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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Work Continues on the Danger Gardenette

Here's a picture of a few plants awaiting attention last summer.  Notice the wall of green foliage behind the table.  That thicket if Kerria japonica was about 5 feet deep. 


I finally got rid of the thicket and gained a lot of space.  A bit ago, I started working on creating a new Danger Gardenette in this cleared  space.  Here's a picture of the previous Danger Gardenette form a couple of years ago when Loree visited my garden.



 Here we are at the beginning of the new space.




The work continues.  It's kind of fun because to get to this part of the garden, one has to walk through the grove of phyllostachys vivax and pass by lots of big leaved jungly looking stuff and then you come upon this collection of plants that like arid conditions. (Yes, I know that there's stuff all over the place - still working)   

The big turquoise pot on the pedistal makes no sense from this angle.  It's one of a set of two.  (originally four around the perimeter of the seating area.  Removal of these reqires a sledge hammer and concrete flying everywhere.  Instead, they will be filled with hanging plants that largely cover them up. 

Some transplanting from plastic to clay pots still needs to take place, a few more plants brought out of the glass room,  the bricks and marble power washed and some plants moved around a bit but for the most part, I'm happy with the way it's shaping up.  It reminds me a bit of how a choir looks standing on risers or a staged family photo.


 We'll just grab some more plants that haven't yet been brought down and change that choir formation. A  bit more re potting and some clean up and I'll be able to play in other parts of the garden for a while.  Have I gone too far with this silliness?

Someday I publish a shot of this area when it's more or less finished.  If you have any suggestions for making this look better, by all means, share them!   Happy new week everyone!

28 comments:

  1. It's starting to shape up nicely. So you're going with terra cotta pots for everything? The turquoise pot on the pedestal doesn't look that much out of place, especially with the blue pots on the right to balance it. Or are you planning to move those? Blue with terra cotta works well together.

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    1. This was a total blue pot area before so I was thinking of leaving the blue pots on the right to kind of balance the one on the left. Mostly terra cotta or unglazed pots in the brownish family for this area.

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  2. I do love Before and After pictures! What an impressive collection of dangerous plants. This must be the gang that migrates indoors each fall. It's good to finally get rid of the plastic pots: the clay looks so much better, the plants will do better too, and I can almost hear them break out in song!

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    1. This is a large contingent of the plants that migrate but there are others as well which is why my garage really should turn into a greenhouse! I love terra cotta but it does add a bit of weight to the larger plants when it comes time for them to migrate. - Is that where those voices I've been hearing are coming from?

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    2. Ha! I'm afraid those voices are coming from an all together different place :-) but if they suggest converting the garage into a greenhouse - maybe you ought to listen!

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  3. ♪ I'm loving the evolution! (And you can't get enough blue and brick accents for me.) Maybe pipe in some choir music? ♪

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    1. Great idea! Now what kind of choral music would a succulent choir sing?

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  4. I think I said this last time but WOW you've got a lot of spikes there Mister! It looks great, I love the choir description, also reminds me of my grade school class photos. I need to see your garden again, it's been to long.

    On a related note yesterday, during a break in the rainfall, Andrew helped me haul the rest of the containers up from the basement. After we were done he declared a moratorium on adding containers over a certain size or weight. Silly man...

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    1. Oh silly Andrew... Surely you must know someone with a nephew, son, starving college student who would love to work for a few hours for fairly low wages. I'm seeing the whole migration taking less than a day that way. My friends give me this unheeded advice all the time so I thought I'd pass it on.

      I'd love to have you come visit sometime after school is out and I have a chance to pull a weed or two.

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  5. That Loree is some Dangerous influence.

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  6. Danger Gardenette...love that term! And all those succulents en masse like that looks so dramatic! Shaping up very, very nicely Peter :)

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    1. Thanks guys. It's a little strange but it makes me happy.

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  7. I like it, so many spiky and succulent plants together!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! Sort of looks like a nursery display but I guess that's what one has to do when he has too many plants!

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  8. Succulent theater. Looks great. Now all you need is sunlight.

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    1. Thanks Hoov! Fortunately, the weather forecast is calling for just that!

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  9. Your very last photo is amazing and so dramatic. I love how you have everything staged. One thing I would suggest, (not that you need to change a thing) is to go to the Habitat ReStore and get some of the random cement pavers for cheap. You can use them to set smaller pots on. I'm having fun doing that in my garden. Again, not a necessity. I love how you have it now but fun to play around with different ideas. Fun!

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    1. Funny you should mention that! I have stacks of various pavers in my garage that were free from various sources and too good to throw away. Some of the pots in the middle are sitting atop stacks of them. Love the idea of using them for groups of the smaller pots. Thanks Grace!

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  10. Cool! You certainly have a very pointed perspective on gardening!

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    1. Groan! I love a good pun. Oh wait, there's no such thing. Anyway, I laughed. Thanks.

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  11. Holy crap, Peter! The Society of Spiky Leaves is using your garden for its meeting place - (love it!)

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    1. It's hard not to love these especially after seeing them grown so beautifully in your state! Maybe this passion will wane if they all get enormous. Although I do have a pot lifter and a hand truck for that eventuality.

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  12. Wow, you have a BIG collection of danger-garden plants, Peter. It makes a big impact seeing them all clustered together. I love it.

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    1. They were sort of scattered around in different places before but I thought it might be fun to see what it would be like to put them all together. Glad you like it as I think it's kind of fun at least for a while.

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  13. Wow Peter, what is that chunky, gunmetal-grey succulent to the right of the black aeoniums? Re choral music, you'd need something prickly with lots of hard edges and unusual harmonic colouring. Food for thought . . .

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    1. That plant (in the first picture?) is Crassula arborescens. I was thinking maybe the second part of Britten's "Rejoice in the Lamb" with it's changing meter and upbeat, fun, but a bit quirky feel. Maybe parts of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms?

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  14. That's quite the arsenal of Dangerous plants!

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    1. When the zombie apocalypse happens, we'll be ready!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.