Planting the newly gained space in the front yard

I didn’t expect to have an update so soon on the newly gained space on the street side of the relocated fence section (details here). However, with 5+ days of rain in the forecast, I decided to get busy before everything gets too soggy.

This is where I started on Thursday morning, two days after the fence project was completed:

The first step was to get more rocks. I picked the same rocks I used for the new succulent mounds in the backyard (see here). The rock yard where I got them calls them “Red Rustic Boulders.” Fortunately, they still had plenty available. I got 600 pounds, which looked like a lot in the trunk of my van, but not so much when spread out:

For the plants, I went “shopping” in my own nursery. Being a hoarder has its advantages, one of them being a neverending supply of plants that need to go in the ground.

I chose all aloes for the new space. Most of them were from my recent trip to Santa Barbara (here) and from last year’s trips (here and here), others I got from my friend Kyle (@AloeSacto on Instagram). I was going for a good mix of different sizes, forms, leaf colors, and flower colors. Ultimately, a plant has to be nice to look at year round, not only when it’s in bloom. Multiple blooms throughout the year would be wonderful, but there are few aloes that do that.

After a bit of shifting and shuffling, I managed to find room for most of the plants I’d picked – all but two, in fact. I also moved a large, blooming-size Aloe ortholopha × spectabilis I’d gotten years ago from Nick Deinhart (the large bluish green aloe center right in the photo below). It had been in the bed next to the front door, but because of the ponytail palms towering above it, it didn’t get enough sun to flower. I hope it will, either this year or, more likely, next. The flowers are worth waiting for, as you can see in this photo taken in Devin Boutte’s garden in San Diego.

The photos below show the new plants as well as the plants that had already been there in this area. There are two versions of each photo: unlabeled and labeled. The labels go with the plant list at the bottom of this post. I know this may seem like overkill, but the labeling is primarily for my own benefit – I do forget occasionally which is which (especially hybrids). Feel free to skip the labeled photos and the plant list and only look at the unlabeled pictures.

The green foliage you see in the front are white-flowering California poppies 

There’s only one task left for now: add top dressing, most likely 5/16" red lava. I’ll need quite a bit because other areas need top dressing, too.

I’m glad this project is done, but I do wish I’d had more time to place the plants – that’s the part I enjoy most. But, as I mentioned earlier, the rain forced my hand. It’s falling gently as I’m writing this and will help the new plants get settled in.

Cold and rainy morning after planting

Key to plant labels above

New plants

1 Aloe divaricata ‘Diablo’

2 Aloe dawei

3 Aloe ferox white

4 Aloe ‘Hot Flash’

5 Aloe ‘Erik, Red & White’

6 Aloe ‘David’s Delight’

7 Aloe canarina

8 Aloe ortholopha × spectabilis

9 Aloe ribauensis

10 Aloe suprafoliata yellow × arborescens yellow

11 Aloe (cameronii × aculeata) × ferox ‘Utrecht’

12 Aloe ‘Spiney’

13 Aloe adigratana

14 Aloe petrophila

Existing plants

a Aloe ukambensis

b Aloe claviflora × marlothii

c Aloe microstigma

d Aloe dorotheae hybrid

e Ferocactus viridescens

f Echinopsis ‘Salmon Queen’

g Echinopsis ‘Daydream’

h Aloe ‘Swordfish’

i Aloe microstigma × betsileensis

j (Aloe ericetorum × hoffmannii) × richaudii

k Aloe humilis × pratensis

l Aloe ortholopha

m (Aloe ortholopha × spectabilis) × ferox ‘Utrecht’

n Aloe fleurentiniorum

o Aloe cameronii × aculeata

p Aloe rubroviolacea

q Aloe striata × white ferox

r Aloe chabaudii

s Aloe (globuligemma × mawii) × betsileensis

t Aloe ‘Superman’

u Aloe munchii

v Aloe distans

w Mangave ‘Sponge Paint’

x Mangave ‘Night Owl’

y Aloe mitriformis

z Aloe hereroensis

aa Agave ocahui

ab Aloe squarrosa × glauca var. spinosior

ac Agave titanota × Mangave ‘Bloodspot’

ad Aloe aculeata

ae Aloe tomentosa

af Aloe suprafoliata

ag Aloe ‘Chocolate Edge’ (poss. Aloe mitis × ‘Blue Glow’)

ah Unknown aloe hybrid

ai Aloe ‘Fire Ranch’

aj Aloe pseudorubroviolacea

ak Aloe labworana

al Aloe (humilis × pratensis) × aculeata

am Aloe ‘Yemeni Gold’

an Aloe castanea

ao Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Sandia Glow’

ap Aloe brevifolia × claviflora

aq Aloe distans

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