This and that, August 2024

Last week was dreamy as far as the weather was concerned. The daytime high was 75°F just the other day – those are San Diego temperatures! But fall is still a number of weeks away and the heat is likely to return, so I’m not doing any major (re)planting yet. And I do have holes to fill, like this one:

Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’

My large Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ (above) rotted following the two heat domes we had this summer. As I was removing it, I realized what a large plant it was. To fill the space, I planted an Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’ behind where ‘Mission to Mars’ had been (below). This aloe hybrid originally found at the Ruth Bancroft Garden will develop a trunk over time (see this post for photos), leaving room for something else, probably an agave. I’ll play musical chairs in my head for a few weeks until I make a final decision.

Newly planted Aloe ‘Birds and Bees’ (left), Agave ‘Red Bull’ (right)

I recently found another victim of the heat dome, Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’.

Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’

This one hurt because it had finally gotten to a nice size – it’s a veeeeerrrrrry slow grower. Removing it left a good-sized hole:

Hole left by Agave parrasana ‘Fireball’

Most of what I’ve been doing lately falls in the “puttering around” category – trimming, relocating, etc. Here are a few examples:

Overly enthusiastic Sphaeralcea philippiana

I’m a big fan of globemallows (Sphaeralcea), but our native species (like Sphaeralcea ambigua and cultivars thereof) get too large and floppy in an irrigated garden like ours. That’s why I was beyond excited when I discovered a prostrate globemallow in the display garden at Waltzing Matilija Nursery, Sphaeralcea philippiana. Troy McGregor, the owner of Waltzing Matilija, has been actively propagating it, and it’s available in his online store.

Sphaeralcea philippiana is native to Argentina, flowers virtually year round, and doesn’t get taller than 1 ft. Except one of the two in my garden clearly didn’t get the memo. When I took the photos above and below, it was over 3 ft. in height at its tallest. Maybe because this spot gets regular water?

Sphaeralcea philippiana behind Agave nuusaviorum (which I think may be getting ready to flower)

This particular Sphaeralcea philippiana had gotten just a bit too brazen, steamrolling several smaller plants in its vicinity. It was time for a radical trim. I ended up removing a good 90% – more than I had planned.

After cutting back Sphaeralcea philippiana

I bet it’ll be back within two months.

Sphaeralcea philippiana after its radical haircut

In the process, I uncovered a buried fan-leaved hakea (Hakea flabellifolia). It had been suffocating under the weight of the Sphaeralcea philippiana, but it’s still alive (see below). Fingers crossed it will make it.

What’s left of my fan-leaved hakea (Hakea flabellifolia)

In contrast, the second Sphaeralcea philippiana planted in compacted (and dry) soil along the sidewalk is under 1 ft. in height – just like what it’s supposed to be:

Well-behaved Sphaeralcea philippiana

Here are a couple of photos of the flowers and foliage:

Sphaeralcea philippiana flowers

As you can see, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of small flowers:

Sphaeralcea philippiana flower

My kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’), which I bought as a 4" plant at Annie’s Annuals a number of years ago, has turned out to be a stellar performer. For some reason, I didn’t take any good photos this year, but these two snaps give you an idea of what it looked like earlier this summer:

Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’ in full flower

Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’ in full flower

Even the spent flowers looked decent:

Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’ with spent flowers

Since each fan of leaves only flowers once and the clump had gotten quite dense, I decided to give it a radical haircut. According to Troy McGregor, my go-to expert for Australian plants, now is good time for trimming to make room for the new leaves.

Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’ after cutting back the old flower stalks and leaves

Anigozanthos ‘Harmony’ (center), Ferocactus rectispinus (bottom right)

The barrel cactus (Ferocactus rectispinus) in the flagstone “throne” (see above and below) is in full flower and looking great. I’ll have a separate post with more photos in a few days. But look at the poor aloe below:

Aloe ‘Verity Nice’

This is a clump of Aloe ‘Verity Nice’ from San Marcos Growers which happens to be in a spot that gets almost no summer water. I decided to dig it up and move it to the backyard where it will be much happier.

Aloe ‘Verity Nice’

This has been a tough summer full of unpleasant surprises. That’s why I find it important to focus on the positive things instead of incessantly dwelling on the negatives. Here are some of the good developments:

Hechtia stenopetala is flowering for the first time. The flowers are small and insignificant, but the flower stalk itself is eye-catching.

Artemisia pedemontana, a.k.a. silky wormwood, has been a wonderful addition to this small cactus area. It gets as little water as the cacti and yet it has continued to grow, forming a soft mat of bluish-gray foliage. I took cuttings yesterday because I want to plant it in other spots in the garden.

Argentine rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida) are said to bloom in response to rain. We did have a few unexpected sprinkles early yesterday, but I don’t think the burst of flowers in the photo above has anything to do with that. The rain lilies I planted many years ago have naturalized and are doing perfectly fine in dry soil even though Wikipedia says they need a “medium wet soil.” The yellow flowers are Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’; I love this coneflower, but I wish the stems were sturdier.

Finally, a new addition to the creeping devil planter I showcased in this post:

I found this shed skin of a western fence lizard when I was trimming the Sphaeralcea philippiana and thought it would make a good accessory.

And finally finally, a photo of Stella. Just because she’s such a good girl – and pretty darn cute, too:

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