Alberta and friends, happy in the ground…

Just a few short weeks ago this was the scene in front of our living room window:

Now it looks like this:

I’ve previously posted about our new short, but trunking, Yucca rostrata (Alberta) which we bought to anchor this area, I couldn't wait to plant her! Truth be told Andrew made pretty quick work of removing the Rhododendron, cutting off the rest of the branches…

And working the stump with the rock bar and shovel…

Before long…empty!

Time to do a little plant placement and planting...

And voilà!

The reason for the large empty path to the neighbors driveway is two-fold. First the mailman will cut though the garden no matter what, giving him a clear path reduces plant damage. And second we're friends with these neighbors and we both cut back and forth all the time.

You can see (above) I included a phormium in a container. It had been living with a few others on the left-hand side of the front steps but I wanted height in that corner and thought the consistency of containers on both sides of the steps would be nice.

Let's meet the other supporting characters…

Were your eyes drawn to the agave right away? I planted a pair of Agave ovatifolia, one which had been living in a container for awhile and another that was newly purchased. I’ve got 3 other A. ovatifolia in the front garden that have done *okay* over the winter, these are going in as already much larger plants. I have high hopes for them.

I’ve been flirting with the idea of a Brachyglottis greyi (Senecio greyi) for years but it’s obnoxious yellow flowers always stood in the way. I decided what the heck, I cut off hosta flowers, why not these too…I love love love that foliage!

The Amsonia hubrichtii (lower left hand corner) and Mahonia gracilipes (upper left hand corner) were moved from about 6ft to the north, they don’t seem to mind.

To some the dark leaf canna (above) probably seems like the object of a “one of these things does not belong” photo but I couldn’t find anything better to bring in the big, dark, leaves I wanted here. Besides they can be remarkably drought tolerant once established (as long as you don’t mind them remaining shorter than usual).

The Mahonia was getting too much sun in its previous spot; some of the white undersides of the leaves were scorched coming out upside down as new growth. I hope it will be a little happier here where it should get an hour or so less of the hot afternoon sun.

I had to work in an opuntia, hopefully it will grow big!

Hebe ‘Bracken Hill’

Hymenanthera alpina, a prostrate form…

I love this plant! This is my second; the other is an upright form. It was horribly root bound and I think is suffering a bit of planting shock.

For a little height in the corner I bought a Rhamnus frangula (Fine Line Buckthorn)…it’s supposed to grow to be 6-10ft tall but only 3ft wide.

I love its thin leaves, kind of reminiscent of Rhododendron stenopetalum 'Linearifolium' (Spider Azalea) which I love, but hate it’s pink flowers. Plus these leaves are reputed to have nice fall color (like the Amsonia hubrichtii on the other side of this grouping).

The bark is pretty amazing too…

I added a liberal sprinkling of semervivum and sedum.

And was happy to see the new plantings tie in the Mangave 'Macho Mocha' (in the foreground) nicely.

I got annoyed by this plant last year and banished it from the patio (it had been in a container). It was planted it where I thought the drainage might be good enough to keep it alive over the winter and it worked!

I am thrilled with how this area turned out and glad we jumped on it now rather than waiting until fall!

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

A little creative reuse in my garden…

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you know I’m not a fan of garden art. Need a focal point? That’s what the plants are for, sculpture and the like are just taking up space where another plant could be! I do however appreciate the skill of those who can take a piece of cast-off junk and make it useful. A rusty bucket doubling as a planter, a large piece of industrial metal used as a trellis or “room divider,” doing this successfully requires a certain attitude…and a dedication. A dedication I just don’t have, which is why I was afraid this wouldn’t work…

But it does!

At least I think so.

Andrew and I were at our local ReBuilding Center looking for a piece of wood he needed for a project, he was also trying to track down one more planter that wasn’t a planter for his office. We were digging through piles of stuff when he found this metal gooseneck fuel funnel. There was something about it; I just had to have it.

Coincidently I had an Agave montana 'Baccarat' that needed a home.

I think I like it because you don’t realize what it is until you get close, it’s subtle.

Andrew also found something that worked for him, an old piece of ductwork. I initially threw it aside because it had duct tape on it making it undesirable, or so I thought. Turns out it was a bonus for him.

It’s a long story how he went from just a single planter on the table to two…but they look good together. The short one is actually sold as a planter, still it made the creativity cut.

Especially since it was the perfect size for the pair of Euphorbia polygona cv. 'Snowflake' we’d purchased online for him.

(He’d tried to talk me out of the plants I purchased in New Mexico last January but I wasn’t falling for it. If you are in the market for those ghostly Euphorbia and can't find them locally I can’t say enough good things about these plants and the way they were shipped...order them here)

Sharing space with the euphorbia is a Pachypodium succulentum…

And in the duct work planter…a Drunkards Dream (Rhipsalis salicornioides). You can see why they call it that, millions of tiny bottles!

I think the new planters work well with the old.

By the way I want to thank everyone who voted for our entries in the “That’s So Potted” contest. Neither one of us made it to the finals but it was fun trying.

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

More from the ANLD tour...

You didn’t think I was going to be okay with sharing just a little teaser from the gardens I visited on this tour did you? No! There are three of them that needed a little more coverage…

First up we're back in the Floramagoria garden...

I believe the pair of little baby face shrines are new, meaning not there when I first visited this garden last summer. Or maybe I was just so overwhelmed then that I missed them.

The carnivorous plants around the base add an air of danger. Are they gonna eat the baby face if it falls from above?

I love me some crisp edges.

And this display makes me feel very much at home.

As I was taking this next group of photos a helpful lady came up behind me and said "those are agaves"...

"Yes they are"...was all I could manage as a response.

The common theme running through the gardens that day was Agave 'Blue Glow' and they were all gorgeous.

More carnivorous plants and a "to die for" restio...

Pretty much wherever you point your camera in this garden there is something amazing to see. Ricki, a fellow blogger whom I toured with, has done a great post full of beautiful images here if you're itching to see even more.

There was the slowest drip of water falling from the cast gunnera leaf, so perfect!

Nice to see another Cussonia paniculata in a small container, I've been wondering if I should pot mine up to something larger.

Now were're at the Pequeno Paraiso Garden and Heather is moving in for a close up of another Agave 'Blue Glow'...

Equally gorgeous.

I didn't show this corner of the garden in my last post because I wasn't sure what to think of it. I wanted to like it but somehow it just felt forced. Perhaps there were too many design clichés in a small space? I didn't get a good overall shot, but to the right is a covered patio space.

There's a stream running along the metal channel...

Emptying into a basin of Mexican pebbles partially surrounded by a checkerboard. You know I still don't know if I like it!

The front garden at the Plant Passion Garden was shady and lush...

Mahonia 'Soft Caress' was the star in my book.

The back garden was sunny and open.

With a very restrained use of containers.

I would have had to squeeze in another 20 or so...

A nice Tetrapanax...

And a subtle water feature...

This is the best use of a fire bowl I've seen in awhile (yes I am against making your neighbors house smell like a campsite just because you want to enjoy a fire in an urban setting) and those chairs look perfect for curling up with a good book (or your laptop).

Here I am back at this vision of loveliness...

With another Agave 'Blue Glow'...

Are you getting sick of this combination yet? I know I've shared it like 6 times now. This is it, the last time.

This is the scene behind the agave...

Oh wait, there's the agave again!

I'll end this post with a bright pop of orange...

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