Dead Plant Diary

Grevillea olivacea – This was one my favorite plants it quickly grew to 9X9 feet. And as the name implies, it looks a lot like an olive tree but with wonderful red flowers in winter and spring and without the messy fruit. I thought this would be a great plant to plant instead of the many olive trees in our neighborhood that get to large for the properties, are messy and disease prone. But alas, later in the fall after this photo it appeared to be a little dried out one day and was dead within a week. I’ve had a few other Grevilleas that grew quickly also suddenly die. Luckily I have second older plant of the soft-orange flowered form way up higher on the hillside that has been there for years and is doing fine.

Phylica pubescens, this South African shrub that is one of my favorites. It has a unique ability to capture and refract sunlight in the garden, creating a mesmerizing glow. Its common name, Featherhead, aptly describes its soft, feather-like texture. Surprisingly, despite their unrelated appearance, Phylica pubescens and our native Ceanothus belong to the same family, Rhamnaceae (Buckthorns). A year or so earlier, I lost another Phylica pubescens plant. However, this one managed to survive and grow tall. Unfortunately, its fluffy foliage made it susceptible to the weight of rain and overhead irrigation, breaking branches occasionally under the strain of the extra weight. The final blow came from a climbing creature, possibly a raccoon or feral cat that broke numerous branches. Phylica pubescens does not produce new growth when cut back into hard wood. Fortunately, earlier I figured out how extract seed capsules from the old flowers. After researching online how to germinate them, I learned that the capsules need to be smashed to release the three black seeds the contain. I managed to germinate two of these seeds, but only one survived when planted out. Today, I have a small bush with one surviving plant. If I ever see this plant for sale in nursery again, I will buy it.

Artemisia herba-alba (Moroccan artemisia). When the leaves of this plants are brushed or torn, it quickly becomes apparent why it is used in perfumes. As you can see in the photo the plant, which was originally planted several feet away from the Leucospermum is starting to be over taken by it. And like several other artemisias it starts to get woody with age and ants like to farm black aphids in the foliage. Between these issues and being cut back several times, it no longer was garden worthy. Luckily I root cuttings (which reminds me I need to root some more) and it survives happily in another area of the garden.

Hybrid Aloe marlothii. I’m not sure of all the parentage of this tree aloe since it was an open pollenated plants. But by 2023, it had grown into my largest in diameter tree aloe in the garden. But the winter of 2023 proved too much. We had more rain that winter than any other years since I’ve lived in San Diego including one week with 7 inches. Add in that it was also often foggy and sunless which kept the center of the plant full of water and the core of the plant rotted.

Aloe retiza. I planted 3 of these together back in 2017. I knew they were late summer/early fall bloomers and I wanted something in bloom during the hottest time of year. It took quite a few years before the first one bloomed and even then it was only one that bloomed. A second one bloomed the next year, but the bloom was small and not very interesting. Unfortunately these are right above the spot where water runs out of the hillside after heavy rains. This was too much water for these and lower leaves started to rot. I dub not up and gave it away. Then this year with the very wet fall and winter storms the core of one rotted. I dug it up an put it in a pot in the shade. 4 small new crowns are starting to show up, so I need to put it back in soil and see if these can get up to cutting size, or may grow it as multi-headed plant. The last of the 3 is still in the ground but with many fewer leaves. Hopefully it bloom again someday.

Kalanchoe orgyalis and Kalanchoe bracteata (Silver Teaspoons) under number 12. I’ve had a lot of trouble keeping Kalanchoes alive through the winter in this part of the garden. In fact, I’ve lost almost all of them. The bottom of the hill has lowest nighttime lows due to cold air drainage from the hills above. Many kalanchoes are from Madagascar which is much warmer in winter than here. Add in super-saturated soil and their roots rot. They might survive the winter but they don’t recover well once the weather warms up. That’s been the case with both of these Kalanchoes and the surviving bits have been turned into cuttings and returned to pots.

Agave angustifolia ‘Marginata’ . When we were planting the hillside, six or seven sports off other plants of this agave were planted what I thought was high up on the hill in very steep area. They grew well, very well. To my surprise they got six feet tall and wide. Normally this agave stay at about three or maybe four feet wide. A couple of them bloomed two years agp and we removed another one that was in the way of other plants. Two more bloomed last summer. There are two more left…and maybe they will bloom this year. They make a nice backdrop when looking up the hillside, but with all of their spines and sharp teeth, they are very difficult to be anywhere near them. I’ve planted a pup off a variegated Furcraea where one of them bloomed last year. It should get about 6 to 8 feet tall and only has a minor spine at the end of a wide leaf. Hopefully it will go 20 or so years without blooming.

Leucospermum ‘high gold’. This plant was planted way up on the hillside at the time in an area difficult to get to. It grew and bloomed, but I rarely got near it. IT was one of the first mature Leucospermum’s to die suddenly back 2022. I sort of forgot about it until I saw it peaking out in this photo. I’ve since planted another leucospermum and banksia in that area.

Leucospermum ‘Blanche Ito’ is a plant that truly flourished after planting. I don’t recall it ever being small, and it quickly grew to be 6 feet by 6 feet, producing hundreds of large blooms each spring. However, on a sunny day in April 2023, during its peak bloom, it began to appear slightly wilted and unfortunately, it passed away within a week. I had been letting the hill dry out from the wet winter, and I hadn’t run irrigation. Perhaps the sudden shift from being excessively wet to excessively dry was the cause of its demise.

Leucospermum ‘Brandi Dela Cruz’ . Met the same fate as ‘Blanche Ito’ a couple of weeks later. But without these 2 huge plants, I had a lot more room to plant some new things.

Frangula californica, commonly known as California Coffeeberry, was a planted in an area of our property where I never anticipated that I’d be going non-native plants. In 2015, I planted numerous California native plants on the hillside, believing they would thrive without supplemental water. However, my assumptions were incorrect, and most of the plants failed to survive. Despite this setback, three small coffeeberries managed to survive and they thrive when the hillside irrigation was expanded to reach them. They grew into substantial 8×8 foot shrubs or larger. Unfortunately, their appearance was quite unremarkable, producing only a lot of green leaves and pea-sized berries. When I decided to add a moon gate to my garden, this spot overlooking the hillside became the perfect location. Consequently, I removed the plants. You’ll find more details about the moon gate and its installation, here.

Hybrid Aloe: Another open-pollinated aloe with an unknown parentage. It appears to have some marlothii and ferox in its genetic makeup. The flowers are a muddy orange color. It blooms slightly later than other large aloes and has consistently bloomed for years. However, this spring, we noticed that it was somewhat loose in the ground, and upon closer inspection, many of its roots had rotted. Consequently, I dug it up and gave it to my garden helper. It was the last of the large, single-headed aloes in this area. I replaced it with giant restio, which will eventually dominate the space. Since it is native to seasonal streams it has no problem being wet in winter and dry in summer. Through trial and error, I’ve also discovered that South African bulbs thrive here. They are not bothered by wet feet during winter and scorching sun during summer. Additionally, many of them bloom in the last summer and fall, and all of them appear to be gopher-proof.