .18"

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

26 comments:

  1. The trouble with being planted in a public space - being exposed to the careless public! At least the Agave ovatifolias look pretty solid and resilient despite the gashes, bruised but brute fighters they are :)

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    1. "bruised but brute fighters" well said!

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  2. Those poor Agaves do look like they've taken some abuse from either people or equipment (of course, if it's people, you know they've given as good as they've gotten). Do you remember giving me a Beschorneria a few years ago? It's going to bloom this year.

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    1. Yay for the blooming Beschorneria! Hope you'll share photos.

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  3. Wow, that's some pretty nice plantings. I plant the traffic island in front of my house and I don't know how many times someone has knocked over (driven over) the sign in the middle of it. Then the city guys come and fix it right in the middle of my pretty planting. I try to be philosophical but public spots do take a beating.

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    1. I can only imagine the type of destruction a spot like that would have to endure. I hope your neighbor's appreciate our labor of love.

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  4. I love the Seseli gummiferum growing with the agaves. Mine froze/rotted at the top, but they're coming back strong from the base. The Catalina ironwood I planted last summer died, but I still went ahead and planted another, larger one, in a more protected spot. I hope I'm not being too foolish. Hopefully the earlier planting and different location will make the difference.

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    1. Wait, there were plants around the Agaves? Seriously though thanks for the ID, I wondered what that was. Last winder was extreme for a new tree, fingers crossed your replacement fares better.

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  5. Poor abused agaves. It's nice that they've survived so well. Why not a Catalina Ironwood in your hellstrip? They grow pretty fast and don't throw little green marbles all over the sidewalk the way some other trees do.

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    1. Because our street is a cold wind tunnel from the Gorge in the winter and I am afraid they wouldn't make it (not reliably hardy in an exposed spot).

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  6. It was a bad call to plant those Agaves so close to the sidewalk in my opinion.If they had been set back a foot it may have made a big difference. Some nice features but not nearly as nice as Kennedy School !

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    1. Ya, they are pretty close, but I do think it was more about careless snow/ice removal...after all I saw some pretty bad things happen at Kennedy School too.

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  7. Oh, poor Agaves. They look great from a distance, but as ks says, planting them back just a bit would have given the same effect with much less damage. Interesting place.

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    1. During the Portland Fling we toured one of their sister properties, the Kennedy School, which ks refers to above. Wish you could have been here Beth!

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  8. Looks a little unloved and weedy. Perhaps the density of neglect enabled the marginally hardy Euphorbia to survive the winter?

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    1. Oh gosh, I wouldn't say there's a density of neglect...a little over-planted maybe but that's normal for McMenamins.

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  9. that feeling when they are 8' across..

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    1. Ha! Ya. But do you really think that's achievable in our climate?

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  10. You take me to places I've never been to, even in my own home town.
    Thanks for the tour!

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  11. I had to look at the 2015 for comparison, the metal hellstrip balls are cool! Too bad they're buried now.

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    1. I wish I could remember what they looked like in the interim. I drive by there whenever I go out to Cistus!

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  12. The embattled agaves aside, I'm surprised just how well some of these plants made it through your horrible winter. Microclimates do matter.

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  13. Great to see the ovatifolias doing so well, damage from snow removal equipment aside. I think I will plant a few at my mother-in-law's place in Mount Shasta.

    Fremontodendron: They grow beautifully on embankments by the side of the road where nobody fusses over them and they don't get much, if any, water in the summer. In the garden, they're soooo difficult. Loved and lost myself, a few times.

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  14. That courtyard is a great place for a beer and a burger in the summertime, surrounded by all that botanical lushness.

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