Rainy Days

Rain feels so precious in L.A. Not only is it great for all the plants but it scrubs all the smog out of the air. It makes everything look so clean.

More Blooming

The agaves aren't the only things blooming. Sam identified this plant taking over my front fence as Solandra maxima, also known as Cup of Gold vine.


The first year I lived here this plant grew about 20 feet and now reaches across the whole front of the yard. It has since filled out and is trying to take over the neighbor's yard. I'm going to have to get the pruning sheers out.


Not only does it grow fast but it does it with almost no attention from me. It stays fresh and green all Summer without any supplemental watering. I think I love it for this more than the flowers, which sort of look like burst balloons to me.


It's a little scary how successful it is. I took some cuttings and stuck them in dirt and they have already sent out new greedy little branches. I have bunch if anyone wants some.

Agave Update

The Agave attenuatas are still going great guns.


The buds have started opening and you can see why they are called foxtail agaves.


They must be about 10 feet long.



These shots are a couple weeks later and you can see the progression as the buds open up in sequence from the bottom to the top.

Headboard

Just so this doesn't turn into a chicken blog, I'm going to post about something that's not a chicken.

I'm making a headboard for my bed. It is a silhouette of a flock of crows (it felt too nerdy to write "murder of crows"). It should look like this:


I'm cutting it out of a piece of 3/4" MDF. I printed the design on paper and then cut it out to make the pattern.




Then I started cutting with my jigsaw. It took about two hours just to cut the outside edge. I have a feeling this is going to be a long project. I drilled holes for the inside edges using a couple different size spade bits.




Still a long way to go.

Chicks Move to Big Coop

I cordoned off a section of the big coop so that I could move the chicks up and they would be protected while everyone got used to each other. I moved them at night and when I got to the coop the next morning the chicks had broken out and were running around with the big chickens. I was concerned that the big roosters would mess with the Silver Laced Wyandotte cockerels but it was the hens that seemed the most pissed off at the interlopers.

This Silver Penciled Rock hen has the SLW pullet cornered under the nest boxes.



One of the SLW cockerels tries to take on Brian Feathers an Old English Game Bantam. The SLW is about 3 times bigger than Brian.



Brian has a big heart though and quickly sends all of the SLWs back into hiding.


Things have calmed down a little now but it's going to take a while before a new hierarchy is sorted out.

Foxtail Agaves Bloom

There is a nice bed of Agave attenuata in my front yard and two of the largest are starting to bloom. It's all happening very quickly. This was about tw0 months ago:



This was four weeks later:


Another 4 weeks:


The bloom spikes are about 7 feet high now and the front one is starting to compete with a Magnolia tree that I planted a few months ago.

I've read different accounts of how long it takes A. attenuata to bloom and it could be anywhere between ten and twenty years. They can also be shocked into blooming from stress or a drastic change in condition. My house was vacant for a year before I moved in and the whole property had clearly been neglected. I've been watering the last couple Summers so maybe the plants are taking this opportunity to reproduce in case another dry spell is on the way. I'm not sure if that explains the upheaval but I can't help wondering.

Here is a close up showing the flower buds:


When they open it will make the bloom spike look like a bushy foxtail, hence the common name foxtail agave. You can also see the leaves of the plant starting to shrivel and turn red. These blooms are a bittersweet thing. They are spectacular to see but it also means that this plant will die. The good news is that new plants could grow out of the trunk and baby plantlets called bulbils could form on the bloom spike once it is done blooming. The bulbils can be removed and planted.

I'll post more progress photos later

Chick Progress Check

So the chicks are a couple months older and they look almost full grown. They are about 4 1/2 months now. The big cockerel has been crowing and causing a fuss so I think I'm going to have to move them up to the big coop on the hill.

I think the pullet is very pretty. The chicks are Silver Lace Wyandottes, which means that they have white feathers with a black edge.