Succulents and More™

I fully expected October to come to a close without any measurable rainfall. That would make it the driest October in recent memory. Imagine my surprise when I looked outside this morning and saw that the street was wet! It wasn’t much, not even a tenth of an inch, but it was thrilling nonetheless. I had somewhere to be first thing this morning, but when I got back, I snapped the photos below. I’m also including a couple of photos from my friend Kyle, who lives about 25 minutes east of here. Raindrops on plants – a sight I hadn’t seen in many months. Aloe lukeana ×Mangave ‘Pineapple Punch’ ×Mangave ‘Queen for a Day’ ×Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ Graptopetalum paraguayense Graptopetalum superbum Echeveria cante (photo by Kyle Johnson) Myrtillocactus geometrizans (photo by Kyle Johnson) Echeveria agavoides ‘Christmas’ Notocactus herteri ssp. roseoluteus Notocactus mammulosus No sign of rain here, but don’t the prickles on this Aloe marlothii hybrid look like spiky rain drops? The rain...

After a long, hot, destructive, and depressing summer, all I want is to put the misery behind me and move forward. I’ve pulled out all the aloes and agaves that rotted as a result of the heat domes we had in July and August ( some mentioned here , but there have been others as well) and I’ve done some replanting, as you’ll see later in this post. In addition, I’ve removed a few other plants that simply didn’t do it for me anymore. One of them is Agave ‘Ripple Express’, a variegated form of ‘Mr Ripple’ . I had high hopes for ‘Ripple Express’, but I was never quite satisfied with how it looked. Two years ago, maybe even a year ago, I would have simply accepted it for what it was and moved on. Not so now. When a plant doesn’t play its part, it gets replaced. Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ You can guess what happened: I took advantage of our first curbside yard waste pickup of the season I replaced ‘Ripple Express’ with a Jeremy Spath hybrid, Agave bovicornuta × parrasana . It’s jus...

As I reported earlier this month , Annie’s Annuals and Perennials shocked the gardening world when it closed its doors on October 3 with no advance notice (apparently not even to its employees). Annie’s was the most beloved nursery in Northern California and adored by mail-order customers around the country. To many, including myself, losing Annie’s was almost like losing a friend. A lot of people were hoping that a white knight would magically appear at the 11th hour, but in reality, the future looked grim. After all, miracles don’t happen. Except sometimes they do. Look at this post on Annie’s Facebook page from today, October 24: Here’s what it says: “Big, Joyful News from Annie’s Annuals! We’re beyond excited to share that Annie’s Annuals is entering an incredible new chapter! For decades, Annie’s has been a cornerstone of California horticulture, inspiring joy and discovery with its rare and heirloom plants. The Hageman Family (owners of Grow Organic) have proudly acquired Annie’s...

This is part 2 of my post about landscape designer Mat McGrath’s personal garden in Rodeo, California. If you missed part 1 (front yard), click here . ⸻ ⸻ If you thought there were a lot of plants in Mat and Mali’s front yard, you’ll be blown away by the backyard. It’s a large space, and virtually every square inch that’s covered with soil has something growing in it. This is what you see as you walk into the backyard: Epiphyte wall (a few small staghorn ferns, too) Potted tropicals on the patio: Bromeliads, ferns, begonias, and other tropicals Bamboo fern ( Coniogramme japonica ) and Vriesea fosteriana Vriesea sp. and a variegated crassula named in honor of Mat’s wife Mali ( Crassula multicava ‘Mali’s Thai-Dye’ ) Bromeliads, red pagoda plant ( Crassula capitella ), and Mexican fencepost cactus ( Lophocereus marginatus ). And cool rain chain, too! Tropical corner on the patio. The tall variegated plant is  Tupidanthus calyptratus  (formerly Schefflera pueckleri ). Potted succ...