{"id":105395,"date":"2024-10-27T17:59:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T21:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=105395"},"modified":"2024-10-27T17:59:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T21:59:41","slug":"bilbergia-violetta-my-how-youve-grown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=105395","title":{"rendered":"Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ (my how you’ve grown!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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new planting under Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ November 2020, foreground bromeliad is Bilbergia ‘Violetta,’ original plant purchased in 2013<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In November 2020 I moved a couple pups of Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ under Grevillea ‘Moonlight,’ along with a large astelia and other odds and ends. Only the bromeliads and Callisia fragrans survived. (The callisia aka Basket Plant or False Bromeliad, also multiplied like crazy.) Because I knew this would be a nasty, scratchy job, this was the last area to be cleaned up a couple days ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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bromeliads and Callisia fragrans prior to cleanup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those two ‘Violetta’ pups expanded into three large clumps, 3′ in height, with numerous offsets, all moved to the east side of the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ moved against east fence October 25, 2024. Silvery Gomphostigma virgatum is new.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cleaning up the broms filled with grevillea leaves and seedpods took hours. Other than cleaning, the clumps were left intact. Their new location on the east side of the garden will no doubt result in debris raining down on the broms as well, but hopefully a lesser amount. Judging by the vigor and health of ‘Violetta,’ in habitat broms must be pigs for debris-filled conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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grey metal fence meets pink CMU wall getting prepped for paint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two more large clumps of ‘Violetta’ were moved in front of the African Spear Lily (Doryanthes palmeri) and Giant Crinum (C. asiaticum), and the step-down in scale they provide looks right to me. Lots of Callisia fragrans were moved here as well. The plan is to rework the garden with the plants with the proven toughest bonafides. Geranium palmatum and Sonchus palmensis are seeding into the rock spine, which is fine by my new laissez-faire attitude. Covering the ground and keeping out weeds are paramount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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rock spine planted November 2020. Most of the small planting done then is gone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Terremoto’s Carden Hall Elementary School<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Initially I planned to paint the CMU wall one color, specifically a pea-green color similar to the panel in the above photo. Marty leans toward painting the entire wall grey to tie into the metal fence on the east side. But then I found the above photo of work done by Terremoto with panels of color, and I think this is my preference. One of the panels would be grey to link to the metal fence. Too institutional for a home garden? Opinions welcome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CMU wall runs southern length of the garden. Patch of St. Augustine’s grass is just past the grate on the left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The middle of the garden has been emptied out of weeds, dead or dying plants. A lanky Strobilanthes gossypinus was beat up but still alive, so it’s been pruned and retained. The ‘Golfball’ pittosporum on the right was also retained and will be cut back fairly hard. The clump of Eryngium pandanifolium seen against the CMU wall was thinned to two rosettes. Amazing how this eryngo tolerates the wet of the Oregon garden as well as the dryness in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drawback of furry-leaved plants lijke Strobilanthes gossypinus is the grime they accumulate. This is an improvement after repeated mistings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Agave ‘Ray of Light’ is luminous again after hand-washing the leaves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Variegated St. Augustine’s grass spread into a large bright patch, clambering over possibly agapanthus, giant fennel, and who knows what else. It’s earned a place in this part-time garden. Flicker of magenta on the left comes from Salvia chiapensis, found locally, something for the hummingbirds in addition to the grevillea and pedilanthus\/Tall Slipper Plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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so impressed with Carex ‘Feather Falls’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like the St. Augustine’s grass, Carex ‘Feather Falls’ didn’t even require any cleaning. Yucca rostrata finally developed a bit of a trunk in my absence, which still needs some cleanup. Let me know your thoughts on painting the CMU one color or multiple panels of color. Input, please!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In November 2020 I moved a couple pups of Bilbergia ‘Violetta’ under Grevillea ‘Moonlight,’ along with a large astelia and other odds and ends. Only the bromeliads and Callisia fragrans survived. (The callisia aka Basket Plant or False Bromeliad, also … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[550,5120],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-rpV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105395"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105395"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105450,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105395\/revisions\/105450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}