EVERYTHING YOU DIDN'T EXPECT TO LEARN FROM MALIBU. "BAMBOO HARVESTER" was the name of the horse who played Mister Ed during the show's 5 year television run in the sixties. His acting stable formerly resided in what is now Rick Rubin's recording studio. The studio (called Shangri-La) survived the 2018 Woolsey Fire that ripped through almost 100,000 acres of land surrounding the Los Angeles area of California - but the two homes nearby did not. Did the studio's landscaping really contribute to its survival? Are there fire-proof plants? This is a lot to take in - pause, let's go one morsel at a time. Wait, let's back it up a little further... to the magazine... no, further yet, to the 2023 New Year's blog post. In January, the call to learning went out, rolling in with fresh ambition on the new year, encouraging all to discover new things about the world around you. Well the discoveries haven't stopped: in walks the concept of fire resistant gardening and tidbits about Mr. Ed. First we need to talk about the mystery magazine. No, not The Picketwire, which may have lured you here in the first place with its captivating and quirky content. I'm talking about the Travel + Leisure magazine, which mysteriously began arriving a little over a year ago. At first I attributed this unexpected mailbox crasher to Hedgie, for he has and does subscribe to a few publications, some even gifted free of charge by unusual means such as the purchase of a rug. But alas, it did not bear the name "Hedgie Wilkinson" on its label. I gave the first arriving issue a quick peruse and deemed it acceptable for both casual reading as well as arts and craft material, and so future deliveries were directed to either an available tabletop or in some instances, the bathroom. They have continued to arrive uneventfully, despite the unknown origin. This evening, as the current issue sat at the edge of Richard's Corner, nonchalantly blending in with the soft scattering of notepads and select mail, I eyed it up while my coffee brewed to a halt. Pouring a full cup of goodness, I let my fingers waltz the pages of the magazine instead of burning them against the piping hot mug within their reach. As I waited for the coffee to cool to an acceptable consumption temperature, my gaze landed on Malibu. There's a town I know nothing about, I thought to myself. I began reading Jason Sheeler's intriguing feature on this picturesque Southern California icon - that is, until I got to the part where it says that Rick Rubin's recording studio was spared from the 2018 Woolsey fire by the vegetation surrounding the studio. Wait, what? ...what?! I re-read it. Yes: it was stating that the vegetation contributed to the studio's survival. My coffee had cooled but my mind was on fire. My inner native plant cheerleader was doing cartwheels. Does this mean that certain plants can deter wildfires, act as natural barriers due to their lack of combustibility, and potentially detour the flames from their path of destruction? I was baffled. I'd heard much about rain gardens, drought tolerant gardens, plants to aid in erosion control and riverbank reconstruction, but never had I heard the term "fire garden" or anything of the like. How did I not know about this? Coffee in hand, I scurried off to see what sort of rabbit hole I could dig myself into on the world wide web. THE PLANTS THAT SAVED THE DAY WHEN IT CAME TO RICK RUBIN'S STUDIO, specifically, I was unable to dig up much regarding the landscape - neither past nor present. However, there is plenty of dazzling information out there about the studio's colorful history. Most entertaining to myself is perhaps that the Mister Ed Show was filmed there in the 1960's; an existing bungalow on the ranch property was used for his living quarters. When the show's TV reign ended, his stall was converted back to a livable bungalow, which was home to Richard Manuel of The Band for a spell in the mid 70's. Fascinating, but what's growing around this multi-million dollar creative paradise? The horticultural dead end led me on a broader search for plants with fire resistant qualities. Here, the door would open wide. Fire resistant gardening is absolutely a "thing" and has been implemented on countless properties in high-risk wildfire regions. It seems that no one can stress enough that no plantings are "fire proof", and Sustainable Defensible Spaces brings up a great point when they caution that there is more to fire prevention than simply fire-resistant plants: "A well maintained, irrigated ‘flammable’ plant can represent a lower ignition risk than a neglected ‘firesafe’ plant." Fire-conscious landscaping is a unique approach to fire prevention, yet one that thrives on common sense, noted by the quote at the top of LA county's Smart Gardening Sheet (credited to Jack Thomas): "What I am saying is that all of us concerned with wildfires and the loss of life and property must begin addressing basic, common sense, fire prevention and fuels reduction guidelines for these areas." Common sense says planting highly flammable landscaping near your home will pose a threat in the event of an approaching wildfire. Fuel reduction means you are leaving less finger food for wildfires on your property. Basic fire prevention can be as simple as choosing plants with high moisture content and/or low sap or resin content and keeping your dry plant debris to a minimum. When it comes to those desirable, non-combustible plants, succulents seem to take a sweeping victory over all others - and it makes sense. When a fleshy plant like aloe or sedum is exposed to fire, it doesn't burst into flames or otherwise instantaneously ignite. It cooks, it boils, it chars and discolors - but it's no hearty meal for a hungry wildfire. Debra Lee Baldwin, author of some succulent-savvy books about utilizing these plants in your landscape, shares some pretty incredible accounts of homes saved by succulents and fire-resistant plantings. If you have a moment, take a peek here: debraleebaldwin.com/firewise-landscaping-with-succulents/ Succulents aren't the only plants that get praise for refusing to work with wildfires. Many county and state websites from fire-prone regions offer valuable information on not just plant selection for fire-resistant landscaping, but techniques in plant placement to further reduce the spread of approaching flames. Oregon State University offers a free, downloadable PDF covering fire-resistant plants for home landscapes in the Pacific Northwest (with lots of plant pictures, hooray!), and CAL FIRE explains and exemplifies a typical defensive layout for your property. The Theodore Payne Foundation's web page boasts both of the aforementioned tactics in fire control, with favoritism rightfully given to native plants. It also includes a link to Sustainable Defensible Space's fire-resistant plant list (or just hop to it here: defensiblespace.org/plants/)
If you don't live in an area prone to wildfires, this may all seem foreign to you. It does to me - but for some people this information is as routine as knowing what plants attract butterflies and which ones can handle standing water. Nonetheless, I find it fascinating how what we choose to plant around a house can be the difference between survival and total loss. There has always been a general rule of thumb for selecting plants that I strive to adhere to and to promote: The right plant for the right place. And this is certainly one of those occasions where that rule has a huge benefit. If you live in a high risk wildfire zone or know someone who does, introduce a little fire plant knowledge into your gardening agenda... and maybe some interesting facts about Mister Ed.
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Tales of Douglas Furr (and his friends)narrated by Crissy Clossin Archives
February 2024
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