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Writer's pictureConejo Valley Botanic Garden

Garden Activities: November 19, 2024

Updated: 5 days ago

So today we (Dale Harshberger, Beverly Kemmerling, Irene Rowland, Daryl Stutley, Nancy Taylor Walker, Janet Wall, and I) started our survey in the Native sections. What we found was disturbing. This is, or should I say was, one of our 3 prized Santa Cruz Island ironwood saplings that have done so well over the past few years:

This has been developing since 2-3 weeks ago when first I noticed the new foliage looked wilted. Jim Cyr has been giving it some extra water the past couple of weeks, but it looks fried. We’ll leave it alone for a while longer and then, if it hasn’t shown any sign of rejuvenation, cut it to about a foot and hope a miracle happens and it sprouts again from the base. I can only surmise that the heat wave a couple of months ago did it in. I still hope one day to have copse of ironwoods that one can walk through and get the sense of being on Santa Cruz Island. We’ll have to try again with a couple of new trees.  The other 2 saplings and the mature trees across the path all look fine — fingers crossed!


The next issue we found was a sapling coulter pine tree just above the new entrance.  Janet found it lying almost prostrate on the ground with the cage smashed. It had evidently been trampled. The thin trunk being supple, she was able to stand the tree up and support it with rocks. I later showed it to Jim Cyr, and he was going to stake it after we left.

 

We then headed for the Trail Trees, and the first thing that struck us was the bins of cobbles lining the main path. I jokingly suggested that as we passed through, we should each take a cobble and place it on the path that we had worked on months ago. Lining the paths with cobbles was to have been a volunteer project for a local business; however, that has yet to come to pass. So one cobble each morphed into a “project” with the seven of us carrying cobbles from the bins by hand to the trail border. Irene was the only one who carried several at a time in a 15-gallon pot! Pictured below: Beverly, me, Irene and Janet pretending to have a good time!

Janet and Daryl:

Nancy:


When done with that project, we took a well-earned rest on the closest bench.

Seated from left: Janet, Beverly and Dale.  Standing from left: me, Daryl and Irene.  Nancy was behind the camera:


The progress was impressive completing the solid edges of cobbles for many tens of feet. We decided to work on this project off and on in the coming weeks.


Finally while on the border between the Trail of Trees and Sage Hill we noticed a great disparity in the stage of growth of the native Encelias. Most of the area looks like this below:

Mostly brown thickets with bits of green emerging. This is labeled Encelia californica. We also have some Encelia farinosa. The latter is distinguished by its gray-green fuzzy-appearing foliage.


Some of their hybrids are already blooming. Despite lack of rain, some plants were already in full bloom. Apparently the hybrids have a different cycle from either of their parents. Or they might have a source of underground water? Sounds like a research project to me.


After the Tuesday Crew left, I stayed with Jim Cyr to scope out additional work to be done when we have tree work done (soon), and we distributed garden brochures to the various places in the garden where they live. Bill Dobner was busy with the compost and watering.

 

Thanks to Beverly and Nancy for their images.

 

Enjoy the garden!   KMM

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