This and that, mid-September 2024

While the second half of September will be all about a major project in the backyard (more on that in an upcoming post), the first half was mostly this and that. Let’s face it, so much of gardening is exactly that: a string of odds and ends. That suits me very well because I’m a putterer at heart.

⤵ I’ve been trialing Artemisia pedemontana, a low-growing wormwood with bluish-green silvery leaves. I planted it in a cactus bed that doesn’t get much irrigation and fully expected it to croak during the multiple heatwaves we’ve had this summer. But the opposite happened: It has thrived and spread, still remaining just a few inches tall. Its compact size and spreading habit make it the perfect plant to unify heterogeneous planting schemes (which pretty much describes our entire garden).

Artemisia pedemontana is hard to find (the UC Davis Arboretum will have some in their upcoming fall plant sales) so I decided to take some cuttings. Another surprise: The cuttings rooted exceptionally fast in water. Look at the roots after 5 days in a glass of water on the kitchen counter:

I now have 23 little plants ready to be planted out all over. Yeah!

⤵ Last August, I posted this photo of my Aechmea fasciata in fully flower:

Like many other bromeliads, Aechmea fasciata is monocarpic, i.e. it dies after flowering. However, that takes a while because the flowers last for many months.

A year later, the rosettes that had flowered were getting so ratty...

...that I decided to cut them back. As expected, I found a couple of offsets that will form the next generation:

It’ll be a few years before we have flowers again, but this is such a beautiful plant that I’m willing to wait.

⤵ I was hoping there wouldn’t be any more victims of this summer’s sustained heat beyond those I’d already mentioned in this post, but I found another: Mangave ‘Aztec King’. Here it is back in February:

Mangave ‘Aztec King’, February 2024

And here it is in early September, no longer looking so good:

The main rosette (below) was beyond help, but I did find three pups, which I potted up.

⤵ In last month’s “this and that” post, I mentioned that I had cut back the large clump of kangaroo paws (Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’) along the sidewalk. Three weeks later, there are already signs of vigorous new growth:

⤵ A couple of particularly good-looking succulents:

Agave parrasana × ovatifolia, a Nick Deinhart hybrid. I have it planted near a regular A. parrasana, and it’s much larger and a much faster grower.

Ferocactus emoryi, looking better and better

⤵ A few late-blooming cacti:

Astrophytum ornatum, blooming for the fourth or fifth time this summer

Astrophytum asterias ‘Super Kabuto V-Type’

Another Astrophytum asterias ‘Super Kabuto V-Type’

Ferocactus rectispinus with spines up to 7 inches in length

Ferocactus rectispinus

Ariocarpus fissuratus

NOID Lobivia hybrid pumping out flower after flower

⤵ I recently spotted this intriguing succulent planted outside the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. It looks like it’s made of flattened scallop shells, doesn’t it? It’s Cotyledon undulata ‘Silver Crown’, and it’ll be available at the Arboretum’s upcoming fall plant sales. I will get myself a few.

⤵ And finally, a quick peek at what’s brewing in the backyard: newly cleared space, waiting to be mounded with soil and rocks. Stella is keeping a close eye on the goings-on.

Speaking of soil and rocks, they were delivered last Friday:

I’ve been getting a good workout hauling everything around the house into the backyard.

More on this project soon.

© Gerhard Bock, 2024. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.