In-depth tour of the Succulents and More front garden

Last Saturday I hosted an open garden for members of the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society. In preparation I did a fairly thorough clean-up of the front yard. I even hauled out the pressure washer and blasted away years of grime from the flagstone. The wind undid my raking and leaf-blowing efforts three times (grrrr), and in the end I simply had to accept the fact there were more stray leaves than I wanted. Such is the life of a gardener.

This coming Saturday I’m hosting the California Horticultural Society for coffee in the garden, so I’m able to kill two birds with one stone. In addition, the front garden is finally looking good enough to give you an in-depth tour. It’s been a while since I did that.

There are 70+ photos in this post so grab your favorite drink and settle in for the duration. All photos are available in a higher-resolution version. Simply click any photo to access the lightbox view. From there you can scroll through all the images.

View from the street

Let’s start with the planting strip outside the front yard fence, beginning in front of the house (the spot you see in the photo above). Here are some highlights:

LEFT: Aloe marlothii MIDDLE: Agave weberi ‘Arizona Star’ RIGHT: Eye-lash grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’)

Agave weberi ‘Arizona Star’ and Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’

Catmint (Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’), Aloe elgonica, yellow horned poppy (Glaucium flavum), and silvery cassia (Cassia phyllodinea). The small blue flowers on the left are from electric-blue sage (Salvia chamaedryoides).

Three of a dozen potted plants on top of the fence: Epostoa lanata, Fouquieria columnaris, Agave × leopoldii

This is the desert bed we created 3½ years ago as a replacement for an overgrown Pittosporum tobira hedge. It’s hard to believe how much these plants have grown. Everything you see here came home in our minivan—even the Aloidendron ‘Hercules’ and the ‘Sonoran Emerald’ palo verde!

Aloe ‘Erik the Red’, now with two heads

Agave capitata var. quartziticola (Leucophytum brownii on the right)

Clockwise starting on the lower left: Agave americana ‘Mediopicta alba’, Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’, Agave ovatifolia, Aloe hereroensis

Take a look at the mighty Aloidendron ‘Hercules’. It wasn’t even four feet talled when we planted it in March 2014. For comparison, this is a 6-foot fence!

Agave parrasana, Aloe broomii, Agave mitis

Aloe hereroensis (left), Aloe petricola (front), Aloe mitis (back)

Can you see why I love agaves and aloes?

Aloe broomii (left), Aloe hereroensis (right)

Agave parrasana (front), Agave parrasana × colorata (back)

Aloe ferox and Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica)

Aloe ferox and Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica)

The silver tree in the backyard attracted quite a bit of interest among the SCSS members who came on Saturday

It’s a seed-grown Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ I received from a friend

Agave gentryi ‘Jaws’ (left), Yucca linearifolia (middle), Calliandra californica (right)

Textural contrast: Manihot grahamii (top left), Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ (bottom left), Salvia leucantha (right)

Now we’re entering the front garden proper. It has seen many changes over the years. Most recently, we removed the lawn in February 2016 and replaced it with two succulent mounds.

The foliage on the left is a trio of ponytail palms (Beaucarnea recurvata), the bamboo on the right is Bambusa chungii ‘Barbellata’

Three Ferocactus glaucescens on the fence to the left of the gate

The potted plants on the walkway are recent purchases waiting to be put in the ground

The wood-and-metal tower was made by Alan “It’s Not Work, It’s Gardening!” Lorence

Glimpse of the larger of the two succulent mounds

The flowering aloe in the center is Aloe reitzii. It’s been in this pot for many years; this is the first time it’s flowered.

Agave ‘Red Margin’ and Beaucarnea recurvata

Looking towards the bamboo; the gate is on the right behind the ponytail palm

Agave cupreata

View of the front door bed

My main goal was to have as many different textures as possible

Clockwise starting on the bottom left: Agave cupreata, Yucca recurvifolia ‘Margaritaville’, Beaucarnea stricta, Yucca linearifolia, Agave schidigera, Agave guadalajarana ‘Leon’

These are two clumping bamboos: Bambusa chungii ‘Barbellata’ in the front and slightly to the right, Bambusa oldhamii in the back

There are plants everywhere, even next to the front door…

…and in the walkthrough to the front porch

Looking back towards the front door

Front door (left), front porch (right)

Leucadendron argenteum planted in the ground against the post to the right of the front door. Not sure how tall it will get in our climate, seeing how it isn’t very hardy.

Front porch

Agave attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’, one of the few plants I cover religiously in the winter

Agave attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’ (left), Aloidendron ramossisimum (center), assorted cactus

Pot ghetto around the corner from the front porch. The foliage on the right is Canna musifolia.

Agave victoria-reginae ‘White Rhino’

One of my favorite views

Potted plants on the edge of the front porch and suculent mounds beyond

The white cactus in the middle is a slowly expanding clump of silver torch (Cleistocactus strausii)

Silver torch (Cleistocactus strausii) and Agave schidigera ‘Shira ito no Ohi’

Tylecodon wallichii × paniculatus

Larger of the two succulent mounds. The whispy tree is a palo blanco (Mariosousa willardiana), an acacia native to Sonora, Mexico.

There are lot of plants here. I fully expect I’ll have to do some targeted thinning in the years to come.

Looking at the larger succulent mound from outside the front door

Smaller succulent mound

Clockwise from bottom left: Agave pumila, Agave vilmoriniana ‘Stained Glass’, Yucca queretaroensis, Ferocactus acanthodes

Yucca queretaroensis and Ferocactus acanthodes

Agave bovicornuta and Encephalartos lehmannii

Agave bovicornuta

Agave ‘Royal Spine’

Eye-lash grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’) and Grevillea ‘Superb’

Eye-lash grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’)

Eye-lash grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’)

OId man of the Andes (Oreocereus celsianus)

New Zealand wind grass (Anemanthele lessoniana) and a large terracotta bowl with Agave touymeana ssp. bella and three varieties of claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)