One weekend, out I went with pigface, also known as Carpobrotus glaucescens or sea fig. It has an edible fruit which is quite delicious. These started life as cuttings in autumn but now a couple have started to flower. The world is wet around here, time to get them into the ground.
I walked up to a tram stop where I have planted a lot. I spoke to the poisoners last time I was there and weeded to try and help them not to poison saltbush of various kinds, boobialla and wattle… One of them told me that ruby saltbush don’t absorb the poison. How I wish that were true, but it doesn’t appear that way to me I have had many turn black after the poisoners pass through. When I went back recently to catch a tram I could see lots of weeds and few plants. Some of the larger ones, rhagodias in particular, had made it and were doing well. This time I arrived to find the whole bed deep in mulch. The mulch was only a few days in place, and all over the plants. Three cheers for mulch, three boos for burying the living. I spent time excavating sedges, boobialla, correas, pigface (the large one thriving here drove my decision to plant the bed out with these highly recognisable and quickly spreading plants)… and everything else I could find. I managed to find a few leaves sticking out and dig some plants out that way. Others I found by accident, parting the mulch to plant other things!
In went the sea figs. Then home again, collecting a lot of rubbish after the Royal Show and the storms of recent weeks.
I scored some promising rusty stuff, and had a chat with a chap smoking a cigarette by the road who clearly knew what guerilla gardening was, asked me if that was what I was doing, and was generally approving and cheerful toward my project. I put a few more plants in along the route home, and then it was time for clean up.
Local & Bespoke 
Isn’t it great to chat to some stranger and find out that the person knows about such social project?
I applaude you for doing this, thank you for making your community better one piece at a time (and sharing pics & stories)
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I had not heard of gorilla planting… thanks for opening my eyes to this… very intriguing (tempting)…
By the way when you said “I went out with pigface”… I thought you were talking about someone… and than thought… I hope no one calls me that…
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L o l! I would never call anyone that either! Guerilla gardening is quite a thing. There are books and everything. But actually I just go out and plant stuff on unloved patches of ground.
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very cool… will have to give it a try
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Oh the “joy” of the indiscriminate over-mulchers…I applaud your patience and tenacity! I was wondering why they call it pigface…can’t seen anything about it that looks like that (unless it’s the fruit)? It actually looks a lot like ice plant (Delosperma cooperi). Nice rust scores!
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Isn’t it funny? I don’t feel especially patient, but tenacity, I really can agree to that. I think pigface must be a reference to the fruit, which is a bit gnarly. It’s probably a distant relative of ice plant. I can sure see the resemblance, but I wonder about the scale. Carprobutus has a flower 2-3 inches across and the leaves are thick too.
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A rusty reward for your efforts! Well done you.
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Thanks, Leonie! I a now musing about how best to put the rusty business to work…
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overheard some of my students in Vancouver having a conversation about this amazing woman in South Australia who does natural dyeing and guerilla planting and all sorts of other things. “she’s a marvel” they said. i agreed. and (grinning from ear to ear) confessed i was blessed with her splendid socks.
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Bless your kind and generous heart… and the people who read the blog (apart from you) too. I am glad you’re enjoying the socks… and I hope you’re warm and dry on this day of gale force winds and flooding rains. I am sure the sunburnt country will return in due course…
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Hope you and yours are safe and well…heard last night that you were to be “blessed” with the worst storm in 50 years!
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So far so good. Just came to in the middle of the night to find power had been restored and it’s raining again! All prudent precautions have been taken here and there is no reason to think there will be risk to life or limb.
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