There is a small gated community in Half Moon Bay called Ocean Colony. There you will find a huge golf course, said to be nice – but nothing I would know about due to the fact I can’t stand golf. Namely, men in ill-fitting shorts. In Ocean Colony you will also find a plethora of frogs! When we garden there, I also ways have to do a little sweep of the working area, so as not to smush these little green companions.

Here is our latest findings.

I’m not a huge dianthus fan… but this one is really adorable, with tiny magenta flowers. It’s been in a fabulous little terra cotta pot on my deck… until the dogs burst out the door (which they do every time it’s time for “Let’s go potty!”) and bashed it over like a couple of filthy heathens. I have a slight suspicion that the little one, Patootie, purposefully did it out of some sort of sick revenge since I lost her favorite toy the other week. In any event, the pots broken and I finally got around to repotting it. In doing so I found that I should have repotted it… Ummm, like, months ago!

Here’s the raw footage!

Check out those crazy roots… it was spongy and completely porous.

Ohwwwweee! Sorry dianthus, now your in a five gallon, happy as a clam!

A perfectly square Italian terra cotta pot, resting on hand glazed Asian pot feet… slowly starting to be blanketed in fresh Winter moss.

Shall I say it again, slower…?

Agave Attenuata.

I know I have mentioned these a lot the past few months, but they are incredible. A few streets away from where I live, a family has a huge cluster of them in their front yard. They said it’s been there since 1983 with little to no care or water. They are so prolific and I have been coveting cutting from them for years. I finally took the time to stop and ask if I could trade them some plants. Needless to say they were over joyed to have me thin out the cluster, and believe it or not the two truck loads we took barely made a dent in what they have. Two guys, myself, hand saws, chain saws and a big ass F250 accomplished this job within about an hour.

Dustin – Livin’ the dream!

Giant Agave ready for homes….

Patterns imprinted on the leaves from weight of water inside the leaves.

View from my lounge chair.

We also harvested Aloe in the garden… These are ready for propagation or planting in the garden.

No. I’m not going to insert the appropriate, cheesy quote about “Time” and “Thyme” in the garden. This ain’t that kinda blog. Ya. I said ain’t.

This is ‘Elfin’ Thyme to be exact, and works great as an all purpose ground cover and in between stepping stones as shown.
This cultivar is a derivative of culinary Thyme, but doesn’t seem to have that same cooking quality. It grows quick and with ease, with relatively little to no care and little water.
My favorite uses of this ground cover is in between stepping stones for a fragrant pathway, or in large clusters around trees or other native grasses.

Here is my baby!
A huge, unnecessary winchester knife! It was an impulse purchase at a gun show I was dragged to… and we’ve been soul mates ever since. Other than using it to open mail – this is the first time I have ever really used it. Ain’t she a beauty?
Ok, back to what I licked….

So, I started with the first lower layers and worked my way up. This knife is so sharp and the leaves are full of nothing but water and thin fiberous cells. It’s not like removing fronds from a palm or anything. They cut through clean and took no time to get them all off the plant.
Once the leaves were cut, Dustin and I examined how heavy they were, and how much water they really had in them Each 3-4′ section I cut off was probably about 15-20 lbs. heavy and I removed about 5 leaves total. We smushed them, stepped on them and mashed them with our hands… water gushing out each time. It was crazy to see how clear the water was, stored in each cell casing. So I decided to lick it to see what the water tasted like…. Dustin thought it to be a bad idea but was too late to warn me. And he was right, it tasted like drinking water that had been soaked in a bowl of dirty nickels. I thought it would be like if you’re stuck in the desert and you drink water from a cactus… no? Or if you open up a coconut and drink the milk.
My Bad. Whatever. You win this round nana tree!