Pictures & History

THE "ALTAR GARDEN" GETS NEW PLANTS & TEMPORARY IRRIGATION
May 23, 2010

Altar Garden
Pics by Lobo Solo (Matrix) LG VX9100 (2.0 mega pixel) phone camera.

This is the Altar Garden with a few new plants. From my "home nursery" I brought in a few cacti, other succulents, and a "real" rosemary herb bush (not visible).

We found one really brilliant abalone shell amongst many other types of sea shells buried in the soil when we sifted the soil for debris the previous weekend. To clean the shells we soaked them in a mild muriatic acid and water solution, then a chlorine bath to bleach the organic stains.

This shows the garden at the corner entrance to the Main House.

A little closer

closer yet.

The other side. Note the garden hose which attached to the "black" coiled "soaker hose." The soaker hose also wraps around the whole perimeter of the garden, so when the water is "ON" every plant in the garden gets watered. The water is controlled daily by a battery operated timer and valve. Eventually a better low profile drip-irrigation system will be implemented. For now, I just wanted to keep the new plants alive while I'm away.

yet another angle

side angle

angle form the house

towards the house

Zoomin' in a little on the top tier for the garden. Note the turquoise coloring on one of the rocks due to some copper mineral content.

Another angle on the top tier.

The top tier from the other side. This time you can see the "regular" rosemary herb "bushling" down front center.

By now, you're probably wondering what are the strange wood pieces... they are pieces of a dry-rotted termite eaten tree stump which I splinted into sections and "planted" up-side-down here and there in the garden planter for "artistic" effect.

A close up of a propagated piece of fiercely pointy cactus to-be in front of the one of the wood pieces.

This little cacti is showing its first little "pinkish" shoots which will produce new lobes of it self. It is on it's way to being one prickly plant with sharp two inch needles.

Ground level view, "the valley."

One of two remaining cascading rosemary bushes, looking like a bonsai juniper...

the little altar before it. Note the brilliant abalone shell.

Close up of altar pieces; shell, these strange quartzite like geode nodes, and a dried sprig of White Sage (Salvia apiana)
.

the other cascading rosemary bush...

and the alter before this one. On the altar are bits of coral, shell, and these strange quartzite like geode nodes...

Close up of altar pieces

The magnificent abalone shell.

A cluster of succulents; aloe vera, a small snake plant (sansaveria -not a succulent -or is it?), and then some borra-bings and barra booms -OK, I don't know what they are.

A cluster of "Chandelier plant Kalanchoe, Alligator plant, or Mother of Millions" (Botanical Name: Bryophyllum delagoense x B. Daigremontianum, "Houghton's Hybrid"). It's considered a weed, but it is still interesting.

End of story
Back to main Pictures and Archive page