(A quick recap. Creeping fig, Ficus pumila, covered the south CMU wall of the back garden since we bought in ’89. Clinging tightly, it grew tall and thick and provided excellent evergreen privacy. A couple years ago, the neighbor on the other side of the CMU wall tired of the upkeep and tore it off his side. From that point the weight imbalance proved fatal, and during heavy wind last year it cleaved off our side of the wall too. Overnight the 9-foot green wall turned into a 6-foot pink wall that no longer provided privacy. Tenants said nothing of the collapse, and I only discovered it on a quick visit, lying like a rug over the back garden. (I’m pretty sure that’s what killed the bocconia and more.) I also hated the constant upkeep, but I loved watching possums stealthily navigate the green wall, creating mysterious waves of crunchy leafy movement, only a slim tail in evidence. It was wonderful for wildlife; birds, possums, raccoons, fig wasps.)
Early morning photos are a little dark, but the colors are basically true. CMU cinderblock soaks up a lot of paint, three undercoats and a final color coat. Four colors, mustard, grey-blue, pale yellow/chartreuse and pea green. Mustard and grey-blue are repeated, six panels in all. The visible wood supports were painted pea green. Except for the mustard, the choice of colors was mostly inspired by the succulents themselves.
And some plant news. For locals, the Long Beach Armstrong’s currently has in stock the hard-to-find natural hybrid Alyogyne ‘Ruth Bancroft.’ I’ve sworn to do very little new planting but did manage to shoehorn in this one.
More soon!
Yes! The panels are great! I would never have felt confident enough to do something this colorful, but you pulled it off with a joyful result.
What’s next?
I like the new fence a LOT, Denise. Anything that delivers a sense of peace, no matter how briefly, is to be cherished these days. I love Aeonium ‘Pink Witch’ but keep waiting for the price to come down a bit.
Oh wow, I love the colors and of course those PANELS! What a change it must be in person. You must be looking out there constantly, I would be. *The urn is quite fabulous, too. How exciting.
You did it! I love everything about it, well done. As for the spindles I couldn’t help but think of Dustin’s totems I recently saw at Flora Grubb LA. They made the space so much more interesting, yours will be a nice focal point that future tenants won’t be able to kill.
The wall turned out splendidly Denise ! You made the right choice-and excellent color coordination with the plants . I am sad to hear of the demise of your Bocconia . I loved that plant and have never succeeded in finding one -in SoCal or otherwise.
That is a great way to incorporate all of the colors without having to choose one over the others. Interesting to see what I assume are two of the totems – a tan one and a creamy yellow one in the background. I am shocked to hear how many coats you’ve used, but I guess it makes sense. Concrete is thirsty stuff. I was also surprised to hear how when your neighbor cut the Ficus on their side that it affected your side so dramatically. I would have thought it would have been stuck tight to the wall permanently with fine roots. Amazing everything came off so cleanly, but that must have been quite disconcerting to find it all sloughed onto the ground when you came back. Excellent job!
@Jane, so glad you approve! As far as what’s next, I’m trying hard not to complicate things too much, and it takes quite a lot of self-restraint!
@Kris, when I left SoCal a few years ago it was all about Aeonium ‘Mardi Gras’ — I hadn’t heard of this one. It was $12 for the one rosette, but they had an enormous “mother” plant with multiple rosettes that sold the baby!
@Tracy, the change is significant, tho we jumped on everything so fast I’m already having a hard time remembering what it looked like when we arrived in October!
@Loree, Mitch had stored these spindles for years and they were heading for the dump so I grabbed a few to play with — and you’re right, they’re bulletproof!
@Kathy, I’m sure they’ll be bocconia seedlings popping up, they always do, but it’s a lot to handle in absentia with cutback needs, etc. I’ll pot any up I find and let you know.
@Jerry, because we let the ficus grow beyond the height of the wall a few feet, it was easy prey to the wind. All the spindles are destined for paint — the tan one was unpainted at the time of the photo.