Well after a couple of years a few starts and the most brutal summer it is time to plant some garden to liven up a little of the layout.

Since this is going to be a dry wash for the foreseeable future I planted some Assylium here to add a little to the bridge

I really should write down and keep a record of what I plant. All the small plants at the base of the hills are new. The lantanas on the left side of the windmill flower are volunteer plants that came up on their own and have survived. The plants on the hill are about the only things I have been able to keep alive so far. Note the little brown clump of a plant above the flagstone, I got a huge flat of this low growing ground cover at Lowes a couple of weeks ago. It was on the clearance rack for $5.00 so I thought it would maybe some of them would live. Planted it and it seemed to almost instantly give up. They had no root system so and are not recommended for this zone anyway, but figured I would give it a go. Maybe they will pick back up.

the plant on the right, we pulled 3 of them out when I built the layout, so I am confident this should grow and thrive. You can barely read on the flagstone my chiseled memorial to Babs the best dog ever and the namesake of the railroad

The 4 plants closest to the camera are all the volunteer Lantanas that birds or rabbits planted for me. As you can see in the background I still have a lot of area to landscape and get finished. I am going to put all the buildings out, all the rolling stock and get some trains in the pictures to make it look like a railroad.

Way over where the bag of soil is I planted a couple of the Asslyium, and there are some succulents we got as cuttings from our daughter that are barely hanging on, but still green. Once I get a good idea where buildings are going to stay , and a couple more built I will move on with more plants, and other structures.

I know you midwest and east coast guys are shocked at this bare ground , where are all the plants and grass and greenery, but give me some time and I will have some, never going to be the lush forests of plants and ground cover all y’all have, unless I can cover the whole yard

Missed the picture of the tunnel and the plants on it. This is where most of the $5.00 ground cover went and as you can see they are not doing well. the other plants that went in at the same time look good , so I may go get some more of them. Need to add a sprinkler to the hill side to water these.

The railroad is “greening” up nicely, Pete. Its amazing how a few plants can make the railroad come to life. My favorite part is the Babs memorial. Nice touch. Our four legged friends bring us great joy and provide fond memories. Thanks for sharing.

Nice green Pete. I was looking for a desert motif, cacti and what have you, but green is good too. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Go, Pete, go!

Jim Rowson said:

Go, Pete, go!

I think Jim meant GROW, Pete, GROW! (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Sure looks good!

Looking good, Pete! Please don’t shame me by getting your RR greener than mine! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Eric , that’s funny! The background of your RR is 100 % greener than mine will ever be

Here is the 7 month pictures of my plantings, some failures and a couple of huge successes. This plant , cannot remember the name is going crazy, its easy to cut and stick in the ground and it will root and go from that.

this is from the pool side looking west, the big bushes in the foreground are volunteer Lantana’s and seem to be doing very well

From the middle looking to the pool, (east) you can see the plant is really doing well, when I replaced the old wooden bridge I set it aside to think about making it an abandoned feature, well the runaway plant is about to start swallowing it, It’s not in the place I was going place either!

in the foreground is 1 of 2 victims of me or the weather here, looked fine and was growing, 2 weeks later dead! Will have to look for another plant for this spot. The hillside plants are doing well and look happy with their spots

This is the part of the layout that gets the most sun, so some of the plants are a little slow growing here compared to the shady areas, but for the most part they are growning and green , so its a win in my book. BUT we are now in the 100*days here so crossing fingers things will survive. My wife can be the one to take the credit, as she checks them and fertilizes them on a regular basis, and I cant thank her enough!

Looking good Pete. When you learn the name of that plant I have a spot for it. Post the name if you don’t mind (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

David the plant is called Aptenia or Heartleaf plant it will die off in your winters ( below 23*) but you can cut a piece off and plant it in pots to grow inside over winter then replant them. They just need to be stuck in the dirt to propagate .

Thanks for the response Pete I’ll see what I can do

Pete,

Are you planting right into the rocks? We have been struggling to get some sort of ground cover going for years.

Thanks,

Eric

Eric everything is in the dirt and the Aptenia, well it doesn’t care where it goes once established. I’m surprised I well it’s doing here , Eric you should have no issue with it growing . I don’t think it has a big root system, so maybe a large pot buried in the volcanic soil with potting mix or garden soil will get it established, and spreads well with good moisture, but is also draught tolerant. Also have found out rabbits here at least seen the enjoy it , probably as a water source in our dry climate, as I see sparrows eating it too

Pete,

Thanks. I’ll look for it. We’ve really struggled finding plant that can go from flood- to drought in the course of 24 hours and then cycle through again!

Eric

Eric Mueller said:

Pete,

Thanks. I’ll look for it. We’ve really struggled finding plant that can go from flood- to drought in the course of 24 hours and then cycle through again!

Eric

Try this one Eric, I have some in my garden and it is self sustaining (ie I do not do anything to it) it is also used on the roundabouts in town so is pretty hardy.

https://www.gardenexpress.com.au/growing-guide/casuarina-cousin-it-growing-guide/

This a description of a relative tree

C. equisetifolia is widespread in the Hawaiian Islands where it grows both on the seashore in dry, salty, calcareous soils and up in the mountains in high rainfall areas on volcanic soils.

Eric Mueller said:

Pete,

Thanks. I’ll look for it. We’ve really struggled finding plant that can go from flood- to drought in the course of 24 hours and then cycle through again!

Eric

I should send you some pennsyltuckyian hostas. They have the south Philly attitude …you can keep punching them but it only makes them madder and bigger.