On second thought…

As it turned out my concern was unfounded, Andrew willingly agreed to the laborious chore of digging out the Sasa bamboo. All he asked was that I cut back the culms first, so he had easy access to the soil and roots. No problem! As I chopped I noticed all the new growth.

Twenty-five new shoots!

And those big leaves, they sure are pretty…

Then I got to looking at the patterns on the culms as I cut them down, and I remembered Mark and Gaz commenting about the striped effect this bamboo is known for…

And then I looked even closer…wow! Beautiful…

So my friends this is the story of how I had a change of heart and the bamboo will be given a second chance. I really had no intention of keeping it, as evidenced by my purchasing the replacement plant already! I figure by the time we're regularly occupying the patio those new shoots will have grown up and there will be leaves...

Now I have a nice 5-gallon Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’ that I need to find a place for...

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

U.G.L.Y.

Bamboo lovers I apologize. I apologize for what I’m about to say, and I apologize that I've let it get this bad.

The Sasa palmata has to go.

It’s UGLY…

It wasn’t always this way. Back in 2011 it looked fabulous…

But it kept flopping over, taking up more and more of the patio. Last summer when I couldn’t take it anymore we tied it back, exposing the ugly bits.

I compensated by putting lots of tall containers/plants in front of it and willed it to go away. But now, without those containers I’m exposed once again to the full power of ugly and I want it to just go away, all the way away. If it only were that easy right? I can’t even imagine how Andrew is going to respond when I say “wouldn’t you like to spend your weekend digging bamboo out of a stock tank”…

So I figure if I've got a plan and I can convince him how good it will look then I’ll stand a better chance of getting his buy-in. This is where you all come in…what should replace it? The other two tanks have better looking bamboo (yes Alan, I do need to fertilize it)…

But I don’t really think I want to go that route here. What do YOU recommend? In the high summer this area gets direct sunlight until about 2 pm, and then it’s shady for the rest of the day. I’d like something that is relatively fast growing and evergreen. Whatever is growing here does need to act as a screening device as there is an boring wooden fence behind it (not ours) that's about 6ft tall, then a couple feet of open space (where you can look right into the neighbors back porch and family room windows), then laurel (which is also not ours). The only idea I've come up with so far is Ceanothus 'Dark Star', I like how the dark leaves would recede, and other then when it's in full glorious bloom, it would kind of disappear and just provide a neutral background for the plants and containers on the patio.

Of course if you want to council me to keep the bamboo I’ll need to hear a method for rehabbing it. Please help, I can't wait to hear your ideas...

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Drive-bys

Today I have 3 very different gardens to share with you, all of them spotted on my travels around P-town. This first one I posted a couple pictures of back in 2011, but they've recently trimmed up their Yucca rostrata and they’re looking so fine that I had to share…

See, aren’t they wonderful?

And that shrub…

I should know what it is; I pick it up at a nursery 6 or 7 times every summer and then put it down when I remember it’s the one with the bad yellow flowers. Maybe I need to finally just buy one?

Here’s one of the fabulous trees in their hell-strip…

I am embarrassed to admit I can’t tell you what it is either. I am still pretty tree stupid, however I did recently pick up a copy of Trees for All Seasons: Broadleaved Evergreens for Temperate Climates by Sean Hogan, so hopefully I’ll be tree-smarter soon!

**late breaking i.d. from Mr. Hogan...Quercus hypoleucoides**

Now we’re driving across town to visit a friend, I've passed this garden many times but finally stopped to take pictures. I’m standing in the street to take this photo, that dense thicket of bamboo in the foreground is the hell-strip…

From the sidewalk...

There are palms too!

And thorny roses tied to a telephone pole.

Set free these could be quite the surprise for a passer-by!

Looking backwards...

This is the bamboo just visible on the right in the photo above. It borders the property of the garden I'm photographing and and apartment complex next door.

Obviously it creates quite a nice thick screen, I wonder how often it has to be trimmed back?

Here's the tall elegant bamboo in front of the house...

It looks like their banana bloomed last summer! And notice the palm above the garage, I wonder what other treasures are up there?

Between the sidewalk and short privacy wall are several trunking yuccas and euphorbias.

Those silver shapes up by the house must be wrapped bananas?

The bamboo definitely wants to test the strength of the sidewalk.

Driving by this house the tall Trachycarpus caught my eye, then I noticed the fabulous modern lines of the house, I want a house like this!

Opuntia...

Bad photo angle, that's actually two separate plants.

They've got a built in planter under the covered entrance. I'm sure you can guess how much I would love to have this feature at my house.

I did take these pictures a couple weeks ago, so they might have brought in the succulent containers once our weather turned colder.

I wonder about the Graptoveria and Sedum nussbaumerianum? I guess we haven't gotten that cold and undercover who knows, maybe they've been fine. I sure do like the combination...

 (yes I am seriously coveting that green mailbox too)

My visit to Alternative Eden, the garden of Mark and Gaz (part 2)

Yesterday we visited the densely planted jungle that is the garden of Mark and Gaz. Today we leave the jungle and step out into a more arid landscape. It’s the transition between these two spaces that I could never completely understand. In case you've felt the same (or this is your first time seeing their garden) took a photo from yesterdays post to help…

The bottom arrow leads back into what we've already explored, the top arrow points on to this, just around the corner, jutting out perpendicular to the rest of the garden, as I mentioned yesterday almost forming an "L."

What was once a flat boring bit of land (I’m guessing) has been completely transformed. Their Yucca aloifolia 'Purpurea' (again, guessing) are striking no?

And how many trunking Yuccas does one garden need? At least five…

Aloe polyphylla, the spiral aloe.

That thin leafed Euphorbia at the base of the Yucca is E. deflexa.

Graptopetalum paraguayense, yes…this gorgeous succulent has lived through the winter in the ground. (how jealous am I!?)

I also loved this Leucogenes leontopodium.

The green mound is Scleranthus uniflorus, and yes I had to touch it.

Agave bracteosa

Another Aloe polyphylla.

Looking back…

And on the other side of the path…

Here’s the Celmisia I mentioned last week, C. hookeri.

And finally the koi pond! (well, it will be…soon) I was surprised, it’s even bigger than it looks.

It made me happy to see they’d properly signed their work.

I should have turned just a bit more to get a photo of the area beyond. At least you can see a sliver of it. Where the piece of wood is now will be a window.

The work these two have done to create this structure is nothing short of amazing. Just clearing out lawn and putting in our patio was enough work for me. I am in awe. Looking back the other way (where we came from).

From the photos I’d seen I also thought the roof might feel a little claustrophobic, but it doesn't.

This will be a smaller open pond across the path from the large one.

Every gardener has a ‘plant maintenance facility’ (or plants in waiting) theirs is beyond the pond and filtration house area. There was a Saxifraga longifolia (I believe)...

And a Mahonia 'Soft Caress,' along with many others fabulous plants.

Inside their second greenhouse...

You knew there had to be another Schefflera today right? S. brevipedicellata…

But wait, there's more! Schefflera delavayi…with completely different shaped leaves from mine.

Finally we end this garden visit with Schefflera multinervia.

The time we spent in the garden flew by, it felt like minutes but before we knew it hours had passed. It was time to get a bite to eat! The guys took me to the Fancott, which was actually my only true English pub meal, and it was delicious.

After a leisurely meal and more chatting it was time to do a little sightseeing. We hopped in their car and headed to Woburn. This is where I admit my silly American-ness and say OMG! Sitting in the front seat of the car in what to me is the driver’s seat as we met oncoming or turning traffic was a thrill indeed. I had to stifle a tiny scream more than once.

As we walked through the village I was struck by how picturesque everything was…

I love seeing plants up on a balcony.

And old cemeteries had somehow become a feature of this trip too. I suppose when you visit a country as old as England you are bound to run into the prior inhabitants around every corner.

As for my hosts, thank you so much for inviting me into your home and garden and making my visit so memorable. The beauty of your garden was eclipsed only by your personalities, I so enjoyed getting to know you both a bit. I hope you’ll let me repay the hospitality someday!