The gods have bestowed upon me a house to live in where Ive been given free reign to work on the huge lot of land that surrounds it. Everywhere I look there are pots and pots of the most beautiful plants that have been patiently waiting to be put into the ground. Most of them are drought tolerant to boot!! Robert, one of the house owners has a real cool mother, Susan, who at one time owned a nursery. When the nursery closed all of the plants came here. Its a little overwhelming but Ive just decided to do a few plants a day. Even though my arms are a little sore, Ive managed to dig holes into the bedrock hillside and get quite a few plants into the ground this week. Its been quite a while since Ive been able to work with the soil and Ive forgotten how spiritually as well as physically uplifting it can be. A nice respite from all the sad depressing shit taking place in this world lately. Since I moved here last November, each time Id unlock the big iron entry gate I would be greeted by three trees sitting on the steps having long outgrown their pots begging to be planted into the soil. They happen to be my favorite trees; Pepper trees. I love their gnarly rough stumps and the way their small dark green leaves and drooping branches gracefully seem to catch even the slightest breeze on these hot summer war torn days. Ive already planted two and have one more to go. They always seem to be growing in the old historic neighborhoods of Southern California and if you ever watch silent films from the early Hollywood era or the black and white Little Rascals episodes you might catch a glimpse of all the pepper trees that line the old streets in the background. I did a little research and found out that at one time long before the palm, the pepper tree was the tree that most represented this region. Legend has it that the first tree was planted around the early 1800s in California at Mission San Luis Rey. After he stayed at the mission, a wandering sea captain gave the padres a handful of seeds that he had brought with him from Peru as an offering of thanks. The tree became very popular with gardeners across the state. In Hollywood the pepper tree was selected to line the new towns roads by subdivider Harvey H. Wilcox. In the early 1900s an insect that thrived on the pepper trees was discovered called Black Scale. Black Scale wasnt fatal to the pepper trees but was seen as a threat to all the orange groves that blanketed much of Southern California. The citrus growers as well as the civic leaders freaked out and waged war on the trees. Many of the trees that did survive eventually fell out of favor with many of the gardeners in this region, were removed, and in many cases replaced with palms that now claim the throne as the symbol of the iconic Southern California tree...So hows that for a little history lesson?? Pretty soon this place is gonna look like a park!! ( I also managed to write this while being attacked by a pesky little fly and too much coffee). Photos: Old photos of pepper trees in Southern California Ruby and Ricky my helpers. ( Ruby keeps laying down in the holes that I dig and she also ate my reading glasses yesterday after I found my wallet dragged into the yard...) One of the new trees that the gardeners kept chopping away at. All kinds of plants!! The old victorian house around the block with its ancient pepper tree and palm. The house sits high up on a hill above all the other houses and serves as a beacon in case you get lost among the maze of streets around here.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 01:01:38 +0000
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