Clean Up Time

At long last, our agave americana (so called, even tho it has red spines instead of black) got the pruning it needed.  And what a pruning it was.  It now looks like a giant pineapple.  But hey: it's alive.  That's all I care about.

The drought last year wasn't the only peril the succulents found themselves in.  The other was an infestation of snails...to a nightmarish degree.  Fertile Ground Landscaping who came yesterday did a terrific job putting diatomaceous earth (crushed shells) around replanted pups of our agave celsii and americana.  The earth cuts the snails' flesh, so they stay out.  Cayenne pepper also helps.

The team also planted some cat mint to replace ponyfoot that suffered last year.  We added a carolina jessamine vine to the amazingly resilient bougainvillea that sprouted up at the last minute from what I thought was a dead plant.

The back around the playhouse got lots more mulch; and our kids loved helping with their own wheelbarrow.

And we put two new African bulbines in the back.  They were some of the only plants that didn't survive last year, amazingly.

And we put a potato vine next to the garage to grow up over our old metalsmithing frame.  To my amazement, Julie, owner of Fertile Ground, showed me where my old Passion Vine was in fact resurrecting.  So we'll have the two vines meet in the middle of the framework.

I think that's all, but it sure wore us out - the kids took exceptionally long naps yesterday after the crew left!