Generosity

So this truck load holds contributions

from Jillian, Peter and a few stragglers from the last donation from Fanny. Thank you kindly. Because of the generosity of these lovely folks, the project is getting better looking by the day. The Cotyledons are from Jillian, who was giving away tons of these very healthy succulent cuttings. I had so many, I kept some for myself and shared some with a neighbor to brighten up her side yard. The cacti are from Peter, who also was giving away lots of cuttings and was so complimentary of this project, he was able to bring them to me! That is a wonderful thing. While looking over the plants today, I see evidence all over that Spring has sprung. The Sparaxis are in flower, the poppies are sprouting up all over and the Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives' that came from the south bay are growing with a vengeance! I hope so because it would be lovely to have this planted all over O'Shaughnessy Green! See below.

Look at this Euphorbia lambii (right) in full flower too!

When I went up to the median at Malta, I was amazed. Back on November 27th (see images in post with that date below) I planted some CA natives. They have quadrupled in size! They are Lupinus arboreus(right)and Lupinus nanus (center). There is also a very noticeable growth rate for the Sedum spathulifolium.(left)

Lastly, I had to give pause. I know from transplanting a very large (4 person job) Agave weberi into my yard and in two years it flowered. I learned that when an agave thinks it is dying or stressed and potentially dying, it will flower, making seeds, in order to survive. Here is this large, but not huge Agave vilmoriniana, or octopus agave, and it is flowering. I know it has stress as you can see the tips of the leaves are dry, but it also was growing to this size in a one gallon pot. So it was stressed and now it will flower prematurely, in my opinion, and because it is monocarpic, that's it - dead by a year from now.

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Three

Today as I was about halfway done adding some Gazanias, bush ice plant and (not pictured) aptenia and some agaves, Chrissy the lovely and supportive neighbor came out to tell me that just the other day, shortly after I finished my work in the median and left, a three car accident happened at the curve.

This explains the reflector that was laying there.

More

Today I added lots more plants to the center median. Originally I wanted to make this an all agave bed to demonstrate how many different shapes, colors and textures are in this huge family of plants.

No longer is that the plan and I have to say it looks really good with the Senecio and the calindrinia cuttings I received from Fanny.

Her generosity is superb!

Right now, the plants are really growing and starting to fill in and look like some cool healthy plants, see?

Wait?

My plan was to wait to clean up the month old damaged plants until DPT came to survey the damage first hand. They still have not. But, Julia asked that I clean it up as some complaints were received. That is good because people out there are noticing the plantings. I agreed to clean and add new plants by today or tomorrow and believe it or not, it got cleaned up yesterday, before I could do it today. A few agaves got scooped up in the removal that I know were salvageable, but that is my fault for not collecting them sooner. It is now replanted and looking really good with even larger plants than the original plants. It's no longer a stick Agave bed, but it is good.

Due to the generosity of Fanny, and the keen watchful eye of Annie, I was able to score these fantastic HUGE plants to reclaim the median! They are Furcraea bedinghausii. Fanny was giving away 3 plants that her crew had already removed and were waiting to be picked up when I arrived. Wow, they were larger than I expected, and very healthy.

I barely could get them on the truck even with her help. Channing was called in to assist in unloading them and he was a great help to me as usual. Now the median is beautiful again and as these beauties relax, they will really look stunning! Thanks Fanny for providing such great plants. Oh, the front plant in the picture below is an Agave vilmoriniana (octopus agave) that came from Marsha a while back. (so did the others that were plowed down) I was saving this one because it was the largest, and lucky for it I did, as it survived. I hope these will be all right for a long time to come. Steer clear people!!        S  L  O  W   D  O  W  N,  please !

Also, I noticed that the plants have been growing really fast in the smaller side medians! Compare with the similar view below from August 2011, when it all first began.

All in all, I am very excited to have the median looking good again.

One experience that helps this restored excitement was a passer by that shared his frustration with the past moths damage and asked if there were plans to add any means of preventative nature, like more reflectors. I explained that I am lobbying for this and a sign, he told me he would go home and send the city an email. Cool. I am thinking something like.....

                    

Meeting

I just returned from meeting with Julia, with San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA) and Sandy, Assistant Superintendent with DPW. They are now seeing the situation first hand, collected some of their own photographs and will now get in contact to set up a meeting with DPT (Department of Parking and Traffic). They are the ones who have say over anything that would be added as a preventative: more reflectors, two big trees, a mound of soil or even extending the median bed to round the corner. All these are ideas and the last one being a big-ol-pipe dream. Sandy says why not have those! I will report the next phase.

Damage

On Friday 1/13, a vehicle plowed through the center median. It did so much damage, that I am not sure how to move forward. I am working with the Parks Alliance to see if DPT will add some way to make this median more visible before I replace the plantings. For now, here is how it looks.

More

I added so many additional plants today. Here is the before and after of the truckload.

Report

• DPW secured the walk sign at the Malta median and it is well done. (perhaps too low however)
• The plants have been really growing and filling in fast.
• The neighbors to the East have been super supportive and helpful.
• I have been able to include some natives (in the box) to bring a bright smile and a sigh of relief to Denise, who is really an advocate for local natives.

• Then, unbelievably, there have been three instances of vehicles driving into the medians. The most recent was Nov 22. The photos below were made by Chrissy and I really appreciate her efforts. Remarkably, the plants were dragged but not destroyed and I was able to replant them comfortably.

Dang!

Well, it happened. Two plants were stolen. Both Agave americans. One was the largest plant in the center median and one was a small plant on the Malta/O'Shaughnessy median. I actually filed a police report: case number 110710090. You can see that the person dragged the plant out. Until they are rooted in they are vulnerable I guess. Bird netting to cover all???

Planted

Yesterday, I planted 152 plants in Bed D, the one on the south side of O'Shaughnessy. This means all beds are planted for now. So now I seek DG for a means of maintenance and beautification of course, and keeping the weeds out. Oh yes, I am sure I will be shifting plants as needed.

Added

Also Friday and today, I added a few more small agaves to the agave bed.

Side

Friday, I was able to plant one of the side medians. There were 139 plants that went into this area. All of them have been propagated, divided and collected just for this project.

Focus

Now I will focus my attention on the side medians....

In

They are in! DPW added the walk sign and I sure hope it gets secured better.

Welcome

Bookmark this page to learn more about the brand new San Francisco Street Park known as O'Shaughnessy Green! On Saturday August 13, I intend to start the first planting round... I will be harvesting some Agave americans from Pacifica and planting them directly into the median... here we go!