The lawn chair gets press

Fresh Dirt Lawn Chair

Southern California's Best Garden Blog reward!

Well, after I don't know how many months I finally got Denise from A Growing Obsession her reward for being voted Southern California's best garden blog!  As you recall there was a vote for the reward and the plant that won was Furcrea macdougalii.

Today I brought said succulent to Denise's beautiful garden.  Below are a few quick shots.

Handsome thug

Today driving through Laguna canyon I spotted a large clump of something I've been looking for.  It's an evil thug that is clogging up California's water ways. Arundo donax is a large reed from the Mediterranean, it's the reed that makes the wind instruments work. Growing 12 feet tall and taller, it's an impressive grass.  The variety I have been thinking about is the variegated form.  I have spotted it off of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu,  the 101 freeway near the Hollywood Bowl and now Laguna canyon.  This was my first chance to grab some divisions.

I know you're going to ask me why I would do such a thing?  Well, for one I love the way the plant looks. Secondly it's very tough and drought tolerant. Thirdly, The height will help to screen out my neighbors.  If I lived anywhere near anything that resembled nature I would not plant this grass.  And just to be safe, I will never allow it to bloom.  I potted up several plants.

Occasional wow

Driving around the other day I spotted this interesting landscape.  Monoculture or brilliant bold planting?
You decide. This landscape is 100% Calandrinia grandiflora.  I do love Calandrinia grandiflora, that's all I'm going to say.  

Plant of the week: Bouteloua dactyloides 'UC Verde'

I've been testing the 'UC Verde' buffalo grass.  After planting a small patch along the driveway, I decided that I liked it enough to plant some more. This time I will see how it does with the difficult center area of the driveway where it will be subjected to all manner of abuses.

Bouteloua dactyloides or buffalo grass is a short prairie grass whose range spans much of the middle of the country and southwest.  It has the look of a softer, more polite cousin of Bermuda grass. I like the slight blueish hue that it has. It's also very nice under foot. This 'UC Verde' cultivar was developed here in California (though I can't find any info on where or how exactly it was developed) and is supposed to have a shorter dormancy than other varieties. Another benefit is that the grass has growth habit of 4-8" tall, so there isn't a lot of mowing needed.  I my experience so far, it doesn't need any mowing, in fact it's only about 3-4"tall. Oh and of course the big reason why it is gaining popularity is that it's very drought tolerant.

Since I planted it in the autumn, and being that it is a warm season grass, it basically sat doing zip for 6 months.  It didn't really go brown but just lots a bit of color as I recall. And then several weeks ago it turned on with the heat.  And that's when I thought it would be nice to plant some more.  A week and a half ago I dug up some of the plant to be divided and replanted in some 2" pots.  In a week they had roots poking out of the bottom of their little pots.

We shall see how hey do!

                                Original patch

                                Hair plug-esque planting

Thank Gawd!

OK. No photos just one gasp of relief.  Thank Gawd, the jacaranda tree has run out of blooms (hands pulling hair out)!

Jacarandas in bloom are a lovely thing to admire... from a far.  Do not under any circumstances live under them.

Harumpf!