9/14/25 – The Gopher has not been back since we filled in the hole with a bunch of fresh dog poop! The plant seems to be doing very well. Almost 10 months in the ground now and clocking in at 33″ tall and 33″ wide. It’s sending out very long, almost perpendicular branches. Still waiting to see if I should top it.
7/18/25 – My first Gopher visit as a gardener. The plant already looks suspect to me 🙁 I moved that pot in the background onto the top of the hole. I’m thinking that filling the hole won’t do much good and might piss it off. Edit: My wife came up with the idea to fill the hole with dog poo, so that’s what I did, I then topped that off with a bunch of old soil and then covered that with the pot. Let’s see how this approach works 😉
7/5/25 – I planted this 8 months ago as a tiny little 4″ plant. It’s seems to be happy enough, It started leaning pretty hard into the sun because it’s so close to the fence so I’ve got a small plant stake helping to keep it growing up. The side branches from the bottom are almost as tall at the main stem.
5/8/25 – It’s filling in nicely but I had to stake it up as it was starting to lean into the sun. The lower branches are filling out even though it’s not been topped yet. It must be very bushy naturally. I’ll probably top it at some point
3/1/25 – Starting to fill out a little. It should do well this spring / summer.
11/28/24 Planted in back yard along the fence. Purchased from Linda Vista Natives. This one is found naturally in Santa Clara county, so it’s a true local. I saw a video on Las Pilitas that this plant can reach 10′ in 2 years!
Planted between the stump and the Angel’s Trumpet, that’s poisonous to pets and humans. At some point I’d like to rip that thing out and replace it with a nice native tree. The smell is overpowering when it’s in full bloom, especially if you have allergies.
