Saying yes meant changes…

Sunday September 25th. That morning I received a text about several yucca that needed to be rescued before the homeowner took a saw to them, Yucca rostrata to be specific—trunking Yucca rostrata. Initially I was just acting to save the plants, after all I didn't have room for another large Yucca rostrata. However once the project was underway and my friend Eric asked if I wanted one of the five, as a finders fee... well, how could I say no? 

Obviously I said yes, and that meant changes, a bit of a garden renovation was set in motion. Here's the yucca that became mine—I decided to name it Holman, in honor of the street he used to live on.

These next seven photos are from my year end "state of the garden" post that went up last October. That Fatsia japonica was one of the first things I planted when we moved here in 2005. 

Here it is seen from the driveway, it's legs mirroring those of the Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' further out in the front garden. This was my favorite view of the plant.

The view from other side. Behind it is a large edgeworthia; E. chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold'. Growing between the two (from this angle) are Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow' and Indigofera amblyantha.

At its feet, a pair of Woodwardia unigemmata.

From the same post last October, here's a view of the front garden from the public sidewalk. You can see the fatsia up against the house.

Of interest here though is the annually pollarded Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'. That's a long loop of it's foliage laying on the Yucca rostrata.

Here it is seen from the sidewalk to the front door (RIP that fabulous agave—a winter loss). 

Fast forward to ugly, photos from the end of January. I'd decided the fatsia had to go, in it's place would go Holman. I'd fallen out of love with the fatsia several years ago, it was time. There was a bit of sentimentality mixed in with losing this 18 year old shrub, as I mentioned it was one of the first things I planted here. However, once the decision was made I was excited to get started.

The Woodwardia unigemmata were moved to the back garden, and one of the two Leucothoe fontanesiana 'Rainbow' was removed to the yard waste bin.

Can you make out the stump of the Cotinus ‘Royal Purple'? It's just to the right of the Agave 'Sharkskin'. Yep, it's going too. I loved the dark foliage in the spring and the colorful autumn version. But I'd grown to hate the imbalance of having a huge space dedicated to a shrub that became a void for half the year—sunny space at that! Since I was at it a long suffering Dasylirion wheeleri and a Callistemon viridiflorus 'Xera Compact' also came out.

I took this photo the day I started to cut back the Fatsia japonica branches. It was going be a long process as that's a lot of material to work out in weekly yard waste pick ups (along with all the other garden debris) so I wanted to pace myself—aiming for a spring planting for Holman.

The remarkable thing about this image (taken at the end of January) is just how good both of those large-ish agaves still look. Things took a very drastic turn in the coming weeks. 

Anyway, here we are, April 26th. It's hard to grasp how many fatsia branches had already been removed!

It's about 1/3 the size it used to be. Oh and one of the agaves is gone (the sharkskin agave would eventually come out too, potted up in an attempt to rehabilitate it).

April 28th, I'd got the fatsia back to this state and it was time for Andrew to get involved. Digging out a 18 year old shrub requires more muscle than I've got.

Gone! The house is visible again, well, from this angle.

Holman spent winter in a container in the driveway. Before the December storm I considered trying to move him into the garage, but realized he was too tall to fit through the door. Since his roots were all broken during the move there was no sense in trying to tip him on a side either, that would have been a disaster. Thankfully he's a trooper and handled the cold well. 

Here I'm giving him a trim before planting day.

Hole dug...

And he's in! He looked so much larger in the pot in the driveway...

Those sticks on the far left under the corner window, that's a pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. It was defoliated with the winter storms and still hadn't leaved out at the end of April. We cut it back to the ground. There are just now (beginning of July) a few little starts growing out of the stump. I am undecided on whether or not I'll let them grow.

Andrew also made quick work of the cotinus stump. Funny I thought I'd do that one myself. Seeing how hard he worked to get it out I was laughing at that idea.

For the spot where the cotinus used to be I planned to relocate a Yucca linearifolia I had growing in a hidden spot in the front garden. I dug it out...

And cleaned it up, including exposing the trunk...before I replanted it. 

I tried to take a couple "before and after" photos showing where it had been so you could laugh at the fact this great plant was completely hidden in my small garden, but I couldn't even get a decent shot of it, that's how well it was hidden.

I also went agave shopping to fill the new sunny empty spots with a couple proven winners, based on which agaves made it through last winter. Sadly, finding some of them proved very difficult. I couldn't believe it when a couple of the exact agaves I was looking for came to me via friends. Alison—yes, the Bonny Lassie—sent me this Agave montana 'Baccarat'...

And this amazing haul came home with me from our Portland garden bloggers swap. In the middle is a large Agave 'Baccarat' from Dale (exactly what I had been hunting for!), on the left a Yucca aloifolia which I fell in love with in Dale's garden and he shared an extra he had on hand (on the right a Syneilesis aconitifolia from Jane that went in the back garden).

One last photo to share today. Once I was home with that Agave 'Baccarat' and giving it a light clean up I pulled out a dead leaf and got a very big surprise, a frog! See him up against the pot? How often do you bring home an agave with a bonus frog? I put him in the garden but haven't seen him since. Fingers crossed he's out there somewhere having a good life.

On Friday I'll share photos of the new areas all planted up!

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