The Shuffle

The annual summer pot shuffle. Which pots shall be plucked from the margins and take pride of place, beautiful specimens of their kind? Every summer brings a different answer.

This Agave parryi’s spikes are kept well out of corgi eye range, elevated by the plant stand.

Agave geminiflora was borrowed from the front garden, initially trialed amongst diascia, then finally moved to join its brothers and sisters on the agave walk.

The large swath of the Waverly salvia and Calandrinia spectabilis calls out for an agave walk as a visual bulwark (and is just a big enough strip to hold assorted potted agaves and friends, like an occasional variegated crassula/jade plant).

Who’s languishing, concentric roots circling tighter and tighter, and in dire need of bigger digs? Who needs dead leaves cut off and snail poop cleaned from the pots? (All raise hands.)

More thoughts on pots. Looks like a rather timid collection, mostly all terracotta.

Mostly this has to do with the shuffle, that the pots get moved around frequently and pot color coordination is preferably not another element to consider. Frequently the pots are placed directly into the garden, so the more unobtrustive the pot, the better. Also, many of these plants grow large in zone 10, and the biggest pots I can find are required. Plain terracotta fills the bill in the numbers I need them. These pots aren’t focal points but integral to the garden, not the hardscape setting, and I actually prefer it when the garden surges forward and swallows up the base of the pot, as with this Aloe distans. The pot is an old portion of clay drain pipe, which hoists the long stem of the aloe aloft.

When the aerial summer display shoots skyward, the pot shuffle begins, in search of the perfect spot for each to add their unique contribution.