Succulents and More™

Last weekend, I finally had the opportunity to visit the garden of my friends Justin and Max in Oakland. I'd long followed the garden's evolution—and its plant and animal inhabitants—on Max's and Justin's  Instagram pages. Seeing their garden in person was a bit like déjà vu, but there were still plenty of surprises. The biggest was how mature the plantings were, considering the garden is only 3 years old. There is no automatic irrigation system so everything is hand-watered; Max says even that isn't as regular as it could or should be. The mild Oakland climate definitely helps speed things along! Max is a professional horticulturist working for a large landscape construction company, and his and Justin's garden masterfully combines their personal favorites. As I was driving down their street, I knew immediately which property was theirs since no other house had a garden like theirs. (Their next-door neighbor gave them permission to plant up their front yard so...

When I visited Piece of Eden a few weeks ago, garden blogger Hoover Boo took me to see her friend Kay who lives a few streets away--a repeat of what we'd done in December 2017 . Kay and her husband bought their ¾ acre hillside property in the 1970s. Things have changed tremendously since then, but this hidden corner of Orange County is still peaceful and quiet, probably because most properties are large (½ acres or more). Kay loves plants, and it shows.  As I walked through her garden, I recognized some plants from my previous visit, but others were new. Kay's garden, like all gardens tended with enthusiasm and passion, is ever-changing.  As you'll see, the Goldilocks climate of Orange County where it virtually never freezes allows Kay to grow plants outside that would croak in a Davis winter, even in the milder ones we've enjoyed in recent years courtesy of climate change. Mexican bird of paradise ( Caesalpinia pulcherrima ) in all its glory

Piece of Eden  is one of the gardening blogs I've followed the longest. It's been so inspiring to see how blogger Hoover Boo's Southern California garden has evolved over the years. While her climate is noticeably milder than mine (especially in the winter), I've been able to successfully grow many of the same plants featured in her garden—although with ½ acre at her disposal, her canvas is decidedly grander. On my recent trip to Southern California, I had the opportunity to revisit this spectacular garden, COVID-19 precautions and all. This visit was far more socially distanced than my previous visits ( December 2017  | July 2019 ), with no hugs, but it was rewarding nonetheless. How could it not be when this is what greets you as you get out the car: Agave desmettiana  'Joe Hoak' But let's start with what Hoover Boo calls the front slope:

On Saturday, I finally got around to a project I'd been postponing for quite a while: trimming the Yucca queretaroensis  in the smaller of the two succulent mounds in the front garden. Look how little it was when I got it from Greg Starr in December 2013! Fast-forward almost seven years: That cute little plant has grown into a strapping adolescent! Unfortunately, it's leaves are rigid and end in sharp points—perfect for poking an eye out when working near them. To reduce the risk of injury at least somewhat, I cut off a good ⅓ of the bottom leaves. I was shocked by the difference this made:

In my first post  about Hidden Agave Ranch, I showed you the spectacular grounds and many of the agaves Jeremy has growing in the ground. This post focuses on the greenhouse, which is home both to Jeremy's personal collection and to the agaves he grows for sale. Here's the entrance to the greenhouse. The hill on the left is dedicated to plants from Baja California. And a wide-angle view of the inside:

On my recent trip to Southern California, I finally had the opportunity to visit a place at the very top of my plant-related bucket list: Hidden Agave Ranch in North San Diego County. This is where agave guru Jeremy Spath lives with his family, and it's where he performs his plant breeding magic.  Jeremy may look like the quintessential surfer—and surfing is one of his passions—but his focus is on plants, above all agaves. He travels to study them in habitat, he cultivates and propagates them at home, and he creates completely novel hybrids, some of which are for sale on his website Hidden Agave . Soon he'll be able to add “author” to his résumé as he's working on a new agave book with Jeff Moore of Solana Succulents . Horticulture wasn't Jeremy's original career, but after he'd been bitten by the plant bug, he jumped into it with both feet. His first stint was at San Diego Botanic Garden where he accumulated extensive plant knowledge. This was followed by tim...

In my recent post about my friend Theresa's garden—remember her incredible Southwest-inspired home?—I mentioned that she and her son, a serious succulent collector in his own right, have several greenhouses. The smallest of them can be seen reflected in the pool: Theresa's smallest greenhouse reflected in the pool This is Theresa's greenhouse. It may be the smallest of the three, but it's chock full of wonderful plants, mostly cacti:

I unexpectedly found myself with some free time on Thursday morning so I decided to make a quick trip to Annie's Annuals in Richmond, about an hour's drive provided traffic cooperates (it did). It was a surprisingly cool morning in Davis and even cooler in Richmond. In fact, the sky was so gray that I thought it was going to rain (it didn't). As an added plus, the even light did make for good photography. Here are some pictures of the public plantings along the entrance and along the sidewalk: This view, as seen from Market Street, changes frequently

With very few occasions to visit other gardens this year, I jump at every opportunity I get. And I really struck gold a couple of weeks ago when I finally got to see the property of a friend in the greater Sacramento area. I was there in the early evening so the photos in this post have a warm cast. I knew her place was large—about two acres, which is somewhere between gigantic and enormous by local standards—so I expected to be wowed. But I was not prepared for this level of wow: Had I fallen asleep behind the wheel and woken up a few days later in New Mexico? No, I was still in Sacramento County. This was “just” one of those exceptional places that are tucked away in quiet neighborhoods far from my regular routes.

We all need a bit of magic in our lives right now. Here's my contribution for today. Take a cactus with seemingly gray spines: Spray it with water: Wow!

Agave 'Mad Cow', a hybrid between Agave bovicornuta and Agave colorata , began to flower in the driveway bed earlier this year: Agave  'Mad Cow' on May 31, 2020 I waited for seeds, but there were none (being a hybrid, it may be sterile). Hoping for some offsets, I left the dying rosette in place until last weekend when I decided it was time to remove the carcass. Would there be some pups underneath the mess of desiccated leaves?