There's a garden nearby that I visited several years ago and think of ever so often. I remembered it's general location, but couldn't manage to find it—that is until a few weeks ago when I was out anger walking. Surely you know anger walking? It's when you're REALLY upset about something and need to get out and walk it off. Anyway, turns out I'd walked right by this place a few times, except I was on the other side of the street and the plants in the hellstrip have grown so much there's no way I would have recognized the garden, if not for the Erica arborea...
It's kinda crazy cool isn't it?
So that ^ was then (August 2014) and this is now. I couldn't get a good overall shot because of parked cars...![]()
But it's safe to say the plant has grown significantly...
And now, because I am taking a deep dive into the past and Erica arborea, here are three photos from my 2015 visit to Old Hurlburt School Gardens...in that post I asked "Erica arborea? Perhaps 'Albert's Gold'?"
And here's a photo from June of 2019 when I spotted an Erica arborea in a neighbor's hellstrip when on a HPSO Study Weekend stop...
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So after all this you may be asking if I've got an Erica arborea in my garden? The answer is, yes! Planted in 2016 this Erica arborea var. alpina, it was just a tiny thing when it went in, but it's grown significantly. Photo from 2018...
And a 2019 image...
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You may be wondering why no current photo? Well because it's raining hard out there right now and I don't feel like venturing out to get drenched! Trust me it's still there and looking great. So great in fact that I added another, but it's still just a tiny thing—less than a foot tall. Here's what The Desert Northwest says about this species: "Too cool! There are a lot of tree heaths out there, but this one is special because it's actually totally hardy west of the Cascades. This species grows to 6' tall and wider with soft green, plume-like evergreen foliage. In spring the plant is covered with beautiful white bell flowers. This plant is a must for any Mediterranean or xeric garden and is related to the truly treelike heaths of the highlands of tropical Africa. It's easily accommodated in partial to full sun and any reasonably well-drained soil, and hardy to at least 5 °F."
And then last fall I finally bought an Erica arborea 'Estrella Gold' after lusting after it for quite some time. It's still in a container...![]()
And I will need to think very carefully about where I plant it, because some say it can get to be 8-ft tall and nearly as wide. You might even say it will get big enough to hide an entire garden if you're walking on the other side of the street...![]()
Weather Diary, Feb 10: Hi 47, Low 40/ Precip .03 
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