the littles

This longer east view of sunrise-haloed Chionochloa rubra was not available two days ago. Stipa gigantea spilled onto the rock at the west end making the path impassable, comprising overall about 5′ in circumference with half of that path obstruction. And the stipa sat directly opposite the big arching restio Rhodocoma capensis, so obstruction was built into the planting. A typical design problem for me. (Thankfully I had started to come to terms with the problem by removing the tetrapanax growing next to the restio earlier this spring.)

Still I was convinced the grass was worth every bit of difficulty to ensure those oatsy panicles danced high over the summer garden while being sheer enough to allow sunlight to penetrate the plantings underneath.

But unexpectedly the Wonder Garden plant sale included Stipa gigantea ‘Little Giant.’ And so unexpectedly I began to contemplate the garden without the giant Golden Oats grass and sizing down to the little version.

Dividing the grass was already at the top of the list of tasks for next spring. Being an evergreen grass, this stipa doesn’t need cutting back but does require extensive grooming. Its strengths are a very early flowering and then the long-lasting, light-catching golden seedheads that follow spring through winter, sailing well above the base of leaves. The big open question with the dwarf version concerns that ratio of height between the flowering stems and the grassy clump. It might be an inelegant congestion of form without the tall and transparent silhouette of the species. I asked around at the sale, and no one had experience growing ‘Little Giant.’

With ‘Little Giant’ in hand, the back-benched spring job of division became an immediate fall job of removal. Love for the Golden Oats grass was outmatched by needing to reclaim an east view in autumn light and easy access along the path. ‘Little Giant’ was not planted in the same area near the rock path but behind Lobelia tupa, in the berm that’s almost a foot higher, and hopefully the elevation will give the smaller grass a high enough profile to shine.

That there was an opening in the berm to plant the stipa only came about by removing Persicaria polymorpha, whose girth was claiming 6 feet. And it’s such a good plant, also early to show in spring and impressive all season. Height is never a problem, only girth. If only there was a little version of this persicaria! A small piece of the persicaria is growing in a narrow bed along the east fence, not a future-proof site but it can always be moved again. I’m hearing some positive buzz on Koenigia divaricata, which has a similar effect as the persicaria.

My guess is that the enormous clump of stipa was also acting as a support to Lobelia tupa. The very wispy grass I planted instead, Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Little Red Fox,’ is unlikely to fill that supporting role. Meanwhile, Marty’s back is out today from pitching in to help remove Euphorbia stygiana, whose enormous growth and size was turning it into a cutback shrub to keep the back path along the fence clear (a recurring theme). Except imho euphorbias should never be considered cutback shrubs because…well, the irritating sap issues. There’s another of this euphorbia elsewhere in the garden that seems to be slower in growth.

The other “little” brought home is ‘Little Joe,’ the dwarf Joe-pye weed. I guess the garden and I are getting to that point where some down-sizing workarounds are needed. Fresh in my mind was a nice couple I met shopping at the WG plant sale. I asked if they were looking for plants for sun or shade, and they said they were in a predicament where their 30-year-old garden had no sun to give, and they wanted to take it all out and start over! A cautionary tale for my overplanting ways…

I met a small bright green frog in the garden last night, a first in either of my two gardens. Lizards are common in the Long Beach garden, and both are sensitive creatures whose presence generally bestows a clean bill of health on a garden. I hope the little frog gets his fill of slugs! And invites more frog friends to the garden too.

I took a hard fall on uneven pavement walking Billie earlier, so that’s the end of any more ambitious plans til spring. Fortunately, looking up more info on chionochloa, I discovered a wonderful New Zealand blog that somehow escaped my notice, Tikorangi The Jury Garden, to read while I ice the knee. Especially pertinent for zone 8, 9, 10 gardens.