Labor Day Planting

I headed over to Summerwinds over the Labor Day weekend (see this great labor day memorial). I had a muhlenbergia capillaris 'Lenca'  Regal Mist Pink Muhly that died, so I took it back and bought a lot in return! I know these pictures are actually pretty boring, they are small plants and not "doing anything" yet. This blog just helps me remember when I planted what and where.

Red Baja Fairy Duster - calliandra californica

Sandpaper Verbena, a suggestion from AZPlantLady - verbena rigida.

Blackfoot Daisy - melampodium leucantham

Another great suggestion from Noelle, Angelita Daisy - tetraneuris acaulis

Some salvia species, I'll track down specifics.

My agave lophantha quadrocolor sent off multiple pups. I planted them in various places around the yard.

Four along the west strip of the yard, one under the mesquite.

I hope to fill, and I mean pack tightly, this strip with compact sized species, like a. lophantha, a. titanota, a. parryi, a. geminiflora, a victoriae-reginae.

Also one Zinnia seed of dozens planted bloomed. 

On to the backyard plantings. If you're still with me here, bless you.

Red Mexican Bird of Paradise, caesalpinia pulcharrema in the mid-ground and Pink Baja Fairy Duster, calliandra eriophylla near the boulder. Near the rock feature in the fresh dirt are 3 banana pups from the banana trees.

Red Mexican Bird of Paradise, caesalpinia pulcharrema, next to the remains of a too delicate red hibiscus, that broke my heart by dying after serious attention for months. I still haven't fully given up, unrealistically. I left the roots hoping something resurrects.

Rain Lily, zephyranthes near the pool.

Pink Baja Fairy Duster, calliandra eriophylla

Guara, guara lindheimeri. I love this little guy, looking forward to watching it grow.

Black Knight Butterfly Bush, buddleja davidii. This was a steal I found at Lowe's, in the deep discount section. It's a mess, barely alive, but it will be a beauty next summer.

As mentioned above, I replanted the 3 banana pups over by the pool rock feature. I'm not sure of the exact variety, hopefully we'll get bananas someday and I'll know. In the last big wind storm the bigger banana broke, but it's still putting out new leaves.

I relocated the desert senna, senna covesii, from a pot to the yard. It was looking a little restricted in the container.

In the neighborhood, a lot of the agave vilmoriniana, octopus agave, bloomed. Over the months on my morning walks I have collected and potted more than a dozen bulbils. I've also guerrilla gardened dozens around the neighborhood. Everywhere I've seen an empty drip emitter. This week I planted 9 of them around the backyard. I've noticed that the octopus agaves in full sun struggle through the summer. Those in partial shade are magnificent. So I've planted these in partial shade.

Tithonia and Beans Documentation

Heads up, this post is just documenting what and where I planted a lot of seeds recently. Pretty perfunctory.

I planted apacket of seeds of Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican Sunflower) 

Along the edge of the grass, on the south of the lot, all the way around to the BBQ area. I planted a seed in the middle of every concrete border section.

Also, I planted a few seeds out front, on the east side, in a basin where an agave didn't make it, 

Or I had an emitter with no plant on it,

I planted 2 small segment of pedalanthus macrocarpus and a pup of the agave desmettiana in a spot where an agave didn't survive.

Now, as for the rattlesnake beans, I planted a lot of them around the yard, wherever I thought I'd have a place for them to climb,

By the grape trellis

Up the tiki torch pole,

Up the sissou tree,

Or up the palm tree.

I also planted some zinnia seeds, many different varieties. They've all started to sprout recently.

By the garden

by the middle sissou, 

By the pomegranate.

I realized the other day that I didn't get any of the octopus agaves, agave vilmoriniana, I've potted to take. Around our neighborhood dozens of them flowered in May and June and they are an agave species that produces bulbils on their bloom spike. I've been guerrilla gardening them throughout the path of our morning walk, since there are thousands of them and some day the landscapers are just going to throw the stalk away. 

I potted 10 bulbils, 8 here I'm keep outside, in the east side shade where they will also get watered with lawn. 

I noticed the only one I do have from a few months ago has really done well since I moved it under the hanging flowers where it gets watered twice daily from runoff.

I also potted 2 for indoors in this great new pot Lori bought recently. The middle pot had some cuttings from the burro's tail, sedum morganianum.

I brought the succulent outside yesterday to see if it could handle the heat, but in the shade. I'd really like it to be outside. I've read that it doesn't tolerate strong heat, so I'm watching it closely.

I also potted the miniature aloe. It's an aloe hawothiodes or aloe descoingsii or a hybrid.

I found some seeds in downtown Phoenix urban permaculture display, and planted them in the hanging pot, they've sprouted. The pedilanthus macrocarpus is another propagation I did yesterday.

Finally, just an update photo of my other propagations.