'Ware Agave!

When I was a kid my family would go foxhunting. That is the traditional English fox hunt with the horses and hounds and red coats and all of that (but no fox). When you were riding along with the field (the rest of the group) the person in front would yell out "'Ware Hole!" when there was a hole in the trail. Then the next person would yell it out and so on down the line. Or 'ware wire or 'ware swamp to say Beware of the swamp that you are about to plunge into. The contraction saves time, as is its duty. Well, I have not been foxhunting in about 20 years yet I still have that phrase in my head and will oftentimes say it (quietly) to myself when chancing upon something dangerous. Like this little inconspicuous fellow:

Nestled within the Agapanthus is a baby Agave americana. Even small, the tips of the leaves are like hypodermic needles and will go right into your skin! Sooooo, 'ware AGAVE!!! OUCH since of course you only know something is there when you run into it. Unfortunately for me there was no one ahead of me to give me fair warning. I mean really, who plants Agaves and Agapanthus together?

I have no snappy title for this post

Today was a good day. Not all of my days are good, but today was. There is snow on the mountains and the air is crisp. It is also Cymbidium season! I love them:

I think that I use the L word for quite a few plants. Are there any that don't fascinate me?
Anyway, I was walking the d-o-g this morning and saw this critter growing in a most inappropriate place:

It is a Mexican Fan Palm growing in a crevice of a stone wall (in front of a dilapidated 'Senior Living Facility' that I hope none of us ever have to reside in). Needless to say that their groundskeeping is fairly nonexistent. However, if they do not remove this guy, they will be facing a MAJOR job, costing thousands (of dollars that is, nothing else) The fan palm can grow to 60' tall and the base can be 15' round. Very large. My theory is to get them when they are small and take minimal effort rather than wait until it becomes a major hassle. Not many people seem to hold that same theory though. Why wait until it is a huge nuisance? Seriously, why?!
I then went to a clients house up in the Laurel Canyon area and, besides being Cymbidium season, it is also PINE season. Check out these male cones from the Ponderosa Pine:

Thousands of male cones, and who knows how much pollen in the air. I also heard the distinctive sounds of Hawks nesting. They seem to really like these two Ponderosas on this property. Oftentimes I will see them flying back and forth, and last year I was able to see their offspring. It is a beautiful sight!
Now, at the end of the day, I must walk the d-o-g again as she is bugging me to do so. Tomorrow I get to go to the nursery! I will make sure to post some photos
Cheers!

A practical side to Roses

I love roses, I really do. I don't understand what all the fuss is about though. I find them very easy to grow. Perhaps LA is a perfect climate: we don't have big freezes or a lot of humidity so there is no die back and very few diseases. Generally in the fall the leaves get some rust, but that is about it (ok, sometimes Aphids but those are easy to deal with - just some soapy water!) I have also noticed that many roses do fine being completely abandoned. Since the housing crash, there are quite a few unoccupied houses around and I have  noticed that the roses do just fine without someone fussing over them. There is a great pink one across the street from me that does not get any extra water (for the last 4 years) and it blooms all of the time - and it wont rain for 6 months over the summer.

So beautiful and HUGE hips (rose hips that is...)

I have one client who likes to propagate roses. She will take a cutting (from a friend or along the street) and stick it into dirt and wait for it to root. She now has about 50 potted roses on her patio, most of whom we do not know the variety. For the past few weeks I have been repotting and pruning and weeding these roses so I took some photos to show what I have been doing:

This is 'before'. Very messy, lots of dirt loss and weeds and dead branches

This is 'after'. I even placed them in rows - or at least tried to as the pots are all different sizes

Here is one poor fellow who not only needs a trim but is very crooked. I like my plants in pots to be straight and centered

Messy Messy

Much Happier!

Water and Camelias

I went to a new (to me) garden the other day over in the Brentwood hills area. The house was built in the 40's and the gardens are about that old. The new owners moved in last summer and are at a loss as to what to do with the yard since they are not gardeners. One of the issues that I have run across many times now is how to deal with these older gardens. It is a fairly recent development that the cost of water has gone up and the city is placing restrictions on both usage and watering days. The older gardens are full of Agapanthus and Ferns, tropical plants like Bird of Paradise, and lots of Camelias and Roses. Many of these gardens are too costly and, in my opinion, irresponsible to maintain. It is not just that water is becoming more and more expensive, and believe me, many people here can afford it, but LA does not actually have its own water source but it is piped in from 250 miles away. As the population grows and our natural resources dwindle, we must practice conservation. Unfortunately, these older gardens are water suckers and as the new owners cut back on the watering (or shut it off completely) the outside landscape gets pretty dismal. I am still working on a balance for this issue in regards to conservation of older plants, and water conservation. Because I LOVE the Camelias. They are so beautiful and I won't rip them out if I can help it! So I will keep thinking about this and try to create water responsible yards while maintaining some of the older plants.
Here are the Camelias from this one yard:

The beautiful native so-cal landscape

We went for a hike yesterday along Mullholand drive. Starting at Fryman Canyon we walked East until it ends at Laurel Canyon. My hiking partner is elderly so we were taking it short and slow. It is a wonderful place and I was so surprised when I first moved to Los Angeles to find out that so much of it is wild and undeveloped. The Santa Monica Mts go right through LA, in fact, our city is the only one in the US which is bisected by a mountain range. Here are some of the plants which I encountered:

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) just starting to leaf out and bloom

Ceonothus

California live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) also just starting to bloom

and the wonderful Oat Straw!

 The day was fairly clear:

Looking North over to Studio City and the San Gabriels

And my intrepid hiking partner (she is 11 1/2!)

Spring Flowers

 The beautiful Cherry blossoms

 Iris

Aeonium arboreum

working

I have been taking it slow lately, doing some soul searching, or re-grouping. My Grandmother (called Grandy) passed away right before Christmas and I have been dealing with this great loss. I had no idea how much I relied on her love and guidance until it was gone. I sometimes look at the phone and wonder who would answer that number if I rang it. I still haven't removed it from my phone. No reason to really.
My work, or at least the business development aspect, has not really interested me these past two months but I am starting to look forward and outside my self and am ready to get back to business. Funny enough, Grandy was not only incredibly supportive and proud of what I am doing, but she herself has always been an advocate for professional women and for women being self defined and self sufficient. She was very smart, creative and independent and tried to instill those values and traits in me.
My stepmother, Debi, just successfully completed her doctoral degree. She told me on the way home from her defense that she looked up and in the sky was a rainbow, for just a minute, and she knew that Grandy was proud of her. The week before she died she spent over an hour with Debi discussing her thesis! We were very blessed to have her in our lives and I can continue on with her love in my heart and her wonderful example. She would want me to get back to work and be successful. That would be the best way to honor her life.
So here is to a new year and all of the wonderful possibilities!