my flourishing hellstrip edible beds

Yes. The book is DONE!

Amazing – I can’t believe I actually DID it – wrote a book in 4 months, 1 month to edit, and here I am, spent!

little 'Sungold' tomatoes playing peek-a-boo among the leaves of ruby chard

Garden writing is a tough business. Lots of people do it, but frankly, there aren’t many venues for us to ply our trade anymore – magazines have folded left and right, publishers are wary, and the internet has made traditional publishing seem completely outdated. Things HAVE to be different now. The paradigm has shifted, and it is up to writers, editors, and publishers find new relationships to each other and move forward in this WWW. (Check out how clever I am – WWW can be either World Wide Web OR Wild Wild West! See why I write? How can I keep this all to myself?)

Laura Livengood Schaub of Garden Writers Today asked me what a garden writer needs these days. I almost fell over. I need ALOT. Jewelry. A Cabana Boy. A 1978 black Mercedes and a driver. But the Garden Writers Today site is concerned with helping support us, so I thought I’d be serious for once and give some real answers. So here are the three things that I, as a Garden Writer, would love.

#1 – Access to new, fresh garden photos. Maybe a new free image bank can be created!

#2 – Proofreaders – ones that know something about gardening.

#3 – A non-competitive environment, not about promoting one’s work, but about advising and aiding each other WITH work and with GETTING work. Am I dreaming?

lovely fennel seeds drying in the sun

These last few months has been a journey, an ENORMOUS learning experience. I haven’t been able to blog as much as I wanted, I haven’t been able to garden as much as I wanted, I haven’t been able to design much either. My time was frantically devoted to “THE BOOK”, and now that it is finished I feel like I have been picked up by a cyclone and set down somewhere else. I don’t know what this other place is (even though it looks suspiciously just like my life, it feels different), but I know that this, too, will be a journey. One thing I DO know is that I am thrilled to be able to think about other aspects of gardening than just the little area I’ve been focusing on, and excited to get back to regular blog posts!

Thanks for hanging in there with me, I remain your devoted

GERMINATRIX!!!

farewell, Morigan Nursery. so sad to see you go.

Unfortunately, another independent nursery in Los Angeles is closing. This time it isn’t because of the bad economy – this was a thriving nursery – but the owners have decided that the property, located on 3rd and Fairfax in Hollywood, would be better if developed into another restaurant/shopping mall complex. Because clearly there aren’t enough of THOSE in Los Angeles.

Of course I understand why a family would want to maximize their investment – nurseries, while incredibly valuable to those of us who patronize them, aren’t huge money makers. But Mordigan’s was an oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle of concentrated retail overload. Yes, it was also a retail space, but let’s face it – a location selling plants and assorted planting supplies is a refreshing difference from the sea of stores selling us clothes, more clothes, fancy knick knacks, more clothes, and even more clothes. It was a little green island of garden goodness.

just a few leftover plants waiting to be purchased at close-out prices

It is SO sad to see a nursery fold, no matter why it is closing. Seeing everything be sold, bit by bit – all the plants, all the trellises , the pots … yes, they are going to good homes for rock bottom prices, but now another source for good, well cared for plants and solid advice is gone. More and more people in the LA area will have to shop out of big box stores out of necessity rather than because of an emergency or whim. (what do you mean “what kind of an emergency could warrant the immediate purchasing of a plant?” I can think of TONS)

I’ve written before about the sad state of affairs that is the retail nursery situation in Los Angeles, and it is now even worse. One high-end nursery, Rolling Greens, did open up a satellite location in Hollywood, not far from the erstwhile Mordigan’s site – but they are a totally different ball of twine. That is where one would go to get perfect specimens for a photo shoot, or to trick out your “outdoor room” with the fancy things that “outdoor rooms” call for.  If you want good plants at reasonable prices with knowledgeable advice to go with them, well – there is one less place to go.

sad little turtles hoping for a home

How unfortunate, just when gardening is having a renaissance, the owners of Mordigan Nursery decided it was better to pursue a different way to use that prime piece of real estate. It has always seemed strange to me that this city, which should be chock full of places to buy plants, has so few. I’m lucky – as a designer I have access to wholesale sources and growers – but I love the spirit and energy of a well thought out, well run retail nursery. A good nursery can be a garden hub – a place that is the center of a vibrant community of gardeners and plant lovers – a place to go to get inspired and talk with others who have the same passion you do. I know what these nurseries look like – I’ve seen them! They are treasures. Every city deseves at LEAST one!

Where is LA’s?

Sigh. Goodbye, Mordigan Nursery. You served your community well. Too bad that ended.

this space will soon be a strip mall.

** A very special THANK YOU to intrepid reporter and dear friend Carla Denker, who alerted me to the sad event, and took all of the pictures in this post.

a bowl of ladybugs makes a fun afternoon for my favorite neighbors

not even the tough boys could resist the spotted little beetles

Ana was the Captain of the Ladybug Brigade

she kept stopping to feed the little ladies a flower...

one, two, three ... GO!!!

they tickle...

"the ... the... little things... ladies-bugs... they're on the FLOWER! they're EATING the FLOWER! ...they don't eat the flower? why? cuz... cuz... my grandpa says bugs EAT FLOWERS! not these ones? heeheehee! I LIKE THESE ONES!!!"

"... but... but ... where is the ladies-bugs GOING???"

"...did ...did one went in my ear?"

Ana's brother happily takes back the bowl, assuring her there is no ladybug in her ear, and if one goes in, he'll take it out for her

... and suddenly they were gone, scattered like little ladybugs themselves, scampering home to sound that only they could hear - one that had to mean dinner time. The Captain and her Troupes did well - the 2010 release of the ladybugs was a complete success. Bravo.

chopping up the tomato harvest- no big deal... but I assure you, THIS was an EVENT

For those of us who love to grow food, this is the time of year when we really reap the rewards of our hard work. In fact, sometimes we reap like crazy. This year, I am reaping buttloads of tomatoes. What to DO with them once you’ve had caprese salads daily, pasta every way imaginable, sun dried them, salsa’d them, given them to friends… is there anything new do be done with the emblem of the summer garden?

Well, why not make jam?

Fallen Fruit is a Los Angeles based art project that explores notions of urban spaces, neighborhoods, and ideas of community. It began by creating maps of fruit trees growing on and above public land and encouraging foraging. The ideas of foraging and gleaning food from our public and semi-public spaces is rife with social and political implications – a great way to familiarize yourself with these ideas is to see Agnes Varda’s fantastic documentary  The Gleaners & I, made in 2000. Anyway, Fallen Fruit started as a collaboration between three artists, David Burns, Matias Viegener, and Austin Young, and has grown to be an exciting movement that has galvanized many to think about food  and our city in a different way. On Sunday, August 1st, they had one of their public Jam Sessions at the LA County Museum of Art, where they encourage people to bring home grown and foraged/gleaned fruit to be jammed – for free, all you needed to do is leave one jar behind.

awesome Matias greets us as we arrive - he taught at Cal/Arts when Jan and I were there (how does he manage to look younger than us?!)

Matias gives eager jammers pointers on flavor combinations and proportions

Well, it was a packed house! People brought fruit galore and were happily chopping and mashing and slicing – everyone was pretty sticky, but it was the right kind of sticky; gooey, messy, foody fun!

what better way to spend a sunday than to get messy playing with food?

everything was provided, all you had to bring was fruit and a sweet tooth

While most people brought fruit, Jan and I brought tomatoes – but a tomato IS a fruit, so I felt justified in my jamming endeavors. My jam was going to be yellow and red tomatoes, mint, basil, and jalapenos from my garden, and then some bitter orange and Oro Blanco grapefruit provided by Fallen Fruit. Doesn’t that sound … adventurous?

okay - Jan doesn't like tomatoes. But here he is anyway, bravely cutting up his least favorite fruit to make my jammy dreams come true

this face shows Jan's true feelings as he sprinkles bitter orange zest on the jam - to - be

It was a lively crowd – everybody was excited, talking, sharing recipes, making friends. I made some friends!

my new posse - the jam fiends

this young dude is the head fiend

we bonded. I gave him some extra mint - he said he's sending me a copy of "Yes Man", the Jim Carrey movie.

Unlike Jan, I love tomatoes and was very excited to see what we would come up with. The recipe was very loose – all we did was chop up our tomatoes and add as much basil, mint, and orange zest as we thought would work. I threw in a few segments of the Oro Blanco grapefruit and a squirt or five of bitter orange. It looked so pretty, I was very excited to find out how to turn this into something I could smear on toast.

could I BE more thrilled over a gloopy bowl of stuff?

Now came the cooking part. There were lots of  cooking stations, with adept jammers doing the actual cooking. All we had to do was go up and wait our turn in any one of the lines, and one of the Fallen Fruit volunteers would help us whip up our jams. I chose the line with the pretty girl in the yellow shirt – she seemed like she’d do my tomatoes justice.

I just KNEW she was the right one to jam with me!

While I was waiting my turn in line, I snuck away to have a taste of the other jams people had made – there were tables full of jars of the yummy sweet concoctions, along with bread, crackers, and peanut butter. People were sampling up a storm!

these were just a few of the many jars left behind so that we could all be inspired to greater heights

what a gorgeous smile! see what a spoonful of jam made from gleaned, fallen fruit can do?

even cool, pouty teenagers can find the good in the gooey sweet stuff

Finally it was my turn to pop my bowl of garden goodness into the communal cooker! My jam making muse, Diana (she of the sunny yellow shirt), wiped off the pot so no trace of apricot or strawberry would taint my tomatoes. I proceeded to dump my chopped up everything into the pot, followed by one half of a cup of pectin (Diana was giving me clear directions) and 3 cups of sugar (I wanted less sugar, but Matias said it would just be salsa if I didn’t make it sweet. So, sugar, LOTS of it!).

here goes - all of this plus pectin plus sugar and maybe we'll get something good

The cooking was easy – we stirred and covered it, then waited for it to boil, stirred some more, more boiling, then added the mint and basil right before the final boil. I ended up with four jars of  JAM! I was very honored that the lovely Diana asked me for one of my jars. I felt special. So I went home from the Jam Session with three jars of tomato mint basil jalapeno citrus gold – all homegrown or Los Angeles foraged. It was a good feeling.

all done! jam jarred, and Diana helped turn me into a fan of jamming

Thank you LACMA, thank you Fallen Fruit, Matias, and Diana – it was a wonderful afternoon and a great way to activate the community. In a city where the citizenry are as famously insular as Los Angeles, you managed to create a vibrant, exciting place to meet people, to celebrate our city and one of its most unique qualities – food dangling right before our eyes, at every corner, within easy reach. Thank you for encouraging us to reconsider the public and the private, and to use our resources. And thank you for doing this in such a fun, lighthearted way. I’m a fan. A fan of public jamming.

I looked deep into the gazing balls and saw the future ...

I was SO EXCITED!

I was going to be visiting the EAST SIDE PATCH – the real life home of one of the funniest, most enchanting garden blogs- I was breathless with anticipation!

Pam from Digging had set up a lovely afternoon of garden visits – and this was our last stop – drinks in The Patch to cap off a glorious afternoon! …but little did I know WHAT was in store for me as I disembarked from the car at the beautiful bungalow in the east side of Austin:

forgive the blurriness - I was so giddy with BAGPIPE FRENZY that my hands were shaking

Who could have expected a BAGPIPE serenade at the beginning of a garden visit? Well – when you go to The Patch, ANYTHING can happen! I was floored – ESP is a man will LOTS of tricks up his sleeves! The incredible sound of the bagpipes – which makes the music of an entire marching band (and a few geese) echoed up and down the street when we arrived, letting us (and the neighborhood!) know that we should expect the unexpected.

I adore this garden- nasella lining curved planted borders! swoon!

This is an active garden – ESP has planted sweeps of nasella, a grass that is lithe and lyrical, that sways in every breeze – as an edging along his curving borders. There is so much movement! Texture is everywhere – it is exciting to see the soft rubbing up against the succulent, large leaves playing with small, prickly consorting with feathery. Add to that lovely little children activating the space with their spirited antics and you have a garden of very earthly delights.

this little hobbit created a wonderful interactive water feature, right on the spot! tip over a bucket full of water and start splashing!

Anyone who reads ESP’s blog East Side Patch knows about the characters that populate this garden. There are witches who weigh in on matters large and small, a tiny tribe indigenous to the Patch (the Naboo – small and potentially lethal! That wasn’t a mosquito bite – it was an infinitesimal poisoned dart!), a stony faced lisping lady who sometimes wears a wig of groundcover plants, and many many more. Walking into this wonderland and seeing some of these characters for myself was so exciting – I admit to being pretty starstruck.

why so stony faced? too much botox, of course! and she seems to have lost her wig

what could be hiding between the amaranth and the echinacea? A Naboo warrior?

This is an enchanting and enchanted garden. In the above picture, you can see the way ESP plays with color, texture, and form. The tall cannas dominate the scene, creating a statuesque grounding point for other plants to weave in and out. The foliage of the Salvia leucantha tickles the large leaved tropical, and a is in turned tickled by an echinacea – whose pinky/purple flower color pops next to the gray green foliage of the salvia. In the foreground, amaranth is stretching out, preparing for the glory of its impending bloom, but for the moment it is happy to let its wine stained leaves talk to the brooding purple foliage of the canna, completing a sophisticated circuit of contrast in this planting. (and I’m not even talking about the blue cedar in the background! Egads, man! The beauty!) It all works, and will continue to work as the various plants come into their own later in the season. Like I said – I LOVE this garden!

is that a hobbit-girl I see before me, wand behind her back? I believe a complicated spell is being cast...

I made an extra special friend that afternoon, in addition to meeting those whose blogs and tweets I’d been enjoying for so long … this small female hobbit, who has charmed me in photos with her sartorial splendor. Well not only did she not disappoint, she rose marvelously to the occasion by donning a pink princess dress! Rosy and frilly, she flitted to and fro, at home in this wonderland – obviously in conversation with the characters that populate the garden where she plays.

the hobbit girl intercedes on my behalf, negotiating the conditions for my afternoon in the Patch with the garden witches. she is a powerful arbitrator

While in the garden, I could see why the blog is so alive – so is the garden! Not only with mythical creatures, but with creepy crawly, flitting, feathered, scaly – anything that can live in a garden lives in this one – and it is all captured by ESP’s swift and sure camera work. I was lucky enough to get a snap of something green and lovely – and it wasn’t a plant:

I'm ready for my close-up, Ms. Soler

Being a gothic plant fiend, I was shocked to find this broodingly beautiful wisteria that I had never heard about – but I should have known ESP would have found a plant like this! While he no longer  wears all black, his gothic heart appreciates gloomy beauty.

a wisteria for both those who loathe and love the Daystar- dusky purple loveliness

The afternoon wore on- we laughed and asked countless questions – I squealed and smiled and ESP and his fabulous wife Leah kept the libations flowing and the chile con queso creamy and ready for frequent dipping.It was HOT – very hot- but I can’t remember being happier in the middle of a group of people I’d just offically met. We come together with so much history behind us already, how could we NOT be instant friends?

ESP and Pam are horrified and astonished, maybe somewhat intrigued by the succulent in question

the look on beautiful Jenny's face sums it up - it was a perfect end to a perfect day

How do you thank people who created unforgettable day? It is impossible – but again -I’ll try. The BIGGEST thank you’s to Pam and Jenny, and enormous amazing out of bounds thank yous to ESP and Leah. The hospitality you guys showed was heartwarming and truly made me a little misty. It isn’t every day this Germinatrix gets a bagpipe serenade, a visit to a garden vibrating with magic, queso on jalapeno cheese bread (cheese on cheese bread – I died from sheer YUM!), and wonderful laughs with super cool plant lovers. I had the BEST. TIME. EVER.

the setting sun highlights the nasella as we say goodbye - goodbye little hobbit! I want your outfit!

Until we meet again,

XOXOXO Your Germinatrix!

this is MY kind off hellstrip - just heavenly!

The magnificent Pam from Digging had wrangled a visit to the unique, sublime garden of Jeff Pavalat. Jeff is a cactus and succulent grower/collector of extreme knowledge – he speaks on the subject all around the country and I can’t tell you how FANTASTIC it was to be in the presence of this kind of passion.

meet Jeff, a bigger succulent maniac than even ME! Jenny, Philip & Leah, Pam, and I were in awe

When the group arrived, we gathered streetside, ooooing and aaaahing at the combinations of agaves and other lovely succulents. From our perch we could see Jeff’s greenhouse, where he keeps his tender aloes and madagascar palms, as well as a whole host of rare seedlings and tiny pots of beauty.

Jeff's greenhouse had my head spinning- what wonders could be inside to rival the wonders outside?

We then walked down the driveway to see the beautiful terraces Jeff and his partner built (themselves!) to display the collection. As a gardener designer who also is an uncontrolled plant collector, I know how difficult it can be to keep your ever increasing collection from wreaking havoc on a well-designed garden – but that is no problem for Jeff. The terraced walls are an elegant organizational element that allows for specimens to shine without looking like a bunch of character actors trying to upstage each other. I was tremendously impressed, and immediately thought I should terrace MY garden – but my lack of a hill will make that tough. DAMN!

glorious opunita! amazing agaves! yucca madness - and they all play nicely together

Philip/ESP photographing the terraces - just check out that stonework!

Jenny admires the beauty - we were all a bit breathless

The variety of cacti and succulents in Jeff’s garden was so exciting – and he shared his expertise so generously! I am of course crazy about these plants, and the opportunity to see so many thriving in one place was a tremendous thrill.

check out these beauties! Two Agave desmettiana all dolled up for sentinel duty! I love it when agave twins are used to flank an entry - SEXY!

look! SIAMESE twin agaves! aren't they absolutely stunning? I don't want to misidentify them - let's just call them A. 'Ghostly Fangs' for now

It was one thing of beauty after another, and THEN we got to peek inside the greenhouse. I couldn’t believe my eyes – everything was so neat, perfect, and organized. I can only IMAGNE what Jeff’s closet is like! He is obviously someone who folds his t-shirts and has an impeccable sock drawer!

as if I wasn't already beside myself, this gorgeous line-up of tender cacti and aloe seedlings just blew me away. I could live in Jeff's greenhouse - but I'd have to improve my housekeeping skills

It was the second garden of the day – and WHAT a doozy! I was faint with succulent desire … okay and maybe the heat was getting to me just a wee bit. And in a garden like this, when you are looking for a place to sit down, you get something as elegant as :

drool.

Benches are my favorite pieces of garden furniture. I have several in my small garden – but THIS bench is now my DREAM bench. Just check out the beauty of stone and wood colliding – simple, well-proportioned, and chic. And nobody set dressed this beautiful moment – this is just the way Jeff ROLLS. Impressed. Respect.

Another HUGE thank you to my Austin blogfriends Pam, Jenny, Philip and Leah, and of course Jeff for exposing me to such a garden!

BUT WAIT – there is MORE … our day ended up in a place of wonder and mystery … the East Side Patch! In Part 3 of my Austin Adventure, we get all heated up over a treasure of a garden, and more fun is had by all! See you there…

XOXO Your Germinatrix

I have always loved pics of Pam's stock tank pond/mandala - but in person... SWOON!

When Texans tell you you are in for something special, HANG ON TIGHT!!!
My dear friend Pam Pennick, who writes the incredible blog Digging, found out that I was going to be in Austin recently, and before I could BLINK she rounded up a fantastic group of my favorite people and put together a day of out of HAND garden visits!

The night before the visits, I awoke at 2am to the most enormous clap of thunder I have ever heard, and stayed up for two hours with my brother Carlos and my Aunt Nora watching the glorious drama of a Hill Country Thunderstorm. I was certain that the garden visits were off, but don’t EVER tell a gardener from Texas that the weather isn’t right! Pam’s cowgirl spirit won out, and we started the day with a tour of her lovely garden … in the rain! (These people obviously don’t understand what rain does to my hair, but humidity be DAMNED! Awesome people with glorious gardens were on the agenda!)

Super cool Austin designer Jenny Peterson snaps away in the rain while my Aunt Nora plays photo assistant

Also in attendance were the fabulous Jenny Peterson, who I met at the San Francisco Garden Show in March, and the man who makes me laugh like no other – Phillip (aka ESP) of East Side Patch. With him was his awesome wife Leah – and I swear we must have known each other in another life because she felt like a BFF right away.

wonder woman Pam points out her new side garden to ESP and Leah, while I melt in the rain like a true denizen of LA

Notice how all of the umbrellas were color co-ordinated!

Those of us who love Pam’s blog have followed her adventures in gardening her new home. I have to say, it is looking smashing! And it was such a treat to see her garden in person – like meeting an old friend. Of course all of us were chatting like long lost relatives within minutes, even though I had to admit to ESP that I was very starstruck, and I’m sure I was giggling WAY too much!

Pam's side garden practically grabs you and demands that you walk the path and enjoy!

Being in a garden that you have enjoyed from afar is a surreal experience. I knew what was coming around the corner, but still managed to be surprised and delighted! And being with garden enthusuasts like THESE people takes everything up several notches – my mouth was a constant, wide open smile as I moved from one thing to another – “There’s the bottle tree! Look at the AGAVE! Oh the BLUE POTS are gorgeous!”

"hello, lovely pots - I have been stalking you online ... don't worry, I am completely harmless...

Pam’s love of color is visible at every turn – color informs all of her choices. She doesn’t miss an opportunity to kick it up a notch with an eye-catching vignette.

is this moment fantastic or WHAT?

Look at how beautifully thought out this seating area is – the durable woven plastic rugs seem to have established the palette for the rest of the furnishings. The lavender of the adirondack chairs and the soft turquoise of the table are both present in the details of the floor mat, but its maroon background pins it down and keeps it the ensemble modern. LOVE!

what? another fabulous blue pot? JEALOUS!!!

I SHOULD have gotten more useable photos, but like I have said before, when it rains, we from Los Angeles completely spaz out – so every time a drop would fall on my hand I would jerk and get a bunch of blurr for my tentative efforts. But believe me, this is a very special place – Pam is creating a wonderland with the soul of her old garden, but with choices appropriate to her new site conditions. What a treat to watch and learn, and what an EXTRA special treat to be invited to meet the woman and the garden in person! Am I a LUCKY Germinatrix or WHAT? The biggest thanks to Pam, Jeff Pavalat, and Philip and Leah for being the most incredible hosts!

And Pam – a better cruise director will never be found. You dominate. Thank you for arranging a day I will ALWAYS remember!

I have two more sublime Austin gardens to go mad over – Jeff ’s succulent wonderland (and I mean it – no hyperbole here!) and Philip and Leah’s magical Patch (where I got to meet the lovely Hobbits and many of the characters that make that garden their home!)

Stay tuned … and it won’t be so long this time! PROMISE!

XOXOXO Your Germinatrix

my new passionflower and my old alstromeria are getting cozy

Ah, I just have WAY too much passion for one person!!!

Sorry I have been an infrequent poster, but there are deadlines for books about edible front yard landscapes looming…

And I am “tore up from the floor up”

But all around me, the passionflowers are blooming up a STORM, so I know all is right with the world.

I am heading of to Texas for a week, and I’m SUPER excited because I am going to meet my supercool blogfriends Pam from Digging, Jenny from J Peterson Garden Design, and ESP from East Side Patch!!! I am going to come back with pictures and stories. But who know IF I will come back at all, because any of you who read ESP’s blog know that his garden is inhabited by all manner of strange creatures – and J’ADORE strange creatures! After Happy Hour in The Patch, I might not WANT to come back!

…but if I do, I will give you more incendiary pictures of these passion-flowers upon my return … this one was just a tease.

And what a little tease she is!

it looks innocent enough... but it isn't. this aloe is getting tickled in all the right places

Plants have sex.

Flowers are organs of sexual potential – they are there to attract pollinators to come and eat their goodies. Once inside, the pollinators gorge themselves, rubbing and cuddling up on the flower.  Fertile pollen grains from the stamen hitch a ride to the next flower, and while the pollinator is feeding again, the pollen attaches itself to the receptive flower part (the stigma) and plant sex occurs. It’s an inter-species surrogate sex, but sex nonetheless. Procreation results. More plants; more flowers. It’s a thing of beauty.

Even in the desert, plants have sex.

This video was shot at The Huntington Gardens during the Aloe bloom extravaganza 2010.

Everywhere you turn, you are confronted with shapes that immediately take your brain to those kinds of thoughts. There are the sturdy, upright blossoms of aloes covered in tight buds, and then tall, dominating cactus with red protrusions that erupt into bloom, or the small, undulating paddle cactus whose curves draw your eye into its dark places…

or is it just ME who thinks like this?

I don’t think it’s just me – gardens get action all the time, right under our noses.

And that is EXACTLY how it should be!

Relax and enjoy…

The song – “Gold For The Price of Silver” by Kings of Convenience

A place between the sidewalk and the street. It is a BAD place. It has been dubbed “The Hellstrip” ( Word has it that author Laurel Springer was the first to call it that – what a genius. So appropriate!)

Mine has been empty, full of crabgrass, forever. But inspired by ESP (Mr. East Side Patch himself), I tackled the hellstrip – but instead of just grasses and succulents, like I’d planned, I threw a curveball. Temporary raised edible beds, right out there in the most public of places, for all the world to see!

corrugated metal, steel posts, rivets, and moxie!

I did this as an experiment. I live one block away from a big public highschool full of bad-ass teenagers. I live on a corner of a busy street – lots of cars pass by, and on weekends troublemakers have been known to park right here next to my hellstrip and drink their 40 oz of whatever (I usually find the evidence of this marauding on Sunday morning). So these edible beds are NOT expected to be respected – BUT, I am hoping for the best.

the long view of the round beds

The response from neighbors has been astounding. I thought people would hate the look of the corrugated beds. I wanted something easy to put together, and that could be quickly taken apart should the city “powers-that-be” decide I am being too subversive ( well, more like I’m getting in the way of some tree trimming or something). so I chose this humble metal building material. I wanted it to look somewhere between country and modern – I think they do that! My neighbors have been stopping me and asking so many questions – and they have been pledging vigilance. I feel like they are all taking ownership of these edible beds! And that makes me determined to share whatever bounty the varmints, both critter AND human, allow these beds to give.

lots of spillers to soften the edges - grow little ones!

I’ve put agaves and nasella in between the beds – right now they are tiny … the kids going to school and people getting out of their cars can easily walk in the hellstrip right now – but by next year, they will find it a little harder. I’m planning on putting in more grasses and then finishing with a layer of decomposed granite – I DO have to think about this as an access as well as a planting. Otherwise I would have planted the HELL out of  this strip!

You have to use what you have - school zone sign as bean pole

This is one of my favorite things – using the existing sign, which I’ve always HATED because I see it from inside my back garden and it ruins the illusion of Shangri-La. Now I love the sign, because I’ve turned it into a bean pole and incorporated it into my scheme of “world domination”! Or at least “neighborhood domination”! If half of the people who have told me that they want to utilize their hellstrips for the same purpose actually do something like this, I will be so THRILLED!

So cross your fingers for me, everybody! It is just a baby, and it needs to grow, but if it works out and the marauders take it easy on me – then my faith in mankind will be re-solidified. I can’t wait to see what happens, and as usual, I will keep you posted!

vulnerable little beds need best wishes!

XOXO your Germinatrix!!!