#love those iceplants

[metamatar]

hi!! west coast usamerican here to id those—we call them iceplant locally and their binomial name is Carpobrotus edulis! they're a south african succulent invasive to the west coast that was planted by railroad companies to stabilize tracks laid down on sandstone cliffs, which weren't geologically sound. it's now embedded in the whole west coast and often threatens local flowering plants via competition for space. also, if you break off a piece and press it to your tongue, it'll dry it out!

wow i love you anon and i mean that <3 i need to get learning west coast plant and animal life soon. i didn't touch any cause they were fenced and it was near a tree grove marked protected so i thought they were protected and went in the wrong direction! but i'll keep my eye out licking plants is arguably the greatest joy of our lives.

[robo-dino-puppy]

a moment of stillness

[lifescycles]

This tiny #iceplant loves the sun. Those vibrant flowers are barely 1” in diameter. I love that we have flowers every season in our gardens. #flowers #inmygarden #naturesbeauty #norcal #nofilter #outsideisfree (at Ridgeview Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8k0UALFqBS/?igshid=3u1zmykstfut

[wealthypioneers]

Iceplant Flower Mix Seeds Organic, Non-GMO B50 Annual Mixed Dorotheanthus bellidiformis Ice Plant Looking for a unique addition to your garden or meadow this year? This annual Ice Plant mixture is the perfect choice! Vibrant colors of orange, pink, purple, red and yellow liven up the summer garden and this succulent is easy to grow, needing full sun and well-draining soil. Mixed Annual Ice plant, also known as Livingstone Daisy or Mesembryanthemum, is a low-growing succulent with daisy-like flowers. The mixture is composed of vibrant shades of orange, pink, purple, red, white and yellow. It makes an excellent groundcover, creates colorful borders and works well in containers. Annual Iceplant needs sunny locations and well-draining soils. Count: 50 seeds Ice Plant is the bright-flowered groundcover so common and loved on the West Coast, but hardly known at all in the east. It’s a succulent, a lot like a short Sedum, but the flowers are the big thing--look at those sizzling hot pink daisies. Everybody loves them, and the plant spreads rapidly with trailing runners. Why are these plants so popular out west? Visit the Pacific coast, all the way from San Diego up to Seattle, and you'll see these little bright daisies everywhere--edging walks, filling planters, and adding great color under foundation plantings. Why don't we see them more in the east? See the story below, and get some going in your garden! Pick a site with full sun and gritty, sharp-draining soil, and add them to your garden. You'll be amazed at the big show! The Ice Plant story. Garden expert Todd Boland, a horticulturalist at The College of the North Atlantic, in Newfoundland, explains it all in one of his articles at DavesGarden.com. (Link below.) It seems a famous garden expert named Panayoti Kelaidis of the Denver Botanical Garden is almost single-handedly responsible for introducing these beauties to the US. They are from South Africa, and Mr. Kelaidis traveled there to find new plants suitable for growing in the dry, gritty soils of our western states. The Delospermas he introduced are now great favorites, especially in California. But as Mr. Boland points out, there's no reason eastern and mid-western gardeners cant enjoy Ice Plants. Mr. Boland actually brings D. cooperi, one of the most cold-hardy, through his wet cold winters in Newfoundland, so don't worry about the plants hardiness! Sowing: Direct sow seeds in late fall, pressing them lightly into the surface of the soil since they need light to germinate. For spring planting, mix the seeds with moist sand and store in the refrigerator for 30-60 days before planting; keep the soil moist until germination, which usually takes place within 14-21 days. This seed can also be started indoors 6-8 weeks before planting in the spring; transplant the seedlings outdoors after the last chance of frost. Growing: Water seedlings until they become established, but do not overwater. Mature plants tolerate drought well and make an excellent choice for dry slopes, rock gardens, or other dry and sunny locations. These plants may reseed themselves in favorable growing conditions. Harvesting: For cut flowers, choose stems with flowers that have just opened. Strip the foliage that will fall below the water level, and place in water immediately. http://springsofeden.myshopify.com/products/iceplant-flower-mix-seeds-organic-non-gmo-b50

[oregonbearboy]

Stroll

 The smallest events sometimes have the color and tone that form a smiling remembrance, a fact I didn't fully appreciate until a summer day in 1966, warm in the sun and cool in the shade, breezy and chilling a bit as I headed out from our apartment at 44th and Balboa to visit my friend and his family in the Sunset near Judah. It was a long walk – across the Richmond, the park, and all those blocks in the Sunset, but, given that this was San Francisco, no excursion through any part of it was ever just routine.

    I would have driven as I had access to my folks' '62 Galaxie, but the tricky maneuvering required to get it out of its cramped and geometrically challenged spot in the lot behind our building was a little beyond my skill set, as the few scrapes and dings on that car could attest. I would walk.

    Anything might seem possible starting at my corner with the ocean air fresh and crackling with untapped energy. What a world-conquering and limitless feeling that air gave as it washed over anyone blessed to be there.  I headed south at a slow pace to simply revel in the experience. The houses in their neat rows looked tiny and hunkered down against the endless battering of salt, sun, wind, sand, and moisture from the nearby beach. Sharp edges, shiny things, and bright colors all gave in to that wear to become blunted, duller, and more dim over time, but still beautiful and elegant in their own way...a part of it all with a beauty that one might find in an older person's hands, shaped by time and toil and expressing every nuance of a life with a thousand stories to tell.

    The park loomed ahead – a mix of expansive, rolling meadows and dark bowers of firs and spruces and pines, some gnarled and twisted into storybook shapes with the relentless coaxing of the wind. I loved it all – the rich earthy compost of pine needles crunching underfoot, squirrels insanely busy and alert, grass that made you think just briefly about being barefoot in it, small pockets of beige sand and plump iceplant trying to migrate in from the beach for a foothold in this  piece of paradise. On the streets, the sounds would ricochet and echo off the walls and pavement, but here they became a murmur, absorbed  and muffled by the cool greenness underfoot, alongside, and overhead. I walked on, back into the sun, and I was in the Sunset.

    The walk was a little different – the same appealing charm but a bit busier with more shops, buses, and trolleys...or maybe it just seemed that way to me. The Judah streetcar rumbled and clanked past, just a few faces in the windows, and the wind freshened at every east-west cross street that gave a view of the beach dunes and a path for the breeze. At my friends house, no one was home, and I stood there just for a moment head down and disappointed. Then, I turned and looked north as my attitude changed from frustration to anticipation. I would walk it again, and it was still my favorite place on earth.

[robo-dino-puppy]

quen officer