Succulents and More™

Yesterday I went to my first bonsai show ever. The Capitol City Bonsai Association (Sacramento) had their 12th anniversary show this past weekend, and it was a great opportunity to see prime examples of bonsai. My understanding of bonsai is quite rudimentary but I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that bonsai seems like the perfect hobby for me when I retire. But since that won’t happen for another 15 years or so, there’s no point in waiting that long to find out more about it. I attended a hands-on demonstration on Sunday but it was about rock planting (see below) and not about creating bonsai specimens. The philosophy is quite similar in many ways to the philosophy behind Japanese gardens. From what I was able to glean, the goal of bonsai is to create a idealized miniature version of nature where everything about the plant is perfectly proportional to its size. In other words, you don’t want a small tree with leaves that are much too big for the trunk and branches. How that ...

Last week was very busy at work and I wasn’t able to write as many posts as I normally do. I hope things will calm down next week. In the meantime, here are some updates on posts from earlier this year. I find it interesting and useful to compare progress between now and then. Look for more updates as the gardening year winds down.   Silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae) Originally published on May 29, 2011, this post describes planting silver carpet ( Dymondia margaretae ), a tough South African native, in the narrow strip between our front lawn and the flag stone walkway. I planted 12 small plugs which initially didn’t look like much. Dymondia margaretae on 5/28/11, right after I planted it Now, five months later, these small plugs have completely filled in, suppressing all the weeds that would have started to grow there by now. The rate of growth of Dymondia margaretae has been a very positive surprise. I’m very happy with the outcome and can’t wait to see the small dai...

To read part 1 of my visit to the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum, please click here . With more than 2,000 different species, the Australian Garden at UCSC Arboretum claims to have the largest collection of Australian plants outside of Australia. As with the South African Garden , what impressed me was the naturalistic layout. I didn’t feel like I was walking through a man-made space but rather through a natural environment. Admittedly, this naturalistic effect is easier to achieve with trees and shrubs than with small bedding plants, but the lack of artifice was refreshing nonetheless. As befits a world-class collection of antipodean natives, the Arboretum has impressive eucalyptus specimens, including the ones you see in the first group of photos. While some eucalyptus (or “gum trees,” as they’re commonly referred to in Australia) are fairly common in Northern California, there are so many different species (about 700) that any botanical garden can only scratch the s...