IN YOU GO!

 It's warming up this week after a quick rainstorm the other night, a whopping .10" of rain. My canna 'Cleopatra' has gone full dark chocolate for the season.  A canna hybrid, the foliage can be green or this dark maroon-brown or BOTH.  The description of "an unstable canna" seems fitting :). 

I'm headed out to finish off the stairs and will do a proper post on that.  In the meantime, the cooler mornings gave me a push to start moving some plants around.  It's earlier than necessary, but no fun to have to do it all in one day.  I also thought, why not put some things in the empty house? I can water as needed, I'm certainly not worried about ruining the carpet. I brought a couple metal benches up to put by the window.

Removed the curtains for maximum light.

I began with the orchids and a few Hoya that spend most of the year in the shade house.  The black plastic in the front yard is a fright.  Sophia said I should've done a walk-through haunted house for Halloween, what a great idea!

Then started adding Cleistocactus colademononis (monkey tail cactus) and mammillaria that can handle cold, but really want to be dry.  El Nino and all, in you go!  These softer Agave desmettiana 'Quicksilver' and 'Galactic Traveler' (middle) survived last winter ok.  But, they looked terrible with black spots and since I've got the room, in you go! 

I want this (in my head, I call this Battlestar Gallactica) to look as beautiful come late February/March.  Instead of starting over in the spring with soft spots.  

The plants made it feel so different inside what was an empty house.  It reminded me of renting an upstairs bedrooms from a friend in my 20's.  She was going through a divorce after marrying her no good cheating high school boyfriend.  Who morphed into her no good cheating husband.  Good riddance.  It helped us both, she was able to afford her house payment and I saved on rent.  Next to the bedroom, was a tiny west facing room with floor to ceiling window.  I had it loaded with plants.  I had forgotten all about that. 

And a bonus, from the outside it looks like a plant hoarder lives here.  

In other news my local Lowe's had golden barrel cactus marked down to $29.  Good sized, too.  I've got a double digit amount waiting in the wings to eventually create a nice display of them. I took advantage of the sale and added to my stash.

I'm pretty obsessively thinking about what the layout of the new garden is to be, I'm reminding myself to change my approach.  Basically go a little deeper, plan, think it out, perhaps even sketch something.... These next 2 photos are google images.

So elegant, and CLASSY.  

I could never.  I wouldn't make it a week with this perfect order.  I think it's fantastic and great, but not me. I need more, I want BIG CLUMPING BARRELS OF PLEASURE!  Which had me pouring over my photos from The Huntington Garden from our May 2025 visit. My pupils turn into hearts when I look at this, and we weren't even there at sundown. 

Obviously I don't have the space to create anything like that.  I think I could pull off a nice berm filled with barrels. I'm glad I went back to look at the photos tho - look how grand the agave is standing over all as King of the Desert!  

Some gorgeous clumpers.

The largest Golden I have in the garden is above the pool, a few more hiding to the right. 

and a jump back to the first rendition of the slope, June 2014.  My son Vincent having a good splash. When we moved in the entire back was dirt/mud/weeds.  

Realizing how different the climate was, duh - I ripped all those perennials out and started over. Look at the tiny silver torch cacti, I purchased so many things from etsy back then.  Small and bare rooted.  February, 2021.

Later that year, Ivan encouraged me to continue changing the rest of the slope and helped me considerably. 

I remember being so proud.  Of what, I don't know! Hahaha, it's practically empty.  

A few months later, Ivan brought over the big golden barrel.  

A few years can really change things.

Speaking of, how about the BLUE WAVE that sloshed over American last night? I'm hopeful.  For the first time in U.S. History 100 Democratic women serve in the House, the first gay man was elected to the Senate, the first black female governor! The kind of election we thought would feel "normal" and possible in the 2020's. The Trump years stripped that away. 

Nothing has changed yet of course, but wasn't last night refreshing?

*Sorry this post is all over the place, I'll admit to chowing down a Butterfinger before I sat down to write.