The Bees are Back in Town

One of the big gardening stories last year was Colony Collapse Disorder, sudden death syndrome for bees. Here at Casa Grande we noticed a significant drop in the number of bees as evidenced by the poor crop of oranges on my two trees. This year, I'm happy to report that the bees are back. The orange trees have set a lot of fruit, visible now that the blossoms have fallen. My two trees are done flowering, but thankfully the neighborhood is still filled with the euphoric scent of citrus blooms, transporting me to years gone by when I first experienced their heavenly perfume.

Covering Ground

Scott the Plumber nicknamed my house Casa Grande for reasons obvious to anyone who has owned a vintage home. It sits on a long narrow lot of about 6800 square feet with ample plantable space along the driveway and back 40. In order to keep the watering and mowing to a minimum, a major part of the yard space is covered in pea stone. I like the stone from Lowe's. It's pretty and round and larger than the stuff you get dumped by the scoop on your front driveway so you have to cart it all back wheelbarrow by backbreaking wheelbarrow. And it comes in plastic bags that, while still pretty heavy, are managed by this little old lady and a hand truck.

Pea stone has many advantages. Obviously, no watering. Easy to weed as long as you put weed barrier fabric down before you place the stone. Makes a nice crunching sound when walked upon. Pots look good and drain better on it. I could go on...


One downside was getting it to stay put between the rip rap from my old driveway. It becomes a slip and fall hazard (a major concern to Vintage Gardeners) on top of the concrete chunk. I planted some Australian violets which have slowly filled in the crevices between.

All in all, it's a satisfying combination of materials.

Puzzling Evidence

What better place than the garden to soak up a few rays, sans sunscreen, and promote the production of Vitamin D, so necessary now that my bones are officially brittle? You would think that after all that hauling of pea stone, rip rap, and potting soil I would have bones of steel.

Here are some of my secret garden spots for vitamin D production and Sudoku solving. Nothing better than heading out to the garden with the LA Times Sudoku and a cup of tea, or better yet wine, pencil behind ear, and strong reading glasses. Multi-tasking for the aging gardener.

Angels in the Architecture

I love that line from the Paul Simon song, Call me Al.
"He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
If you be my bodyguard, I can be your long lost pal."

Here are some angels and bodyguards stuffed into nooks and hung on the architecture in Casa Grande's cloister.

Sticks on Fire!

Euphorbia tirucalli, commonly known as Sticks on Fire or red pencil tree, has attained a height of 8 ft. 7 inches in a small patch of ground next to my house. It's one of the few areas on my property that gets a full day's sun and is not watered by in-ground sprinklers. San Marcos Nursery says, "'Sticks on Fire' lacks the chlorophyll of the parent plant and, as such, is much slower growing and probably will never obtain the same size. We guess the ultimate size of 'Sticks on Fire' as 4-8 feet." So, hmph. I dunno. This thing shows no signs of slowing down.

Inspired by the cactus and succulent garden in front of the Fullerton Police Station, I purchased this 6 inch pot of Sticks on Fire from Target and planted it with an aloe, some crassula, and an abused and discarded cereus I rescued from an alley on trash day. (Trash day is a mother lode of free plants for those willing to scrounge.) A few random nasturtium seeds found their way into the area and, voila! I had a lovely little mini garden in no time at all. But then the euphorbia kept growing.


Here is a pot of Sticks I started from cuttings last autumn. Euphorbia tirucalli Propagation is very simple:
Branch cuttings grow with ease, rooting quickly to form dense bushes which if left soon become naturalized and forms a small tree. Cuttings are obtained from older branches; left to dry for a day before planting.

Beware of the milky sap! If you get this on your hands, be sure to wash it off right away or it will burn. It's also really sticky. And poisonous. DO NOT GET IT IN YOUR EYES!!! When taking cuttings or pruning, wear protective glasses and gloves. The cuttings will bleed for a minute or so after the plant is cut. Set cuttings aside for a day to dry the fresh cuts before planting in a cactus mix. You can pretty much ignore them, watering when the soil is dry. I've used rooting hormone on them, but it really isn't needed. They are so easy to grow.

Here is a closeup of the tiny flower that Sticks on Fire produces at the tips of its branches. If you are getting on in years like me, without your readers on you barely notice them as a little yellowish fuzziness this time of year.


It's really easy to love this plant. It's easy to grow, easy to propagate, needs little water, very little fertilizer. You might need to prop it up with some stakes when it gets top heavy. But when it gets big and dense it takes on the look of a pine tree, like in the photo below.
If you want a cutting, come on by.

First Day of Spring 2009

Here are a few pics from my garden in honor of the vernal equinox.

Kalanchoe, again

On a very rainy day last year the Fullerton Arboretum had a cactus and succulent show. Cold and wet were no match for my current zeal for something new for the garden. One of my purchases was a Kalanchoe Gastonis bonnieri
or Donkey Ear Kalanchoe. I potted it up with another variety of Kalanchoe and a variegated Aeonium. It grew to about 4 ft. tall, including the flower stalk and gave me several plantlets from the tips of the main leaves, as seen at the left.


Once the plantlets have a bit of root coming from the base they are easily pulled off the mother plant to be potted up on their own.
Here is one that I planted a couple of months ago.

There were several others that I added to pots here and there around the garden, but this one, sharing space on a partly shaded iron rack with some cactus I bought at the 99 cent store seems to be doing the best. It's dressed with this very cool black pea sized stone I got from Lowe's last year. The garden guy told me they ordered it by mistake. I bought 10 bags.





Next project is to try to grow some from seed. Patience is a gardener's friend so I resisted snipping off the flower heads in hopes of a future bounty of Donkey Ears. Hee Haw.