The small, insignificant garden

Maybe I should call it the Garden of Self-Pity. The garden feels especially small and insignificant after spending the day in Big Trees. Small, insignificant, ill-conceived, ineffective, and unappealing.



And I'm losing patience with my container clutter.



Seriously, I'm ready for an intervention.



Time to come to Jesus.



Someone call Hoarders.



I'm not even showing you the nursery area. Don't go there.

Let's move on to other topics, but you can leave enabling comments if you want.

We're leaving the tomato cages out for the winter in case any birds need a spot to perch. I think I said that already. I stuffed a tuft of dead grass between the bars in case someone needs some nesting material. And I'm picking raspberries.



I decided containerized raspberries are definitely the way to go. And not because I was worried about the running roots, but because it's easier to water and fertilize the container than it is to cultivate a patch of ground.

I'm very fond of the giant asters from South America--they love San Francisco and grow vigorously with minimal care. This is Tithonia diversifolia which makes yellow, chocolate-scented daisies starting in a month or two. It started putting out a lot of growth recently too.



I can't believe how fast Senecio cristobalensis has grown. I've never seen anything grow so fast. Flowers are insignificant, but the foliage and texture are top-notch.



I generally don't pay much attention to the cyclamen under the deck stairs, but I appreciated their foliage today too.



A drift of cyclamen is really nice, but I have mixed results getting them to come back from year to year. They go on sale for half off right now so I get one or two every year and hope for the best. A 25% return rate will eventually get me a nice, small drift.

The Passiflora citrina I got a couple months ago at Filoli is doing well. They seem to grow okay in shade which is not surprising considering how competitive they are.



The Wikipedia page says Passiflora are found worldwide except for Africa (and Antarctica, duh), including nine species that are native to the USA, one of which is found in California! How can that be?! I must find out what it is.

Watching the leaves turn colors on everyone's blogs recently, I'm struck by how green my neighbor's neglected cherry tree remains.



I wonder if I can find a record of it changing color in my archives.

And now for the South Grove; Calaveras Big Trees SP

After visiting the North Grove, we had a little lunch, and went south.











I wonder what tells the lichen it can grow on trunks or branches, only.





Incsense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), and Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)?





















































Thank you Carri and Jason and Katie and Chris for inviting us to go with you on this wonderful trip!

Calaveras Big Trees SP; The North Grove

We woke up Saturday morning in Calaveras County. By 10:30 a.m., we were exploring Calaveras Big Trees State Park's North Grove.







Among other things, we came here to see the most massive tree species on Earth, Sequoiadendron giganteum.









Once widespread on Earth, this relict species survives today in fewer than 100 groves up and down the west side of the Sierra Nevada.



We also came to find fall color.



















After watching National Parks recently, I think we all felt keenly aware of how close we came to losing the Giant Sequoias altogether.









We are fortunate that we did not, and we can be thankful for it.







Just wait until you see the South Grove...