the last bit of yesterday was finished off at the farm, doing some general clean-up and a bit of planting. the guys weed whacked and planted clusters of jade in the succulent mother garden – i poked around taking pictures and organizing the accumulating detritus that the wind brings in on the field. on the driveway, a number of volunteers have established well in the compacted gravel. seed from Shasta Daisys, Nepeta, Stock and Feverfew – all have been brought in from my truck or the wind, and have settled nicely in various parts of the long driveway. it’s weird how you can try so hard to get something to grow in your garden, and it dies. but do nothing to cultivate a plant elsewhere, and it thrives. the mother garden is maintaining well, despite a lack of water and attention. some of the succulents are growing, but most are just maintaining, bright in color and healthy – but not exuding too much energy this time of year.
teeth i found in the field
i forget the name of this ground cover...
yarrow who planted itself in the driveway
discolored tree frog on the water tank pump...
Feverfew in the driveway
echeveria growing in the mother garden with concrete blocks
KE’s job has been pretty much a dream. Great client, great property, and all the plants are happy! This has been the weirdest year of weather, and not every project I’ve worked on have grown in as much as they normally do by this time of year. I guess the constant blanket of fog in August was not conducive to fabulous growing. In any event, this job has been great. I love deigning projects for men.
Men = foliage color.
Men = succulents.
Men = dark colors and no pink!
It’s heaven. The pic above are simple spanish lavender, agave attenuata, black smoke bush and a ‘lime light’ viburnum. The soil in this part of HMB is a gorgeous clay, loam which (minus the gophers) makes for perfect growing conditions. I’m not a huge fan of bark (shown – cedar chips) as a mulch, but it was insisted upon, and at the least smells great when you walk on it.
Wide, long bands of spanish lavender, carex grass and black iris (among others) – run along side the vast lawn. The quick growing perennials and grasses will fill in fast, creating a giant, textured sweep throughout the entire back garden. I am not a huge fan of lawn for many reasons – but if one insists upon lawn (and one did!) than No-Mow is the only way to go. Mow it once a year and it looks fabulous. Little water, even less fertilizer and it grows long and lush rapidly. It truly is the prefect lawn for a picnic or naked lounging (so I’ve been told). The pic below was after it was just installed, so it’s much shorter and yellower than it will be in a few weeks.
The dudleyas line the hand-cut, blue tumbled stone pathway beautifully. I’m excited to see them grow in and mix about with the layers of thyme and echeveria.
A busted pittosporum tree that some gophers jacked!
Now, it’s yet another strange ornamentation affixed in my garden. I wrapped some coir in the branches, and nestled a bit of ‘Elfin’ thyme. Let’s see how long it lasts until the chickens demolish it.
I bet National Geographic photogs think they really have it rough. Taking dramatics pictures of lions stalking their prey in South Africa. Stealing gorgeous underwater images of penguins ascending in the ocean of Antarctica. Or capturing exotic photographs of the everyday life of nomads in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I have three simple letters for them: BFD.
Readers, blog photography isn’t the piece of cake it looks like it is! (Although, maybe it would be a bit easier with a piece of cake… like delicious lemon cake, or even a cupcake. I would take pound cake for that matter.)
To prove my waste of time theory, here is a photo-log of my trials and tribulations of trying to take just one picture of the darling pansy growing through a crack on my driveway. Alas, my mangy mutts got in the way. Foiling my efforts yet again! Until the last picture, when they left, but it still came out blurry and I decided to quit being a pansy paparazzi. You won this round (again, see this past post) Nat Geo assholes!
Open the latch on the little gate that guards my front door, and you will be greeted by two barking dogs in a window, roses (‘Benjamin Britten’) in full bloom, and a riot of color to the left and right of you. You will also find a smattering of nasturtium sprawled across the few steps leading to the door. By now, anyone in my life worth a grain of cottonseed meal knows not to walk up the front steps, avoiding a potential and unforgivable accident of squashing my annual’s orgy (*note that it reads “annual’s orgy”, not “annual orgy”). I’ve noticed the entrance to my house has slowly evolved into the fabulous little hermitage I’ve always wanted. The nasturtium and lavender are like constantly vigil bouncers, turning their foliage away when confronted by any non-plant like being, saying “too filled with flowers to allow for people, sucks for you.”.
And the sweet peas occasionally attack if you smell too close. Beware and enjoy.
This morning was the HMB Pumpkin Weigh off, located (idyllically) down the street from me. The guys and I had a big day of sheet rocking and electrical work to do at the house, but they got ditched around 8:30am by me (what else is new), pretty much running down the street to see the weigh off.
Isn’t this just the type of thing you do on monday morning?
It was the perfect Fall, HMB day for a good old fashioned weigh off. The sun was starting to shine through the fog, the crows were in full force bombing people with walnuts (see last post) and old ladies were in their very best pumpkin sweaters with matching tacky socks. It was awesome. Here are some pic’s:
Insanely huge pumpkin
Farmer John with one of his beauties...
HMB paparazzi
Giant pumpkin, still on life support!
Going to be weighed...
It was pretty amazing to see them schlep the pumpkins from the trucks to the stage (yes, the pumpkins go on a stage for weighing. There are pumpkin fans and all! I personally am advocating for a spin off show entitled, “Pumpkins & Tiaras”.) with the forklift… all the while the farmer’s looking like their babies had been snatched!
Please feel free to ask any garden Q’s by clicking the red box on the side… And the resource page will be updated shortly, so make sure to check that one out as well. xoxoxoJenn
All jokes aside, I love when it’s this time of year and your gorgeous sunflowers go into seed mode. Very cool. The birds are going crazy and use this ‘Titan’ sunflower like a giant buffet!Even if the birds don’t get at these sunflowers, they look really cool left out in the garden to warp and twist in the sun.
I know I’ve been skimping on the words in some of my posts… but sometimes there just doesn’t need to be. I’m loving the dandelions in my backyards right now… having fun playing with my new camera and ever present “weed” crop!
