Some assembly required...

Due to a mutiny among the ranks (Emily, my back, Matt) it was decided that we should purchase a wheeled hose reel to control the evil, willful hoses, and reduce the amount of hatred we feel towards them to a dull hiss as we drag them around the garden. Ugh.

Being the risk-averse shopper that I am, I questioned the posters on the GardenWeb forums, and perused Amazon.com, reading many reviews. I finally settled on the Liberty Garden Products 880-2 Industrial 2 Wheel Solid Garden Hose Reel Cart, which comes in a color called "Bronze" but now that it has arrived can best be described as "darkish yuck."

Needless to say, it arrived in many pieces in a giant box, along with a detailed-ish instruction manual 8 pages long with dark and unrecognizable photos of the pertinent parts, and several additional pieces of paper amending the instructions with caveats and corrections.

I'm quite proud that I figured out that the plumber's tape on one threaded part was too long, and managed to Google correct application and use all on my own. And hey presto - the finished cart is sitting in the kitchen, only needing a few bolts to be wrenched tight and the tires inflated to 30 psi by some magic... (aka Matt)

Inspired by free supersaver shipping, I also got an additional 100' long hose (the highly rated Gilmour Flexogen Hose - long gone are the days when "cheap" and "hose" appear together in the "good" category in my mind) and a charming orange Dramm ColorStorm 9-Pattern Premium Turret Sprinkler With Heavy Duty Metal Base to create clever sprinkled water patterns in the beds. Last, but certainly not least, I got a three pack of Valterra Products, Inc. W1526VP Yellow Garden Hose Washer with Screen because if I have to take one more sprinkler/wand/other watering device home to disassemble because someone (not me, haha!) forgot to flush the hose or otherwise let dirt into them to clog up all the spraying parts, I will pitch a fit.

That is all!

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Weekend roundup

Saturday from 10am-3pm Matt and I watered the garden using the new hose, reel and sprinkler. We were happy to be joined by Janet who ably assisted in eradicating the spent corn marigolds from the bed behind the wrong way sign. It's all clean now, and ready for the next step of the plan: planting Rock Purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) all the way along the edge. I just have to figure out where to get a large quantity of that...

Matt was busy propagating too, and set up another dozen post of plants for the sale. He also mulched the soaker hose under the Brugmansia, Dahlia imperialis, and Fuchsia boliviana. I went around trimming and tidying this and that, weeding. plucking, nipping and touching up all sorts of areas.

Then on Sunday, Emily and I watered the Mariposa Center Garden (aka the strip). We took the new horse reel and hoses down, and Eliot and Jason helped us attach them to the spigot in their garage.  We soaked the strip pretty thoroughly - hope that helps the Dietes on the far half of the strip - they are a little crispy....

Photos show (top to bottom) the lovely purple of Sedum telephium ssp. ruprechtii "Hab Gray" next to a large Aeonium rosette and in front of Sedum spectabile "Neon". Next we have the Cordyline australis "Red Sensation" in a wine barrel at the front of the garden with a red/orange/yellow Lantana camera.

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OK folks, what Plant Profile would you like to see next? It can be any plant at Pennsylvania Garden - just submit a comment below and I'll write a post!

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Gingers on the move

Last week I sent out a call for help watering the garden to our list of dedicated volunteers, and they responded! Today I had some great help in the garden: Gina, Miyuki and Matt spent several hours getting things watered and tidied.

Gina deadheaded a mountain of Cannas. Miyuki watered dozens of plants, Matt removed the ginger (too thirsty!) and made about 30 one gallon pots of it for the sale. I set up a soaker hose that Jim donated around the Brugmansia, Fuchsia and Dahlia imperialis (Tree Dahlia) with Miyuki's help.

After that, Gina, Miyuki and I watered the Mariposa Center Garden and then set up water jugs for the midweek watering.

All this watering! Came to find out that our sprinkler has only been on for 15 minutes a week the last 2 months. That explains a lot! Hopefully our pal Robert can set it for at least 45 minutes for us from now on.

I spent until 3.30 watering and trimming, moved some Thymus and had a nice chat with Juana about bees. She also gave me a good gardening book and some pruners! Thanks Juana!

Photos from top to bottom show lovely Rudbeckia hirta flowers from Matt's dad, gingers (Hedychium coronarium) all potted and ready to sell, and a nice combination of foliage in the Moby Dick bed with purple Cordyline, variegated Echium candicans, blue-green Euphorbia rigida and my favorite little Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum “Silver Lace Bush” that is doing so much better in the shade!

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Hands + hands + hands + hands = light work

Or... many hands makes light work! Once again this equation was proven when Leanne, Miyuki, Arum and I met at the Mariposa Center Garden last night to water it throughly, and plant 12 Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena) and about 9 Echium candicans (Echium) "Pride of Madeira."

Now, aside from the gap in the fence where the homeless people get down to the train tracks, we have everything planted. I've called Amtrak and Caltrain four times now in an effort to get that hole closed, and nothing ever comes of it. I'll keep trying though!

It took about an hour to plant everything, water three wheelbarrow loads of jugs, and put everything away after refilling the jugs again for the Wednesday night watering crew. And we weren't exactly rushing! If I was doing it alone it would have taken me hours, so thanks guys: much appreciated!

In the next three weeks we'll be watering this garden 2-3 times per week to get the newbies established. Luckily they are plants that love a hot, dry spot so they will no doubt fit right in and take off like rockets.

Photos show (top to bottom) Miyuki planting soem Echiums, Leanne wheeling water, and Miyuki, Leanne and Arum sitting on the bench-like coffee-table-ish thing that someone (thanks a lot whoever you are!) dumped in the garden recently. Got to dispose of that somehow...

After all that I went over to Emily's and we worked on some paperwork for two new grants for the SPUR and P. Garden projects.  Busy busy busy...

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Prickledom

John, Matt and I had procured some cactus cuttings recently, and I was looking for a spot to pot them where they wouldn't fall on someone and turn them into kebabs. The other day I met Steve from Regent's Cab on The Hill, and with almost clairvoyant perception, Steve offered his parking lot just down the street to stash the evil cacti just before I asked him for that exact favor!

Tonight, we took him up on that offer and loaded the couple dozen plus cactus parts into John's truck and drove them down to the parking lot, along with dirt and pots.

Moving cacti this big is like moving a body (I imagine!) - you do it quickly, gingerly, and constantly think "damn - this is heavy!"

Covered in 3" long spikes, they are pretty dangerous. One of them stabbed John in the leg! We did manage to get them sorted out in remarkably little time though, and I was very grateful for the help. Let's face it - this is not a job I could do alone!

I went back to the garden after that and finished up my watering, logging another 3 hours of gardening in total. Pics show the first set we tied to the fence, then the additional cuttings all potted and ready to go. And, of course, the guys!

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The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.

The second best time is now!

Chinese proverbs like that one are always useful to get you off your butt and make a change. And Friends of the Urban Forest are coming to the Potrero Hill/Dogpatch area soon! They'll be planting trees on the sidewalks this fall and you too can have one in front of your home or business - or you can sponsor a whole street of trees, or help another person out and buy them a tree!

Look around the streets in your area and see if there are empty tree "wells" or even entire blocks with no trees (the east side of the 200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue is bare, for example.) We can fix that!

FUF offers a subsidized planting package at $75 ($450 value) which includes:

- Utilities check
- Concrete removal and disposal
- Species recommendation by FUF's Arborists
- The TREE itself
- 18 months of tree care!

That's a steal. And all you have to do is tell them you’re interested.

To participate either contact Megan at 415-561-5890, ext. 114 or click here to visit the FUF site!

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