I don't guess you would. It's such a striking color.

O.K. guys......
Still moving the yard around. Finally done with the front yard. Or at least I think so. Did move an octopus Agave out to the back yard lake of fire the other day.

I got that planted as well as the last A. geminiflora I had bought and a decent sized Golden Barrel. Went shopping yesterday to find 'size' appropriate plants that will tolerate both my ' husband designated/sanctioned' back yard space and like full sun.

Wound up with 3 A. Parryi and a nice sized Fire Sticks. I presently have some Pine Cone cacti and an Eve's Needle Monstrose also. My A. sisalana has long been at home in the raised bed. Seems to have survived both summer and winter.

Something I've discovered while at work is that the logistical moves I'm making are not as interesting as my personal gardening observations. Having been only into gardening (S.W., Low Sonoran Desert, 9B) for 2 years, I've learned some things.

1.) It doesn't matter where you live. About 90% of the time, there is always some wrong plant in the wrong place in your yard. Inevitably now or later you will have to move it.

2.) You will complain no matter what. If it is too small or too big or grows too fast or slow .Whatever. There is rarely any plant you have or will own that does what it should when it should or where it should when you think it ought to.

3.) The best laid plans go awry. It will always take you twice as long to do the work you planned on doing in half the time you estimated it would get it done.

4.) There is no such thing as a 'low maintenance' plant or garden. There is no such thing as being 'finished' in the yard.

5.) If you didn't have this incessant work to do all the time why would you be called a gardener? Gardeners garden. People that stroll through botanical gardens come only to look and admire. They perform no work when it comes to plant maintenance. Gardeners 'tend' which seems to be never ending work. We are workers and tenders---not guests in our yards.

6.) Resist impulse buys and curb your plant lust. I've discovered through this relocation/reshuffling project of mine that it is necessary to do this. And yes....it IS o.k. to have a bare spot in the yard or empty pots. There's nothing wrong with that.

Wait for the perfect plant to occupy it. Don't settle for less then what you want. The moment you do, is the moment you get less then what you settled for. It may take some time to find the 'right stuff' but if you are patient it will come around. In the meantime enjoy the empty space or bird bath you stuck there.

7.) Your yard and your garden will never, ever, ever be 'set' or 'finished' as long as you love plants and call yourself a gardener! It is an infinite labor of love.

So that's the wisdom I've gained heaving dirt, digging holes and lugging plants. Will be doing the back yard the next few days. And oh yeah....still haven't gotten to those weeds.

Exhausted. Eventually pictures will come of my 'finished project'.

Have a good day all.
AG

Very much agree with the yard is never finished part. Don't agree that it's ok to have a bare spot that is what 'placeholder plants' are for. Plants that I buy at a whim and that will simply take up a bare spot until something better comes along...

Yes...our gardens are always a work in progress...there will always be a spot for something new.

A.G., with Hetty on your bare spots remark... ;) but in general agreement on most others. I do like impulse buys, though I am at the point where the BB stores just do not cut it anymore when it comes to interesting plants to buy, too much of the same thing... which is a great help in not having many impulse buys anymore...

One thing I hope you noted though: which side of the plants you were moving were facing south so you could put them in the same orientation in their new spots, if not be ready with shade cloth early and often...

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's out to the backyard I go.

Yep! Agree with you guys as no such thing as a bare spot in the yard. BUT...that's kind of how I got myself in trouble here in the first place.
The spots won't be bare for long. The plants that are getting big will only get bigger and fill up more of the space.

And of course there's that looking for the right stuff unless of course there's that special something I just gotta have. (usually most things).

Yeah...did consider the sun thing. Since my 'sanctioned' portion of the back yard is essentially a continuation of the high sun area/zone of my front yard that isn't a problem. No difference when it comes to heat, light, shade or sun intensity. Thus the slow acquisition of backyard plants that can shake and bake and be happy. Still prepared with the shade tent. It seems with the weather change and surreal temps out here, there's no way around it.

Also since I'm only "allowed" to use /13rd of the yard ( ) selective shopping and editing is a must. I must keep things small-ish. I've found a lot of cool and unexpected things at the BB stores but at this stage of my gardening I am looking for some new and different plants. Things that generate more curiosity within myself and give an added or unexpected visual charge to the yard. It's time to take it to the next level.

So with that.........of to work.
Have a great day all.
AG

Placeholder plants rock! Especially when they are like difficulty level zero. Just let them do their thing until the big plant next to them needs more space, or new arrivals appear needing a place to live.

tarev said:Yes...our gardens are always a work in progress...there will always be a spot for something new.

Thanks to the ongoing advance of the aloe mite, there will always be a spot for something new in my garden. Preferably not an aloe, which is fine because there's already more than enough of those in there. Probably a Dudleya in this case, I'm guessing.

I don't really buy plants any more, but that doesn't mean they aren't coming out of my ears. All I can say in defense of this alternative strategy is that it gives me the opportunity to choose which plants in particular (for example a select hybrid clone) I keep and grow to landscape size, and which other ones I spin off to other people. Today I gave away about 30 plants at a park event and they went to some good homes. The largest number were Gasteria hybrids and native Dudleyas. Hummingbird magnets, both.

We have been slowly accumulating a number of aloes (17 now that I do the mental headcount, almost all trees) and Euphorbias (6) into virgin territory a mile down the road, for example the aloe flowers in the field, which was in recent history dedicated to pasture. Well some idiot came through on a horse after the heavy rains we recently had, and left 4 inch deep foot prints all through the area, nearly trampled a Euphorbia (which would have been hell on earth for the horse if its spines had penetrated and some white sap got in there. The horse actually did step on a couple of heads on a clump of Ferocactus, which I don't imagine was too great either.

Obviously that calls for a fence around the property.

Phew! Back yard finished for now.

74 degrees today my foot! Try more like 82. It's only very early Feb. If this is an indication of what summer holds, I can't wait to see what we're up against.

O.K. so I planted an A. Blue Glow', three A. parryi v. 'Truncata' (pleased as 2 of them have pups ), some Fire Sticks and some an another interesting cacti I have no clue what it is. (ID if possible.) I moved the Octopus Agave the other day. The Eve's Needles Monstrose, barrel cactus and the A. sisalana were already residing in the back yard. The table will stay there but the cacti bowls won't. They're just acclimatizing and soaking up the good rays as presently. Come summer they'll be shaded.

For just this moment I am finished back there. Until I find the right size and sun tolerant plants that is to finish up! Keep in mind I am relegated to only a part of the yard. Everything from the Barrels to the wall on the left is mine. The other side of the barrel on the right I am forbidden to use.

So without further ado....behold my vision!

The Yucky black plastic pots are only there for 'staging' purposes and to give you an idea of what I have in mind for the future with either pots or in ground plants.

















Have a good night one and all.
AG

Here is an example of hypogeal germination. This is a relatively new concept for me. Usually I imagine germination like sprouts or sunflowers or agaves or aloes, where the seed leave(s) cast aside the shell from their tips in the air. You can google the phrase if you want the whole story, but the idea of hypogeal germination (under the ground) is the seed makes a root shoot and seed-leaves at that level, then the above-ground part with true leaves rises above the seed (left in the ground or at the surface).

In this case (Calibanus seed) the root was growing longer but not penetrating the soil, instead pushing the seed and the rest of the embryo higher up. So you can see the whole show in action. The second photo is what's left when I repotted the same seedling in a taller pot with the soil level where I'm guessing it should be relative to the adult leaves. We'll see if this works out copacetic. It's exactly what I had to do with my jojoba (also hypogeal germination) because something similar happened with the root.



Kind of an interesting different from the normal, and pretty new to me.

Hey......giving away 30 or more plants to good home rocks! All the better since they're Hummingbird magnets. Reason why I keep so much Aloe vera around. Predictable, indestructible, the Hummingbirds love them and I'll never have to go out and buy another one.

I love the idea of placeholder plants but when the plant you were originally trying to accommodate gets big enough, you then have to find a new home for the place holder plant. This is tough on me as even placeholder plants grow and get bigger and will need a new home.

The confines of my yard and a profound dislike of having to part with anything has just now started to act as a stop gap measure when I think of buying more. This of course won't ever stop me. It will only serve to make me far more discriminating. I already have a shopping list compiled should you doubt me!

Your ability to breed and clone plants is admirable. And I thought I was being bold stepping out of the BB store comfort zone. Plant cloning and propagation is not a challenge I'm up to yet. That's impressive. Me, I'm still trying to figure what exactly will grow here and how to keep it alive!

Few years from now I may be ready for this. You can give myself and all of us a tutorial and step by step lessons. Absolutely fascinating and would be wonderful to learn.

Interested in hearing about which Aloes and Euphorbias you are focusing on for the new area. As for horses...I ride, I love them, but I have to confess when it comes to animals they are not real high up on the list of 'smart'. They're big, dumb and not too particular about where or what they step on until it is too late. Sweet, lovable and for the most part friendly. Pleasant companions when one is on a peaceful and solitary journey just enjoying the time and space around them. But yes...they are clumsy oafs.

Hypogeal germination? O.K., I'm probably way off base with my comparisons but I'm thinking something like the way a plant produces pups versus sowing tomatoes? I kind of think of pups as root level and as 'new leaves' with the parent rising above it. The other is like what happens if you plant individual seeds and they sprout on their own no matter what distance from the parent.

I'm sure I'm way off but is any of this remotely in the ball park?

O.K., I'm beat and hear the left overs calling my name. Also my neighbor needs some help with her yard tomorrow. My back is better then hers so off I go to dig some more holes tomorrow. The weeds in both my yard and hers will be awaiting me.----as always. Tomorrow is another day.

Have a good night.
AG

In the sense that the new growth which sprouts from rhizomes is underground or at the surface, that's a fair parallel. But in the case of the version from seed, it's orders of magnitude slower to get started, because it's limited by what was in the seed and what the adult leaves have finally managed to produce. At the beginning that's just a trickle. With a rhizome (like your offsetting agaves) you basically have a umbilical cord to an energy factory to keep you marching onward until you have grown your own roots, so the process is accelerated relative to what would happen with an independent plant that size.

The growth advantage of having big seed leaves above the ground (like Euphorbias, which all start on a sort of pedestal where the seed leaves are lifted above the ground), is that they can be busy photosynthesizing while the rest of the new growth rolls out, to give it a healthy push forward.

Up early. Lots to do this a.m. Helping neighbor and weeds. No getting around them today and tomorrow.

Now, to satisfy my curiosity I looked up hypogeal germination. For us science challenged individuals who need pictures and analogies here's what I think the 'Idiot's Guide to Seeds' was reading like.

Normal Plant: Stick seed in ground. Seed pops open.
Seed pushes up above the ground.
The sprout still has seed pod cover on it.
Sprout tosses off pod cover above ground.
You see a plant that will grow leaves off of it.
It has to 'grow up and mature' in stages from sprout to baby leaf above ground to looking like and being an adult plant.

Hypogeal: Stick seed in ground. Seed pops open.
Seed grows and sprouts under ground.
Seed pushes up.
Seed pod stays under ground attached to plant.
Plant pops up with no seed pod on it.
It does not have to 'grow up' in stages to look like the parent. It already looks like the parent. Its only job is to grow bigger.

Right? Close to right? A little right? Anything right?

We did fail to mention the third type of seed propagation.

AG Methodology: Let plant growers worry about seeds.
Go to store. Buy plant that looks like plant.
Put plant in ground.( Save receipts. :whistling:)
Mistreat plant accordingly and watch die.
Mistreat plant accordingly and watch it triple in size.
Move plant.
Move plant again.
Move plant some more.
Move all the other plants because of the one plant.
Go to store. Buy more plants that look like plants and repeat the process.

Have a good day all.
AG

AG, didn't you forget that because you saved the receipt and mistreated the plant and it died and the fact that the plant has a 1yr warranty that you took it back to where you bought it and got another plant of either the same type or something else that you wanted, brought it home, saved the receipt, ad infinitum.

I lurk here periodically (and never say anything) just for personal edification I tell myself, but, seriously, I really enjoy the entertainment AG!!

Ah, I do admire your tenacity AG! Keep it up..but enjoy it as you go!

I am still not doing any active gardening right now, just taking photos, close-ups, helping me to see if there are some nasty stuff I need to remove with an alcohol dab.

Monoadenium ritchiei is doing something nice for a change, after just sitting there. Sometimes since succulents are so slow growing, makes you wonder if they are really still okay. Glad this one is doing something, so it is doing okay indoors this winter thankfully.
So it is showing me new leaves, so does blooms follow after? Any new growth is a joy to see!

My M./E. ritchei does not make a whole lot of leaves, but it does flower for maybe half the year. It's a pretty aggressive clumper. From what I remember it did flower pretty young, near the top of the tallest stems.

Unfortunately a whole bunch of it rotted out with our latest round of rain. But probably not all, I'm hoping. They are supposed to be sensitive to excess water but winter rain was never a problem the last few years.

Yeah, I was not sure what this Euphorbia prefers since I only got it last year, so to play safe I brought it indoors this winter. It was in leaf when I got it, and lost most of it as the heat persisted. So it was more in part shade during summer.

I'm putting a raised bed made of cinder blocks together in a week or so for my wife and she wants to put something in the holes. She was thinking about some kind of small cactus or succulents but I don't know what, if any would work here in our varying weather conditions, wet, dry, cold, hot. Any suggestions? I have a lot of succulents out in the one greenhouse however I have no idea really what they are. I could post some closeup photos if that would help.

I think sempervivums would grow in the block holes. In your climate it might need to be afternoon shaded though. Sempervivums love sun, but not as much as we have in AZ or TX.

Thanks Karen, just a quick look seems like these should work. I'll have to do some more research but so far it looks good. They'll get afternoon shade from the crepe myrtles we have in the yard.