Monday, September 26, 2022

Meet Holman, my adopted Yucca rostrata (or how my Sunday took a complete 180 from what I thought it was going to be...)

I was enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday morning when a text came in from my friend Wes Younnie. Someone had forwarded a NextDoor post to him and he sent it on to me; it included a link to this... 

Free plants!? Those aren't plants, those are Yucca rostrata! And I know that house, I've walked by it many times—those Yucca rostrata are huge! "You will need a shovel"... ha, ya, and then some.

So I thought for a moment. Who should I forward this info to? Who do I know that would see this as a desirable challenge? Ah yes! Eric Peterson. If you've read my book, Fearless Gardening, Eric and his partner Robert were profiled in the final chapter. As I wrote there: "Eric estimates about two-thirds of his plants are in containers, and more than half were acquired via road-trip plant shopping. He thinks nothing of spotting an unusual plant on Craigslist and driving to California to pick it up. A recent buying trip was up to Ellensburg, Washington, where he scored the top of a large, old-fashioned windmill, now anchored to the back of the house." Eric is always ready to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

The text from Wes came in at 9:17am and by 10:57am I was walking up to the rescue location. Eric was already at work...

Here he's moving gravel away from the base of one of the Yucca rostrata...

Three others, up next...

That one over there, that's Holman. He went home with me, but we'll get to that in a bit.

Here's the root system of the first one Eric dug/pulled/lifted. It doesn't look like much, but we think (hope) it's enough.

I've posted photos of this garden before here on the blog, and on my Instagram feed. Instead of trying to hunt those photos down I took a screen shot (below) of a Google Maps image from May of 2019. The yucca were tiny then! The gorgeous towering Eucalyptus was dying and came out earlier this spring. The homeowner (she didn't plant these plants but has owned the home since 2018) tried to save it but was told there was no way.

With the eucalyptus gone she decided it was time to plant the garden she wanted, rather than the garden she inherited. That's why she wanted to get rid of the Yucca rostrata, she called the gravel and yucca "a moonscape"—to each their own. 

Yep, there once was a eucalyptus here...

There are yucca roots so close to the surface! We'd just pulled back the gravel and there they were...

This photo is after Eric had shovel cut all the way around, there was layer upon layer of landscape fabric under that gravel.

He then attached a tow rope and used his truck to pull the yucca the rest of the way out (I shared a video on my Instagram page, here).

Timber!

The first one did not have the thick trunk that tore, just roots.

We were a little concerned (would they recover from this?) so sent a photo to Sean Hogan, who has moved many a rostrata, his reply "Yes, should be fine...just let it dry for a few days"

Here Eric is loading the 4th big bad boy into his truck. He had a hand truck and a winch to help with the work, but still had a lot of weight to lift himself.


Here's the empty landscape with all the yuccas removed. The homeowner says she has a garage full of plants waiting to go in. She wants to start planting and was considering taking a saw to the yuccas. Can you imagine? I can, that's what happened to the bunch of nice Yucca rostrata I wrote about in this post.

Anyway, here's Eric's VERY full truck. There are four sizable yuccas in there...

Here's my yucca, Holman, at home, in the back of Andrew's Subaru. He's named Holman because that's the street he used to live on.

He's hanging out in a bit of a holding pattern. I need to round up a pot big enough to plant him in so I can finalize the plans for where he's going to live. I have some ideas but nothing immediate. Like I said, this wasn't how I expected to spend my Sunday! Thank you Eric for jumping on this and all your work to rescue these beauties! 

All material © 2009-2022 by Loree L Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

18 comments:

  1. OMG, I don't even know what to say. Getting FOUR rostratas of this size FOR FREE, that's like winning the plant lottery. I'm so happy you guys rescued them. The thought of them being destroyed is too much!

    Glad you explained where the name "Holman" came from. You had me wondering from the beginning!

    Please keep us posted about Holman's health. The lack of roots is something I would have worried about, too, but I'm glad Sean thinks it's OK.

    P.S. What is Eric going to do with his rostratas?

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    1. I am sure Holman is going to go through an adjustment period with transplant shock, plus it's about the worst time to dig these, headed into wet, cold, winter... but c'est la vie! Eric is keeping two of the plants at his house and taking the other (smaller) two to the post office where he works. It's gonna be the best landscaped post office in the city!

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  2. How nice that she offered the plants rather than just cutting them down. This is a better solution all around. Hope she knows what a mess that landscape fabric is under the gravel. I'm surprised things got enough water with multiple layers.

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    1. We did talk about about the landscape fabric, it's going to be a lot of work to remove but that stuff is nasty!

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  3. What a beauty! Now that is a score. The homeowner did not know their value!

    True, though--yuccas aside, gravel and many layers of landscape fabric do make a "moonscape".

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    1. Yeah she did. I told her how much they were worth but she wanted a different look.

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    2. Yes, as Eric stated above he mentioned their worth to her, but she just wanted them gone. It will be interesting to see what she does with it now!

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  4. That is a fabulous "get," especially with the price that Yucca goes for and the time it takes to get it to that size. (My own plant, acquired in a 4-inch pot 3.5 years ago, is still relatively dinky.) I'm sure you'll find a perfect spot for Holman. Kudos to Eric for all the heavy lifting. I hope the donor removes all that nasty landscape fabric before she starts planting.

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    1. I am so glad Eric had the day off work, the right tools, and a strong back...

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  5. Now that's some plant rustling! It is interesting what parallel universes gardeners exist in -- one person's moonscape is another's blank canvas, with some nice specimens just waiting to have a garden created around them.

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    1. Yes, well said! And I'd be putting that ad up to get rid of the Japanese maples I inherited and she'd be coming to get them...

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  6. Happiness Is: being nimble enough to follow an unexpected Sunday Adventure, whenever one comes your way.
    chavli

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  7. What a SCORE! I can't believe she just gave those away for free. They would be worth thousands of dollars to many a homeowner willing to pay for instant impact. As I started this post I wondered how in the world you were going to get them out of the ground and back to your house. Thank goodness you knew just the right person to call. And that he gave you one! I look forward to seeing where Holman ends up.

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    1. Here in Portland it's not the best time of the year to move these guys, but we'll be doing what we can to ensure they make it. And yes... I definitely knew the right person to call!

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  8. Have you found the new location for Holman? Have you secured the perfect winter pot? As an aside, went to see the movie 'Don't Worry Darling', and there in the midst of the beautiful people and cars, was a big, beautiful agave that received absolutely no credit for his appearance and outstanding performance...Maybe his was just a cameo? I'm not advocating for the movie, just spreading the word. Many interesting landscaping shots.

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    1. I am 99% sure Holman is going where the Fatsia japonica is now, in the front garden. I am still hunting down a pot to overwinter him in. As for agaves getting film credit, they are so frequently overlooked! It's a pity really.

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  9. CRAZY! I love that Eric was so on the spot, ready to grab these treasures. I can't believe how fast they grew and with landscape fabric holding them back?! Maybe they thrived with the rain. A wonderful caper, indeed!

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