Beau is as old as I am. For a Chevrolet, that is quite elderly. He does not get around like he used to, and is no longer expected to go any farther than he can get towed back from if necessary. However, I needed his help in San Jose this week. He was pleased to oblige, but unfortunately could not get started after parking at the Post Office in Los Gatos so that I could grab my mail. It was actually not his fault. I neglected to replace his very old battery. Anyway, because of the delay, I was unable to return in time to get pictures from the landscapes or gardens, so instead got a few random pictures from where we were stranded. Technically, they are horticulturally oriented, but only slightly so. I should have gotten a picture of Beau as well as Rhody of course.
1. London plane 213 lives just behind the curb at the parking space next to the Post Office where Beau failed to start. He saw it all. This license plate is how the Town Arborist identifies him.
2. Tomato cages that my maternal grandfather made in the 1980s have been riding around with Beau for days. They are bits of wire mesh otherwise used for reinforcing concrete pavement.
3. Arborists and lumberjacks cut wedges (notches) like this out of tree trunks, to direct their fall when cut down. This one is from a coast live oak. Now, it is an extra parking brake for Beau.
4. Peach trees are not expected to produce for more than twenty five years. I planted this one thirty five years ago in December of 1985. It exceeded its life expectancy significantly like Beau.
5. After thirty five years, I cannot yet bear to put the dead peach tree trunk on the woodpile. It has been riding around with Beau longer than the tomato cages. The stump of the tree was not completely dead, but needed to be dug out. I buried it somewhere else, with a big basal stem standing up like a new tree. I hope it grows like a bare root tree. I tried for years to root cuttings.
6. I left Beau to cross the street to the hardware store for this. I do not know what it is, but I suspect that it is an Eastern red cedar. I am not sufficiently familiar with the species to dislike it.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
I hope you managed to get Beau back home!
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Oh, he is fine. He typically starts if I just give him a while to catch his breath. I will get him a new battery on Monday.
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Cool! Love the registration number on that tree! And the stuff you’re riding around with in the back of your truck.
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Well, I should empty it out. It is tacky to drive around with junk in back like that.
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But no picture of Beau?
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No; I should have gotten one. This is him posing as Frio de Ausencia. https://feltonleague.com/2019/12/09/frio-de-ausencia/
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You probably know this guy as the original Beau. Technically, he is, since he came on the scene a week or so before my Beau, and he might be nearly as old; but my Beau is better. My Beau knows the way to San Jose, and drives there on the right side of the road!
https://frustratedgardener.com/2020/01/03/hello-from-the-beau/
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I love those tomato cages – 40 years old and just as sturdy as the day they were built….
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Well, they are designed to reinforce concrete that could last for centuries. Of course, they will not last so long in the weather and soil. The prongs that stick into the ground are already rusted mostly through.
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Beau? let’s see him. That looks like an Eastern Red Cedar.
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Oh . . . let me get the links again.
This is Beau posing as Frio de Ausencia.
https://feltonleague.com/2019/12/09/frio-de-ausencia/
You might know this guy as the original Beau. He came on the scene shortly before my Beau, and is probably more reliable.
https://frustratedgardener.com/2020/01/03/hello-from-the-beau/
I seriously believe that the small unidentified tree really is an Eastern red cedar. I thought that I noticed juniper berries on it decades ago, before I really paid attention to it, but can not remember for certain. As I became fascinated with Eastern red cedar, I looked again, but have not seen any. It has juniper foliage, with a bit of the prickly juvenile foliage mixed in, but does not look like other junipers. I just do not know the other species, such as the Ashe juniper. It is not an appealing tree, and should probably get cut down; but I hope it stays, and just gets pruned into something sculptural.
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Beau has a lovely patina. There is a cedar up the street from me if you want a picture. I don’t recall berries forming every year on the cedars.
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Thank you. There is no need to send a picture. I have seen plenty. There are three specimens here that I brought back from Oklahoma, although all three are so unique, and different from each other. That is what makes identification questionable. I am pretty certain of the identity of the tree in town. However, there are other species of juniper that I am even less familiar with, such as the Ashe juniper.
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I am considering planting Brodie Cedar here, do you know that one?
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No; I am not familiar with any of the cultivars. I only met the species in 2012. The name is cool though. It sounds like my roommate’s name, Rhody.
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It does.. Brodie is 5 feet wide.
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None of the cultivars are available here. Neither is the species. ‘Skyrocket’ and ‘Wichita Blue’ Rocky Mountain junipers are sometimes available, but unpopular because they are junipers. Junipers really have a bad reputation here. The entire genus is on our ‘do not plant’ list.
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Are they flammable, is that the reason for do not plant?
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They are no more combustible than the native vegetation, which is promoted. I suspect that someone just dislike junipers. They have a bad reputation because they were too common decades ago. They never seem to outgrow that reputation.
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The Tomato cages are a good idea. I’ve not sen them before
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No one has. These might be the only two left; although I suspect that others have done the same with such mesh.
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I like your dedication to six on Saturday! Love the close up of the bark on the Peach tree/stump.
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Oh, it is a bad habit.
It was saddening to cut down the main trunk of the peach tree, even though it lasted longer than I should have expected it to. So far, the basal watersprout that I planted with the remains of the rotten stump seems to be foliating like a normal bare root tree. After pulling the rotten stump out, I buried it below the surface, with the watersprout standing up like a new tree. It got pruned aggressively, just like a normal bare root tree. If it survives long enough, it can develop new roots to replace those of the rotten stump. The original tree was no better when I planted it in 1985.
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A fun collection this week. Would have loved a photo of Beau too!
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Others wanted to see Beau also.
This is Beau posing as Frio de Ausencia. https://feltonleague.com/2019/12/09/frio-de-ausencia/
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😜
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