Succulents and More™

One of my resolutions for 2016 was to visit the UC Davis Arboretum more often. I did spend more time there but still not enough, considering all there is to explore ( 17 gardens/collections on 100 acres) and how close it is to my house. To make up for lost time, I went for a walk in the Arboretum on two of the four Sundays in November. I ended up taking so many photos that I will split this post into three parts. This part is a little bit of everything; part 2 has photos from the East Asian Collection, the Desert Collection, and the Southwest USA and Mexican Collection; part 3 is all about the Australian Collection. Here is a handy interactive map to the Arboretum. Some collections have better labeling than others, but in general, most plants aren’t labeled. That’s why the Living Plant Collection Database is invaluable for identifying plants.  The Arboretum is open 24/7. I usually go on the weekends because parking is free then; during the week it’s $9.00 whether you park ...

Superior California is the northernmost part of California. Its fiercely proud residents claim they’re superior in many ways to their fellow Californians further south. I won’t get involved in that particular dogfight. But as far as scenic beauty is concerned, a good argument could be made about this region’s superiority. Spending Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law’s in Mount Shasta , I was reminded again how magical this region is. We didn’t have the white Thanksgiving the weather people had forecast but I found snow at the higher elevations. And the day we left, it did start to snow but we had to hurry to get out of the mountains before the roads got too treacherous for our minivan, which is ill-equipped for winter driving conditions.

“Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind. Their leaves are telling secrets. Their bark sings songs of olden days as it grows around the trunks. And their roots give names to all things. Their language has been lost. But not the gestures.” ― Vera Nazarian , The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Last Saturday started out gray and drizzly but I felt so stir-crazy I simply had to get away for a few hours. A trip to Annie’s Annuals was just what I needed. The forecast for Richmond, a little under an hour away, called for “only” a 20% chance of rain of rain so I decided to take the gamble. As it turned out, it was drizzling in Richmond, too. When I first arrived at Annie’s, I only saw two other customers. A few more showed up later as the rain let up. What a difference from the hordes of shoppers you see on a spring weekend! Note: I did bring my “real” camera but since it was raining I opted to use my cell phone camera instead. It’s much easier to tuck a cell phone away between shots than a bulky DSLR.

Take a look at this dwarf cowhorn agave ( Agave cupreata ) near the front door. I’ve had it for just a little over a year , which isn’t much in the life of an agave. But something curious is happening. It’s getting flatter. You can’t really see it looking down at it… …but it’s quite visible from the side:

I love fall in Davis. The days are still warm, and many plants come into their own again after slowing down in the summer. Case in point: grevilleas. These Australian shrubs, members of the Proteaceae family , are right at home in California’s Mediterranean climate. As is the case with so many plants (and people!), they’re at their happiest on the coast, but we can grow quite a few of them here in the Sacramento Valley, about 60 miles inland from San Francisco Bay. In fact, the UC Davis Arboretum has a nice collection of Australian natives that thrive here. Today I want to show you two grevilleas in our own garden that are flowering right now. Grevillea ‘Superb’ Grevillea ‘Superb’ has been with us for 4 1/2 years. I bought it in February 2012 at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and first planted it in the backyard. Unfortunately it didn’t receive enough sun there so I moved it into the front yard circa 2014. I’m sure it lost a good chunk of its roots in the process—grevilleas don’t li...

Not rest & relaxation. The other R&R: removal & replacement. Before, there were two sprawling salvias: Salvia mexicana ‘Limelight’ and Salvia canariensis . I love both of them, and I wouldn’t have taken them out if they’d been half as big and half as vigorous. But they were clearly in the wrong place here so I finally made the hard decision to say goodbye. Sorry, hummingbirds, I know the ‘Limelight’ was a popular hangout.

Two years ago I planted a × Mangave ‘Macho Mocha’ I had gotten from a friend. It was solitary (and beautiful) until this spring when it bloomed. I had expected the mother to die, like most agaves do, but it didn’t. Instead, it multiplied. And while I don’t mind more plants, I didn’t think this clump was all that attractive:

Moving right along, here is part two about my recent Sunday outing to the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. If you missed part 1, click here to start at the beginning. Another favorite garden vista More fall color

In a typical year, I make it to the Ruth Bancroft Garden (RBG) three or four times if I’m lucky. This year has been anything but typical. Just since July, I’ve been to the RBG six times already! A couple of times I met up with friends from out of town, including Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden . And last Sunday I went with my friend Ursula from Davis. In fact, she was the one who suggested it since I’ve talked so much about the RBG over the years. Agave parrasana and Senna artemisioides Ursula and I spent almost three hours wandering around the garden. Fellow succulent aficionado Stephen Lysaght , the RBG’s garden host, gave us a tour of the shade house where smaller, more sensitive succulents live. You’ll see some of them below.Thanks to a thin cloud layer, the light was nicely diffused, which made for softer photographs than I’m usually able to take at the RBG. Let me share with you the wonderful sights I saw on Sunday. As many times as I’ve been to the RBG, I still find new plants...