Return to Piece of Eden, April 2021

Last month, I had the opportunity to re-visit the Southern California garden of Hoover Boo. If you follow her blog, Piece of Eden, you're very familiar with her exquisite garden. A lover of proteas, roses, aloes, agaves, and myriad other plants, she combines them all to harmonious perfection. She's also a very active gardener who embraces change, so there's always something new to see.

All kinds of proteas and roses in flower, with Aloidendron 'Hercules' towering over them

I make no secret of my admiration for Piece of Eden so please excuse me if I sound like an overexcited fanboy (which I am).

It doesn't get better than this

View of Aloidendron 'Hercules' from the other direction, towards the neighbors' house

Leucadendron 'Pom Pom'

Leucadendron 'Pom Pom', beautiful flowers but for some reason hard to photograph

Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak' and Leucospermum 'Scarlet Ribbons'

Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak' 

Aloe capitata var. quartziticola in the lushest carpet of Dymondia margaretae I've ever seen. When this South African groundcover is happy, it's happy. It's a bit of a temperamental beast.

Aloe dorotheae looking like it just crawled out from under a blanket of hairy Canary clover (Dorycnium hirsutum)

Agave 'Streaker', a rare striated sport of 'Blue Flame'

Inside the gate, in the courtyard in front of the garage:

A pair of Agave desmetiana 'Joe Hoak' connected by Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'

The tall aloe with dried flower stalks is Aloe thraskii, the paler one below it Aloe pseudorubroviolacea

Aloe pseudorubroviolacea with an emerging flower stalk

Callistemon viminalis 'Slim', one of several (nine, actually)

Walking around the front of the house into the back garden:

Rosa 'Brass Band'

Aeonium 'Zwartkop, Agave 'Snow Glow'

Agave 'Blue Glow' babies

Aechmea blanchetiana (left) thrown into the mix

I love how the pavers are softened by blue fescue, Senecio serpens and other groundcovers

Senecio serpens

Aloe 'Hellskloof Bells' in a bed of blue fescue

Variegated Agave parryi var. truncata

Variegated Aloe × nobilis, the largest specimen I've ever seen. At first glance, I thought it was an Agave 'Cornelius'!

Alstroemeria 'Rock & Roll'

Alstroemeria 'Rock & Roll' and another Callistemon viminalis 'Slim'

Callistemon viminalis 'Slim'

And yet another Callistemon viminalis 'Slim' at the bottom of the stairs

Pittosporum 'Ivory Sheen' (left) and Callistemon viminalis 'Slim'

Pittosporum 'Ivory Sheen'(left) and Callistemon viminalis 'Slim'

Callistemon viminalis 'Slim'

Agave attenuata 'Ray of Light'

Agave attenuata (green)

Agave elleemettiana, hard to photograph in dappled light, but that's where it likes to grow

Cascading Japanese maple, with Cordyline 'Electric Flash' and Abelia 'Confetti' to the right of it

Salvia 'Amistad'

In front of the house again, looking at the front slope:

So much flower color at this time of year

The dominant presence is the yellow shrub on the left, Leucospermum 'Yellow Bird'

Leucadendron 'Yellow Bird'

Leucadendron 'Yellow Bird', Agave titanota (large plant), Agave oteroi (green, bottom left), Agave parrasana (blue, bottom right)

Yucca 'Bright Star'

Yucca 'Bright Star'

Aloe rubroviolacea, Senecio mandraliscae, and Agave gentryi 'Jaws'

Senecio mandraliscae, and Agave gentryi 'Jaws'

Hunnemannia fumarifolia intertwined with Agave salmiana var. ferox 'Mediopicta'

Yucca 'Bright Star', Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny' (top left), Dasylirion wheeleri (blue, second from left), Leucospermum 'Tango' (right)

Leucadendron 'Cloudbank Ginny', Dasylirion wheeleri and Leucospermum 'Tango'

Dasylirion wheeleri and Leucospermum 'Tango'

The white-flowering shrub is Grevillea 'Moonlight'

Dasylirion longissimum

Succulent wonderland

Large and very happy fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis) 

Agave 'Mr Ripple'

Flowering Agave marmorata

Wider view of the front slope

And one final photo of the front slope

Hoover Boo gardens on ½ acre (22,000 sq. ft.), which is almost three times the size of our lot. So I'm forgiven if I feel a bit envious of all the space she has to play with. But I have a hunch that if I had a larger garden, it would look (un)surprisingly similar to Hoover Boo's, seeing how we love many of the same plants.

Follow Hoover Boo on pieceofeden.blogspot.com.

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