Below the Olive Hedge

The plants on the slope below the driveway are getting weirder and weirder.The whole slope was heavily damaged in the fire but with the exception of the agave which had only minor damage we just cut everything back to the ground and waited to see what happened. The olive hedge was reduced to charred sticks, but Pedro assured us that they would come back and he was right.

This year everything down there has taken off. The honeybush flowers have grown taller and  attract birds and bees, and the plant has appeared above the top of the hedge which is at least as tall as it was before the fire, if not taller. The agave, an offspring of the enormous one that grew above the driveway until it bloomed and died, is now following suit, putting up an asparagus like shoot that will no doubt grow to an unbelievable height before it too dies. They are called century plants which is a misnomer because they usually don't take a century to bloom, but they do often take 30 or 40 years, and once they bloom, this particular agave will die. It happens to be my favorite...a blue agave, which is the kind that produces the basic ingredient of tequila within its barrel. It's also not just fire resistant but fire protective because of this large amount of liquid.

It's been a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 80's and a cloudless blue sky. The sound of moving is becoming more common as the date for cutting the tall grasses has been moved forward. All the rain has produced a very hearty crop of grass which will be highly flammable if not cut short. Pedro and his guys will be here tomorrow or Tuesday to cut ours.

We're off to Jim and Dana's for an appropriately summerlike meal...barbecued ribs, salad and strawberry shortcake....