Curls and Color...

Let's take a quick trip back to California! Our first stop is at Cactus Jungle - a fabulous (spiky) nursery in Berkeley. Our curls start on the barbed wire at the entrance, but that's not really what I want to show you...

It's this! The curls of a very sexy Agave salmiana 'Medio Picta'...

An extremely gorgeous agave. I wanted to take it home, it wanted to come home with me. It was a match made in heaven.

Well, sort of.

More curls!

These belong to Albuca spiralis..."Rare bulb from South Africa with curly leaves. In habitat the bulb remains below ground. Generally hardy, but keep dry. Will get 8" tall. Cute green-yellow classic Hyacinth-like flowers. Early spring flowers are replaced by the corkscrew leaves in summer. Very good draining soils"...

It stayed behind too.

Color! Oh my, color! A pink house with yellow and orange trim, you don't see that everyday. Yes I had to pull over and take a closer look (and okay yes, it was all about the agave).

Walking back towards the corner. I wonder if they have a roof deck out over the garage?

The grevillea bloom matches the house.

But this is the traffic-stopper, well for me, most probably wouldn't even give it a second glance.

The mama plant was taller than me (at 5ft 3in) and there were oh so many pups, one even came up at the base of the stairs. Poor thing's been stepped on...

As you probably noticed in the first photo the lower leaves have been cut back in deference to the sidewalk users. I wonder if, when it finally blooms, it will be allowed to complete it's life cycle or be cut back to keep the intersection safe?

We move on. Now we're in Oakland at The Dry Garden. There will be a future blog post on this amazing nursery but for now, there are curls.

Agave gypsophila 'Ivory Curls' to be exact.

"hey this looks safe, nobody will mess with me here..."

So many curly agaves, so little space in the car (and money in the wallet)...