The fire is out

Last Wednesday, I published a post focused on the unmanageable growth of a Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' I'd planted in a strawberry pot back in 2012.  

I'd cut the Euphorbia back many times over the years, briefly shortening its height on each occasion while inevitably causing it to bush out further

After deciding that the plant had overstayed its welcome in my cutting garden, I tackled its removal.  Partway in, I began asking myself if I really wanted it out but I persevered.  As expected it was a messy job.

I wore elbow-length garden gloves and avoided the milky sap released by the plant with every cut as best I could.  This was what it looked like when I finished my first pass at cutting it back.

I created separate piles of small-to-medium cuttings and large cuttings but much of what I cut went into a green bin for recycling

A close look at the pot showed that it was riddled with deep cracks

While I did a grocery run on Saturday, my husband went to work breaking up the pot and pulling out the rest of the plant.  Interestingly, although the pot was broken in many places by the plant's sheer girth, he told me that it hadn't actually rooted itself in the ground below the pot.

This is the area after my husband pulled up the plant and the remnants of the broken pot

I'd initially hoped I could leave the Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' plants surrounding the pot in place, although I had to remove those growing out of the side pockets of the strawberry pot (cuttings shown on the left).  However, the remaining plants didn't look great once the pot was out so I took cuttings of those too (shown in the bucket on the right), clearing the rest of the space.

I was surprised to find massive roots in the area.  These weren't roots of the Euphorbia.  My guess is that they're an extension of the Pandorea jasminoides vine situated some 8-10 feet away, another plant I inherited with the garden.

When cleared, I discovered that there was a drip irrigation bubbler in the middle of the area I hadn't remembered was there

I'd briefly considered putting a half-barrel in the empty spot but that would have required removing or capping the drip irrigation pipe that fed that bubbler so I returned to my original plan of moving a large terracotta pot there.  Moving the pot frees up space for another barrel alongside the two I already have on the west side of the cutting garden.

I moved the pot and planted some of the Aeonium cuttings around it.  Last year, I planted Dahlia 'Akita' in this pot and may do so again when one of the 2 tubers I saved produces a sprout in its temporary pot.

I put the Aeonium 'Kiwi' cuttings I had no use for on the street as another neighborhood giveaway.

Two of these pots (each containing a dozen or more cuttings) were already gone when I checked 2 hours later and I won't be surprised if the 2 remaining pots are gone by morning

So one problem dealt with!  However, yesterday, as I headed out to meet my jury service obligation, I noticed another little problem.

This was what was left of a Clianthus puniceus 'Flamingo Pink' I'd planted in March.  I don't know why I thought the rabbits wouldn't bother it.

I'd taken this photo in late March, not for the purpose of showing the Clianthus on the right but rather to show Gomphrena 'Itsy Bitsy' (left) as she recovers from the severed pruning I gave the plant in late winter.  However, this may end up being the one and only photo of the Clianthus with foliage.

I caged the plant in the late afternoon once I'd been released from jury service

Whether the Clianthus has any chance of recovery is anybody's guess.  Win one, lose one - that's often the story of gardening, isn't it?

All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party