MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Dead Plant Diary
- May 1
- 9 min read
Words and pictures by Jim Bishop, for Let's Talk Plants! September 2026.
I was sorting through photos and came across this gem from March 31, 2022. Much of our garden is now over 25 years old, so I consider the area at the bottom of the hill, 100 feet lower than the house, the “new garden” since everything in it was planted after 2017. I was super impressed with how quickly everything grew, considering almost everything was planted as a one-gallon plant or smaller.
I'd always wanted to garden in this area, but it took me almost 20 years to finally start working on it. But compared to our steep north-facing hillside, it is relatively flat and most importantly, sunny most of the year. We've only got a few areas of our property that are sunny in winter, so this was an opportunity to grow plants that can't tolerate winter shade.
Since most of the property has never been graded, once the weeds and Eucalyptus are cleared out, there’s a lot of rich clay soil mixed with round rocks. Oddly, this isn’t the best soil for many plants I like to grow from parts of the world with poor soils and good drainage, such as protea family plants and succulents. However, I figured with the gentle slope, there would still be enough drainage. Even so, when possible, I mix in decomposed granite or other materials to improve drainage and plant most things slightly elevated to help.
What I hadn’t realized was that after heavy rains, say two or more inches within a couple of days, water flows out of our hillside for several hours to days afterward. This creates very wet, saturated soil, especially if the rains came in December and January with short days, extended cool and cloudy weather, not allowing for things to dry out. Also, it seems a lot of things make it through the winter but then die suddenly when things start to dry out. Maybe I’m waiting too late to turn on the irrigation?
I had thought it was an intriguing photo of the garden just four years ago. However, upon closer inspection, I discovered that most of the plants depicted in the photo have unfortunately perished. Some very wet and very dry winters, excessive heat during the summer, fungal infections, and possibly the presence of a few gophers contributed to their demise.
What's No Longer with Us
A closer look at each departed plant
1 - Grevillea olivacea
This was one my favorite plants that quickly grew to 9X9 feet. As the name implies, it looks a lot like an olive tree but with wonderful red flowers in winter and spring and without the messy fruit. I thought this would be a great plant to plant instead of the many olive trees in our neighborhood that get to large for the properties, are messy and disease-prone. But alas, later in the fall after this photo it appeared to be a little dried out one day and was dead within a week. I've had a few other Grevilleas that grew quickly also suddenly die. Luckily I have second older plant of the soft-orange flowered form way up higher on the hillside that has been there for years and is doing fine.
2 - Phylica pubescens
This South African shrub is one of my favorites. It has a unique ability to capture and refract sunlight in the garden, creating a mesmerizing glow. Its common name, Featherhead, aptly describes its soft, feather-like texture. Surprisingly, despite their unrelated appearance, Phylica pubescens and our native Ceanothus belong to the same family, Rhamnaceae (Buckthorns). A year or so earlier, I lost another Phylica pubescens plant. However, this one managed to survive and grow tall. Unfortunately, its fluffy foliage made it susceptible to the weight of rain and overhead irrigation, breaking branches occasionally under the strain of the extra weight. The final blow came from a climbing creature, possibly a raccoon or feral cat that broke numerous branches. Phylica pubescens does not produce new growth when cut back into hard wood. Fortunately, earlier I figured out how to extract seed capsules from the old flowers. After researching online how to germinate them, I learned that the capsules need to be smashed to release the three black seeds they contain. I managed to germinate two of these seeds, but only one survived when planted out. Today, I have a small bush with one surviving plant. If I ever see this plant for sale in a nursery again, I will buy it.
3 - Artemisia herba-alba
Moroccan artemisia. When the leaves of this plant are brushed or torn, it quickly becomes apparent why it is used in perfumes. As you can see in the photo the artemisia, which was originally planted several feet away from the Leucospermum, is starting to be overtaken by it. And like several other artemisias it starts to get woody with age and ants like to farm black aphids in the foliage. Between these issues and being cut back several times, it no longer was garden worthy. Luckily I rooted cuttings (which reminds me I need to root some more) and it survives happily in another area of the garden.
4 - Hybrid Aloe marlothii
I'm not sure about the parentage of this tree aloe since it was an open pollinated plant. By 2023, it had grown into the largest diameter tree aloe in the garden. But the winter of 2023 proved too much. We had more rain that winter than any other year since I've lived in San Diego including one week in 2023 with seven inches. Add in that it was also often foggy and sunless, which kept the center of the plant full of water and the core of the plant rotted.
5 - Aloe retiza
I planted three of these together back in 2017. I knew they were late summer/early fall bloomers and I wanted something in bloom during the hottest time of year. It took quite a few years before the first one bloomed and even then it was the only one that bloomed. A second one bloomed the next year, but the bloom was small and not very interesting. Unfortunately, these are right above the spot where water runs out of the hillside after heavy rains. This was too much water for these and lower leaves started to rot. I dug it up and gave it away. Then this year with the very wet fall and winter storms the core of another one rotted. I dug it up and put it in a pot in the shade. Four small new crowns are starting to show up, so I need to put it back in the soil and see if these can get up to division size, or may grow it as multi-headed plant. The last of the three is still in the ground but with many fewer leaves. Hopefully it will bloom again someday.
6 - Kalanchoe orgyalis and Kalanchoe bracteata (Silver Teaspoons) under number 12.
I’ve had a lot of trouble keeping Kalanchoes alive through the winter in this part of the garden. In fact, I’ve lost almost all of them. The bottom of the hill has the lowest nighttime lows due to cold air drainage from the hills above. Many kalanchoes are from Madagascar which is much warmer in winter than here. Add in super-saturated soil and their roots rot. They might survive the winter, but they don’t recover well once the weather warms up. That’s been the case with both of these Kalanchoes and the surviving bits have been turned into cuttings and returned to pots.
7 - Agave angustifolia 'Marginata'
When we were planting the hillside, six or seven sports off other plants of this agave were planted in what I thought was high up on the hill in a very steep area. They grew well, very well. To my surprise they got six feet tall and wide. Normally this agave stays about three or maybe four feet wide. A couple of them bloomed two years ago and we removed another one that was in the way of other plants. Two more bloomed last summer. There are two more left...and one of them is blooming now and will be removed soon. They make a nice backdrop when looking up the hillside, but with all of their spines and sharp teeth, they are very difficult to be anywhere near. I've planted a pup from a variegated Furcraea where one of them bloomed last year. It should get about six to eight feet tall and only has a minor spine at the end of a wide leaf. Hopefully it will go 20 or so years without blooming.
8 - Leucospermum 'high gold'
This plant was planted way up on the hillside in an area difficult to get to. It grew and bloomed, but I rarely got near it. It was one of the first mature Leucospermums to die suddenly back in 2022. I sort of forgot about it until I saw it peaking out in this photo. I’ve since planted another Leucospermum and Banksia in this area.
9 - Leucospermum ‘Blanche Ito’
This was a plant that truly flourished after planting. I don’t recall it ever being small, and it quickly grew to be six feet by six feet, producing hundreds of large blooms each spring. However, on a sunny day in April 2023, during its peak bloom, it began to appear slightly wilted and unfortunately, it passed away within a week. I had been letting the hill dry out from the wet winter and I hadn’t run irrigation. Perhaps the sudden shift from being excessively wet to excessively dry was the cause of its demise.
10 - Leucospermum 'Brandi Dela Cruz'
Met the same fate as ‘Blanche Ito’ a couple of weeks later. But without these two huge plants, I had a lot more room to plant some new things.
11 - Frangula californica
Commonly known as California Coffeeberry, it was a planted in an area of our property where I never anticipated that I'd be going with non-native plants. In 2015, I planted numerous California native plants on the hillside, believing they would thrive without supplemental water. However, my assumptions were incorrect and most of the plants failed to survive. Despite this setback, three small coffeeberries managed to survive and they thrived when the hillside irrigation was expanded to reach them. They grew into substantial eight x eight foot shrubs or larger. Unfortunately, their appearance was quite unremarkable, producing only a lot of green leaves and pea-sized berries. When I decided to add a moon gate to my garden, this spot overlooking the hillside became the perfect location. Consequently, I removed the plants. You'll find more details about the moon gate and its installation, here.
12 - Hybrid Aloe
This is another open-pollinated aloe with an unknown parentage. It appears to have some marlothii and ferox in its genetic makeup. The flowers are a muddy orange color. It blooms slightly later than other large aloes and has consistently bloomed for years. However, this spring we noticed that it was somewhat loose in the ground and upon closer inspection many of its roots had rotted. Consequently, I dug it up and gave it to my garden helper. It was the last of the large, single-headed aloes in this area. I replaced it with giant restio, which will eventually dominate the space. Since it is native to seasonal streams, it has no problem being wet in winter and dry in summer. Through trial and error, I’ve also discovered that South African bulbs thrive here. They are not bothered by wet feet during winter and scorching sun during summer. Additionally, many of them bloomed in the last summer and fall, and all of them appear to be gopher-proof.
The Grevillea olivacea (Number 1 above) has been replaced by several other plants including a bright yellow Grevillea and the large tree also that was relocated from the front garden when it fell over on New Year's Eve 2025. You can read the full tale of its relocation here.
I’m a bit bummed to see this list of plants that I thought were permanent plantings die. But hey, I’ve been gardening in the same spot for over 25 years, so this could easily be a hundred times longer! On the bright side, it’s given me a chance to try new plants. That’s what most gardeners do, right? Today, you wouldn’t even notice that there’s anything missing if you didn’t know.
And finally as some of my garden friends like to joke, it’s not what you grow, but what you’ve killed.
Sadly after writing this post, the Leucospermum in the photo above had started having many brown leaves. Past experience tells me it will likely die. I’ve treated it with 2 different fungicides to try and save it, but its final fate is currently unknown. Luckily I have a second plant higher up in the garden.
