Inspiring trip to Rancho Reubidoux

It's autumn, which means time for major clean up at Casa Grande. The recent wind and rain has left the place pretty ragged. But the big Chinese elm in the backyard is going to be trimmed next week, so no point in doing any vacuuming of the pea stone yet.

In the meantime, EZ Go Marge, Bug Blog sister and I trekked to Rancho Reubidoux for their Garden Bazaar on Saturday. FUN! I loved the way the garden is laid out with a nice seating area defined by wooden decking level with the pea gravel. (I love pea gravel!)

This pitchfork was turned into a planter.

I purchased an old colander ($10!) with a nice grey/green patina and used the pitchfork idea to make a planter.

Thanks to the friendly owners of Ranch Reubidoux for an inspiring day. Can't wait for their next sale.

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.

Weird and Wonderful Kalanchoe

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm becoming more and more enamored with cactus, succulents and euphorbia. They are fascinating in their variety of form and habit, generally easy to tend and for the most part drought tolerant.

Kalanchoe (cal an KO ee) is a member of the Crassulaceae family of succulents.

The most commonly found variety kalanchoe blossfeldiana, pictured with the white flowers at the left, can be found at any nursery or Home Depot. The flowers bloom several times a year here in southern California where they like the shade or a bit of filtered sun. The flowers bloom in a range of colors from white to hot pink, orange and yellow. I've seen some lately with double flowers, cute little puffs of color. These are easy to propagate from cuttings, are low growing and very rewarding in pots.

Other varieties growing in my garden, both in ground and in pots are a type that reproduces by growing new plantlets at the tips of their fleshy leaves. When these plantlets fall off of the fleshy leaves into the soil, they take root and produce new plants.

Chandelier Plant, Bryophyllum tubiflorum, whose orange flower stalk appears below, has a spotted tube shaped "leaf" with the plantlets growing at the tips. Mine has flowered and will die off soon. But it has dropped several new plants into the ground, and I hope for a new crop next year.

Mother of Thousands, above and below, kalanchoe daigremontiana or Bryophyllum daigremontianum
also propagates itself by dropping tiny plantlets off it's leaf margins. I have a variegated purplish one, seen below and a solid green one. The variegated variety has many more leaves and has started a varitable kalanchoe farm in the soil below.


These plants originated in Madagascar which seems to have the most wild, odd and wonderful plants grown anywhere on the planet.

In my next post I'll show a few more varieties of kalanchoe.