Octember

Well, I thought it was still October. I'm not wrapping my head around this whole November thing. That's partly because I do not feel as bombarded as usual by holiday themed advertising this year. I suppose advertisers have scaled back like the rest of us have.

What's that got to do with my garden? Bloody nothing, as I am sure you'd noticed.

All right then. What is going on?

The lawn is all green and ready for a trim. I must take pictures to send to the city to get into the lawn removal rebate program. For every sf I get rid of and replace with mulch or something else, I shall receive one dollar. Open to lawns in the City of Los Angeles.

The Gasteraloes are blooming again, some with a fury. By that I mean that some have two flower stalks. The new ones, which lack the pink decorations, are not blooming. I got those at Descanso this fall.

I guess I haven't mentioned what else I got there. I got a Saguaro for mom for Christmas, a Bismarckia (blue fan leaves; different from the Brahea), a blue med fan palm. Something glauca of course. This was bought from a retiring Mt Sac Hort prof. In my next life I will study hort in school. Home study is darned good also, but the more people to talk about plants with, the better.

One of Jero's Streilitzia nicholii (sp?) offsets has rooted. It's the larger of the two I checked. The other one had not rooted but is alive. The big Philodendron seems to have rooted. I got tired of all my indoor attempts and finally just shoved it in the barrel of calla persistence (BCP) and put a pot on it (Solandra grandiflora) to hold it down. I took the pot off and gave the Phil a good tug...nothing doing, it seems to have rooted. We shall see. I wonder if it will wait until spring to do anything. It's a climber with three-lobed leaves.

Well, to be frank I am more interested in soil content that what's above it these days. I wonder if there's any gold on my property :)

Back to the topic at hand

It rained last night and today. It was a decent rain. It wasn't a good, hard rain in San Pedro. Was it something write home about? Definitely, yes.

The grass is loving the even, sustained drink. Everything will have its leaves washed. Weeds will overtake the lawn...When this drives up a little Marcella and I will have to plant something fab along the walkway. Bulbs maybe. I have the Narcissus and the Agapanthus from the old lady. We can also plant seeds or better yet, transplant the morning glories and provide stakes. Done!

So, that fellow wants the cement mixer--the plumber's helper that is. How much labor should he trade for it? He offered to plant the dreaded queens, which I was going to return. So I said "no" to that. There are the three pindos, the Bismarckia, and the Blue Mediterranean to plant as well. But M. and I could do those. Must have him do something I can't do myself. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have 5 green palms interspersed with that gang. (Keep in mind that a Brahea armata holds court down there too.) I could plant the new agave after dividing it into three. What else...I'll use a big pot for the Saguaro. I can plant my Saguaro seeds in the same pot. How darling, if they germinate. How exciting, really!

None of that solves the cement mixer problem. It will be so nice to have the space in the shed--can toss another shelf in there--using that universal tool stand we got from Cartier. So I have to think of a task. I wonder if he is good with concrete? It would be great to re-do the walkway thus: break up the concrete into 10# chunks and set aside. Build stairs by framing out with 4x4s, putting in base, and setting concrete chunks down as pavers and using gravel or sand to fill the chinks. Would like to acid dye the pavers bright-ish colors for fun. Would be neat to make molds and pour my own pavers in amusing shapes such as mushrooms, daisies, and prawns.

The presumed Stapelia flowers closed up today. I wonder if the rain did it, or if they are just on the wane. I believe it will be dry tomorrow so I will report in with whether they re-opened.

bon nuit

solved a few problems this morning...

...namely, terrorism and healthcare.

let's just bite the bullet and put CT machines in airports. Everyone gets scanned for cancer and weapons at the same time. Excess radiation is a trivial problem for some individuals compared to the other problems it solves for the government.

More thinking

"The writer enjoys writing because it makes doing nothing feel like doing something."

Agree or disagree? I'm afraid I agree. If this is meant to be a gardener's blog, well this gardener spent more time today getting dirt out from under her nails than into them.

I did de-pot the mold. I felt I had to break the pot to get it out, so I did. It began accidentally and soon was beyond control. The mold will need a little repair but will probably be usable. I keep getting be-fuddled as I try to order ceramic supplies. I guess I will do one category at a time: slip, glazes, furniture, molds. Must research kiln-sitting devices.

The lovely Stapelia finished blooming in one sense--three of the four buds are open wide. The fourth bud hadn't opened as of late afternoon today. I was lucky to get such sharp pictures with an eight year old video camera.

I am keeping an eye on the variegated Stapelia in the same pot as the one in bloom. It's doing two small outgrowths that seem to be four-headed and might be flower buds. I'll see if I can get a photo.

Thought of building a low deck around the pool using Monrovia lumber. Revert to sand for passage from seating area to shade potting bench/pool equipment. Build a low wall with cinder block and make it seem as though it is a simple step up to a new level. Perhaps find or make smaller table top for blue table--re-shape to better fit in corner?

Oh, rats, I totally forgot I was writing a blog. I have to go now. Bye.

How to bloom if you is a Stapelia

In 4 Easy Steps.







These were all taken at the same time, this very morning. I used an older Sony video camera with a still function and a 4MB memory stick. Oh, and the fragrance of the blooms is as promised. A jab in the nose of something awful.

Eh?

I haven't found the camera yet. Maddening. I did find the cell and was dismayed. Oh well I can use it to take pictures until I find the camera. The camera's four years old and I only bought it because my then 5-year old Kodak went kaput. I have another Kodak somewhere I got for free; must unearth and use. Oh, Tom has it in Monrovia.

Oh, great news about the landscape! For Jero's swan song, I directed him to build a kind of terrace that extends southward the palm terrace, four feet below the concrete patio. He built it with the broken concrete chunks Marcella and I had brought, and filled it with soil from many locations. A great aspect of this project was that some of the soil came from the boggy area where the tap always drips. Clearing that mud away allowed him to fill it with gravel, and to use the cleared-away mud as part of the new soil for the terrace extension. [Ed.: Do I sound crazy?]

Anywho, once the terrace extension was created, Bayou tested its restorative powers by running in tight circles, rolling around, and then casually lounging on the new bed. He was a delight to watch and I didn't worry much about the ancient wildflower seeds I had just strewen. He tilled them in good. Something will survive around the edges and that'll be fine. I'd be thrilled if it were carnations.

Did I mention that Marcella and Jero gave me a Delphinium in a deep blue for my birthday? I repotted it and noticed it's got at least two good stems coming on soon. (As an aside, the Stapelia buds are bigger still...but not open yet.)

Jero's true final act was showing me how to make a mold from a nice pot I found at Rob's. He showed me how to make a removable wooden case to restrict the plaster poured around the object of which you are making a mold. He and Marcella had to go to the post office before 5pm, so he couldn't stay long enough to pull the mold off the pot. I was supposed to do it but plumb forgot in the midst of other excitements. I am going to make pots in pastel shades that correspond, but with more white, to the various colors of the plants I sell. I may or may not mix yellow greens with blue greens on one pot. Maybe I would, if it had a white band at the top that dribbled into watery blue green that dribbled into watery yellow green. Maybe with red earthenware showing though.

If a city was once magic, is it always magic? Can the magic be killed by development, which is a form of decline? Because whatever you loved about an area will be gone once the area is developed. Development is another word for obliteration. You shouldn't have to get permits to build, you should have to get permits to obliterate. You shouldn't be able to change the nature of an area unless the surrounding public agrees. Votes taken annually.

I am thinking of Vancouver. It's not the city I remember as a child and as a young adult. I wonder what San Francisco is like these days? It's a magic city, too, but I feel its magic is dark; so is some of Vancouver's. Los Angeles and New York are not as dark as the two west coast gems SFO and YVR.

Good night; nothing much else to say.

Ai! I was about to start typing, and remembered just then that I had taken wads of photos today. I might have to post them in Picasa or photobucket. Oh my. Well, next time I get up I'll look for the camera and the cable I need. I would be nice if Blogspot let us keep photo libraries online. If not uploaded files, then at least owner-created indexes of the photos on our hard drives with small thumbnails.

Hmmm. Garden coming along! Haven't seen ryegrass sprouting, but remain hopeful. Watering going well. I am going to use Round-up on the weeds I think. Or maybe the steamer! Shouldn't that do it? Oh I do hope so! I will apply it as close to the crown as possible, and also to soil where many weed seeds lie. Gee, if you had Bermuda grass or St. Augustine you could write seasonal messages in the lawn with steam. With Festuca you could etch permanent designs and fill them with gravel once the grass rots and can be removed. I like the idea of rivers of green glass or very narrow, winding stream if you have an incline. I might try this. I cannot wait to see how the grass looks. Would I regret seeding Bermuda grass? Could I keep it out of the tree cages? If I must have lawn I guess it should be St. Aug. I love the stuff and it's tough as nails and fills back in after injury. But somehow much more controllable than is Bermuda. I think it's easier to notice its first forays out of its own zone because its stolons are so big and chunky. Bermuda grass can have a few footholds in the soil before you realize it's there. And then if you procrastinate...

Ok, here is a thought experiment. We could perhaps model this if each reader would state what ONE plant he or she thinks would survive the longest and spread the most in their home gardens with total neglect. Bermuda grass would be high on the list, I think, if you exclude true cacti and trees. If we include trees I might wager Washingtonia filifera (sp?). When thinking of your own yard, assume everything is perfectly well established.

It's awful. Tomorrow might be Jero's last day. I cannot stand it!