One of the benefits of living in the Santa Monica Mountains is that most of us have some room to plant a garden and watch things grow.
Casual horticulture has been a continual joy to me in my life here in the chaparral. Most of my garden consists of natives that have volunteered or were bought from The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants out in Sunland. If you’ve never been, it is a fun place to go and get drought-tolerant and fire-resistant plants that will thrive in your garden. There are plenty of knowledgeable people there to help you. (http://theodorepayne.org/)
As much as I love natives, I’m also drawn to weird plants like cacti, succulents, and bromeliads. These strange creatures are usually nondescript looking but have the propensity to surprise us with large, showy and very short-lived blooms.
Two of my favorite such plants are Epiphyllum, native to Central America, and Echinopsis or Golden Torch, originally from Argentina. Golden Torch is very common and does quite well here in the mountains. Both plants are easy to grow from cuttings and both like soils with good drainage. The Epiphyllum like spotted sun and they like to be watered every time they dry out. The Golden torch likes a lot of direct sun and can tolerate a lot less water.
In the ‘70s, we lived on Vision Drive in Fernwood and our next-door neighbors were a long-time Topanga couple, Vic and Minnie. Some old-timers may remember Minnie as “The Plant Lady of Topanga”. Vic dutifully built Minnie a series of small lath houses that covered their small lot on Vision Drive and many of my treasured Epiphyllum cuttings were bequeathed to me by Minnie.
Most of the time Epiphyllum look like unremarkable cacti, until for a day or two they might burst into spectacular color. The ephemeral nature of these startling displays cries out for a little photography so one might hang on to the visual treat, if not the glorious scent. Their beauty always reminds me of my kind and generous neighbors, Vic and Minnie.
Our semi-tropical mountains can be so fecund and life-sustaining. It is such a joy just to watch things grow.