Succulents and More™

Last month I gave you an update on the new succulent beds in the backyard . Even though I continued to make small edits, I thought I was done with larger projects for a while. But of course that’s not what happened. I was so happy with the new beds that I decided to work on other areas in the backyard. I mean, why stop now when there’s still so much left to improve? I started with the bed in the southeast corner of the backyard. This bed is what we see when we look out the kitchen window. I had already done some work on this bed in December and January, clearing out overgrown areas and putting new plants in the ground. Because this bed is in the shade most of the day and I had already decided to water more than I had in the past, I opted for a lusher palette. It includes foxtail fern ( Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myersii’), Japanese holly fern ( Cyrtomium falcatum ), California gray rush ( Juncus patens ), variegated Japanese sedge ( Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’), and Tasmanian tree fern ( D...

Last fall I began to redo the side yard on the north side of our house. For far too long, it had been an unloved and neglected part of the backyard. But since real estate available for gardening is at a premium on our 8,100 sq. ft. lot, I finally got off my butt and began to dig in. This post from early October shows you what the area looked like before, during, and immediately after I built the two new mounds. I’ve been making tweaks to both beds almost constantly, and it’s high time for an update. Let’s start with the smaller mound. It, too, has evolved, but the changes aren’t as noticeable as they are in the larger mound, which we’ll get to in a minute. October 8, 2024 In practically all of these photos, you’ll notice that both mounds, and the path between them, now have a layer of 5/16" red lava as a top dressing. Beyond that, there are more plants than back in October — not exactly a surprise considering a) how much I love plants, and b) how many plants I have waiting to go ...