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We’re sad to say, but this will be our last post here for the Ocean Beach Bulletin. We’ve enjoyed sharing our thoughts on gardening with you, and you can still follow your OB gardening buddies at FarOutFlora.com. But before we go, we wanted to share some of those lovely patches filling the cracks out here in the Outside Lands. Here are a couple of our favorites that motivated us to green up our living space.

Aloe plicatilis on Lower Great Highway.

We definitely can’t say this is the best garden in all San Francisco, but it was one of the first that made us stop the car and walk around more, looking at gardens. Man, that Aloe plicatilis in the center is sweet.

Thirty-sixth Avenue sidewalk garden.

This is a cool sidewalk strip close to 36th Avenue near the zoo. I spoke to one of the owners for awhile and he told me the block is actively working with the City to ditch some concrete and plant. Though he didn’t say, I believe it’s part of a program through the Surfrider Foundation SF called Plant Don’t Pave.

Succulent container garden.

Then there’s always the “plant a bunch of containers” garden approach. Great way to make some extra garden space.

Flowering garden with princess flower.

We tend to gravitate toward succulents, but this “let’s grow herbaceous stuff that flowers” style caught our eye.

La Playa garden.

Our old fave standby: the community garden down on Judah and La Playa. No space in your own yard, but still want to get your hands dirty? There are a lot of these gardens around, and usually they need some extra help from volunteers.

Far Out Flora's garden.

We were inspired, and have been working on our garden ever since – a little chunk of it seen above. So there you have it. See you around the ‘hood. Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with art degrees. Matti and Megan both work for plant places here in the Bay Area. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off Willy Street. Our dog, Max, is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast. Keep track of more of our garden adventures: We blog at FarOutFlora.com.

California native this one is not. It hails from South Africa. The southwest side of South Africa has a similar climate to what we have up and down California, and it is about the same distance from the equator (just the other direction). A lot of their plants do well here in the OB.

So, how crazy will this guy go in your garden? Melianthus major grows to about 10 feet tall in rich soil, but may stay around 6 feet in the sandy loam that most of us have in our yards. The chocolate flowers though are also substantially sized: about a foot long. Great thing about this guy is it will offer you some color during the winter months, as it starts right before the holidays and can continue to early spring.

Well, our garden survived the cold. I think all but two of the succulents made it through the frost. We are getting a big flat of some filler plants to put in a newly renovated section of our garden – still trying to take advantage of our winter rains to get them established before our summer drought. See ya in two weeks. Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with art degrees. Matti and Megan both work for plant places here in the Bay Area. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off Willy Street. Our dog, Max, is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast. Keep track of more of our garden adventures: We blog at FarOutFlora.com.

There are a couple variations on the foliage, and flowers or bracts, but you most likely will encounter green to gray foliage and bronze to blue bracts. Those violet blooms you see above? Well, those are really bracts that surround the flower. You see this in Bougainvilleas too. Bracts are specialized leaves that typically close around the flower and help attract pollinators. By the way, this particular plant is called Cerinthe major atropurpurea, also commonly known as honeywort or blue wax plant.

You can sow seeds directly into the ground and they do well in containers, too. If you plant now, you should start seeing germination in about one to three weeks and mature flowering plants by the middle to end of spring. These guys are Mediterranean natives, with a lot of them coming in, out and about the Greek islands. Water them to get started, and then let Mother Nature take over. Sometimes a little drink in the summer helps them look a little perkier. They like sun, do OK in part shade, and will start to look leggy in full shade.

Now go get a plantin’. We’re headed back to our garden. Looks like we may get some showers next week, which means it’s a good time to start some new plantlings. See ya in two weeks. Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with art degrees. Matti and Megan both work for plant places here in the Bay Area. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off Willy Street. Our dog, Max, is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast. Keep track of more of our garden adventures: We blog at FarOutFlora.com.

Here’s the skinny on rosemary, aka Rosmarinus officinalis. When shopping for this guy, you’ll find a bunch of varieties that range from those that like to hug the ground all the way to upright treelike forms. It’s always best to check the plant label or ask your nursery person, but here a couple that we frequently see in our area. “Tuscan Blue” grows upright about 4-6 feet tall and wide, with bluish lavender flowers. If you’re looking for something more compact, check out “Roman Beauty,” which keeps to about 1-3 feet tall and wide and a little more violet blooms. Finally a sweet cascading grower is “Trailing Blue,” a great plant with bluish-violet flowers that will give you some spilling action.

As far as care goes, you are gonna want to give this guy full to part sun here along Ocean Beach, and water infrequently but thoroughly after the roots have been established. Rosemary doesn’t mind getting a haircut, so prune away – but we’ve noticed that the upright forms can get a little woody over time and don’t like to put on new growth on bare old wood.

Eat away at the foliage. We find that some rosemary tastes better before it flowers, but a lot of people like eating the flowers, too – so experiment. OK, we’re headed back to our garden. We’re trying to get a lot of new stuff planted before the winter rains end. See ya in two weeks. Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from UW-Madison with art degrees. Matti works for an art gallery and Megan works for a home staging company. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off of Willy Street. Our dog Max is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast.

Unlike a lot of poppies, Eschscholzia californica doesn’t like to be transplanted and it’s smartest to start yours from seed. The best time to plant for February blooms was last fall. But hey — no worries. You can sow seeds for the next couple of weeks and still enjoy the party. Their flowers just won’t start popping until late spring, and a lot of times they’ll hang on throughout the summer.

Poppy Pros: Require little maintenance, provide great color in your garden and they’re drought-tolerant survivors here along Ocean Beach. We typically let the fog water them over summer, but have heard that they look lusher if you give them an occasional summer spray with the hose.

Poppy Cons: Well, these guys like to reseed, so once you have them you may have them for a long, long time. How to counteract the reseeding? Pull off those seed heads before they start dropping. By the way, you can dry and store those seeds to plan for the next season.

California poppies prefer well-draining, unamended soil. We suspect that most of you have a sandy soil sitting in your backyard, so sow away and skip the fertilizer. These guys grow a deep taproot that allows them to do well without additional water over the summer. But it also means that they don’t perform well in containers. Still want to grow in your window box? Hey, we’re not against experimenting, we’re just saying.

How to plant. Get yourself some seed. Renee’s Garden Seeds is south of here down in Felton, and you can always find their seed packets around our ’hood at places such as Sloat Garden Center. Next, find yourself a sunny part of your garden needing a little orange flair. Sow seeds a quarter-inch deep. This means spread your seeds about three inches apart on the soil surface, then rough up the dirt a little with your hand. Remember that you’re planting just below the surface, you’re not trying to dig them a grave. Moist seeds germinate in about seven to 21 days. After they start popping up, thin out as desired, and then watch them grow.

We’re heading back to gardening. Chat with you in two weeks. Enjoy those CA Poppies! Matti and Megan – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from UW-Madison with art degrees. Matti works for an art gallery and Megan works for a home staging company. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off of Willy Street Our dog Max is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast.

The California native Ceanothus griseus var. horizontalis, or Carmel Creeper, is the most widely used California Lilac around the neighborhood, especially in Golden Gate Park. This guy likes hanging out by the beach. It’s adapted to our Mediterranean climate, so no extra water is necessary to keep it happy. It’s a lower-growing spreader with beautiful violet flowers. It’s easy to prune, too!

Here’s a sweet cultivar that we recently saw, Ceanothus “Mount Hood.” Notice how the leaves are smaller on this guy. Basically, variations you’re gonna see are clusters of flowers in shades of blue to purple, and foliage of light green to almost black. Here’s another view.

Ceanothus “Concha,” though a cultivar, was probably derived from California natives. The flowers are bluer than many other Ceanothus.

Hey, did you know that you can rub the Ceanothus flowers together in your hands and make a soap-like lather? It may not clean your hands, but they will smell great.

See you in 2011. Megan and Matti – Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from UW-Madison with art degrees. Matti works for an art gallery and Megan works for a home staging company. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off of Willy Street Our dog Max is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast.

We have a couple of indoor / outdoor carnivorous plants that prefer water that doesn’t come from the faucet. During the summer, we end up buying big jugs of distilled water from Safeway, and then reuse those containers to store rain for our babies. Here’s one of our happy Cape Sundews.

You probably have most of this stuff around the house to make your own rain catcher.

Get yourself a bucket, non-toxic plastic tubing, a drill, scissors and a hot-glue gun. Wire mesh is optional.

Drill a hole in your bucket, push the plastic tubing through the hole, and then glue it in place. Make sure there are no gaps where the water can leak out. If you have some mesh, cut a piece big enough to cover the area inside the bucket. This mesh helps keep out any debris from clogging up your tube. Done.

After the bucket fills up with rain, you can empty the water into a storage container.

But hey, you’re asking, can’t I just collect rain in a bucket then pour it using a funnel? Well yeah — but this gives you an excuse to use all those fun tools you have laying around the house collecting dust. By the way, we haven’t been brave enough to use this as drinking water, but it should be good enough for your houseplants that need a little more TLC. Plus, this way there’s no need to shell out a ton of bucks to buy water (and haul it home) from the store. Now go make yourself a rain catcher, ’cause it’s gonna keep raining for another couple of months.

Megan and Matti – Far Out Flora

We’ve got Brugmansia on the brain.  If you want showy flowers in your garden that seem to bloom forever, you gotta find yourself a Brugmansia.

This yellow-flowering guy is called Brugmansia “Charles Grimaldi.”  They have fragrant, flowering bells that are as big as your head.  Well. at least the size of grapefruits.

Hey, quick note on these Brugmansias: Parts of the plant can be harmful or cause death if ingested.  Genetically, they fall in the nightshade family. By the way, your tomato plants are in the nightshade family, too. Basically, you shouldn’t put something in your mouth if you don’t know what it is. Yeah, gardening can be an extreme sport, huh?

As you can see, they come in a variety of colors. Here’s the skinny on Brugmansias. Sometimes called Angel Trumpets, they’re native to Central and South America, and grow as a big shrub or a small, multi-trunked tree. Even though many species can get big — 8-16 feet tall is not uncommon — they can easily handle a lot of pruning to maintain their size. Pruning also will encourage new growth where you make the cuts. Here along Ocean Beach, in our well-draining soil, they’ll grow in part shade to full sun and will need little water once established.

But of all the cultivars and all the color these guys come in, we probably love the Brugmansia sanguineas most. The cultivar above is called “Pasachoa.” Not digging all these big flowers? Well, there’s a close cousin that may do the trick for you: Iochroma cyaneum. The flowers are similar in shape, but they’re much smaller and usually come in clumps.

Downside on Brugs: They can be a little weedy, aka once you plant them in the ground. They can be hard to get rid of it. You may want to consider putting them in a container instead of planting directly into the ground. Well, we need to head back to the garden. See ya in two weeks.  Megan and Matti ~ Far Out Flora

We’ve been gardening like crazy, people. I still can’t believe how many warm, sunny days we’ve been having out here along Ocean Beach. Taking advantage of it, we cleared out a ton of junky plants, divided up the cool ones and planted a bunch of new stuff, including more veggies. Just in time before the rain moves in this weekend. We love it when it rains. Since we irrigate some of our plants, it’s a nice break to have Mother Nature be our irrigation system.

This past summer we got to test drive a self-watering planter. The first thing we planted in it was a bunch of tomatoes and snow peas. By the way, almost all tomatoes don’t grow well out here in our hood. If you do have to plant some, I highly recommend sticking to cold-climate cherry tomato ’cause most tomatoes needs more heat than the OB can give on a regular basis.
Well, all of our summer vegetables are pretty much over with, so it was time to prep and grow some new veggies in the planter.

Quick note on this self-watering planter. Basically, it’s a plastic container with wheels on the bottom so you can push it around. There’s a 4-gallon water reservoir in the bottom and a tray that keeps soil from getting into the water. Water is drawn up to the soil using wicks. And voila, your soil stays consistently moist without having to get out there with the watering can every day. We figure that we needed to fill up the reservoir about once a week.

OK, we pulled out all the dead plants and then added some more soil and compost.

So what’s good to plant this time of year? We decided on some broccoli starters and sowed some snow-pea seeds. Some other veggies that you can plant now are lettuce, cabbage, leeks and spinach. Feeling motivated and wanna build your own self-watering planter? Check out Fresh Dirt’s sweet DYI Planter. Okay there, time to rethink our water catcher. See ya in two weeks. Megan and Matti ~ Far Out Flora

The plants are rocking in Surferburbia. We’ve been feeling the excitement building around one of the coolest community gardens along Ocean Beach: La Playa Park. What, where’s that, you ask? It’s where the N-Judah ends, you know, that odd little stretch where La Playa, Judah Street and Lower Great Highway all come together. You may already be familiar with their old school garden just across the street from Java Beach, but the peoples have been working overtime on the newest garden on the south side of the N turnaround.

We’ve been watching all the action for months now, but recently took stroll through the new garden before heading to the Giants’ World Series victory parade — and man, we are impressed with how filled-in it’s getting, not to mention the diversity of the plantings.

Here’s a hardcore plant that packs some sweet blooms, orchid rockrose (Cistus purpureus). The rockroses come in a whole bunch of species and they like our microclimates down by the beach. After they are established they can handle minimal watering, and like sunnier locations rather than the shady ones. We see these guys growing well in Golden Gate Park without any irrigation and would recommend trying one out in your garden where you need flower love.

The next surprise was seeing all the veggies, herbs and berries growing. Granted, they’re on an irrigation system, but hey — they’re food, and generally food plants like the water. We couldn’t resist taking a pic of the artichokes and strawberries growing in front of the VW van in front of the compost truck. Nice.

Yeah, there’s a bunch of succulents and perennials packed in all over the place too.

Seriously, you need to check it out. So next time you are waiting for the N-Judah and can’t see a train in sight, take a moment and see what’s growing. Or do what the rest of us do: Grab yourself a coffee and take a stroll through the park, making notes about what grows well out here in our ’hood.

See you in two weeks. Megan and Matti ~ Far Out Flora

We (Matti and Megan) live in San Francisco near Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Plants are awesome. We like to do interesting things with them. Succulents, bromeliads, carnivores and other unusual plants are our favorites. Both of us graduated from UW-Madison with art degrees. Matti works for an art gallery and Megan works for a home staging company. We’re originally from the great state of Wisconsin. Before moving to San Francisco we lived in Madison off of Willy Street Our dog Max is too smart for his own good. He makes us check out beaches all over the coast.