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resources on firescaping. Paul recommends a visit to the Santa Barbara Firescape Garden, near the Sheffield Reservoir, across from the City Fire Station on Stanwood Drive. “The idea behind this demonstration garden is that the landscape around a home is planted in four different zones that are increasingly fire retardant as they get closer to the dwelling,” explains Paul. The outermost zone of this garden contains native chaparral and oaks, but Paul stresses that it’s important to vigilantly maintain this zone to eliminate any dead wood and create space between individual plants to reduce the fuel volume. Finally, local residents should consider consult- ing with fire-savvy city or county officials, who want to work with residents to reduce future fire risk. And for information on plants adapted to local conditions, Jeff recommends consulting the San Marcos Growers website. Though this whole- sale nursery doesn’t sell directly to the public, their website hosts excellent resources for Santa Barbara gardeners, including solutions for common local garden issues. Armed with all these local resources, residents can adapt to Santa Barbara’s challenging climate conditions and minimize future damage. It’s all about clever garden design. “The old saying, ‘right plant, right place’ has never been more important,” says Paul. No one knows this better than Jeff. Most of his plants survived—and thrived—after the Tea Fire. “Almost all evidence of the fire is gone,” Jeff con- cedes as he gazes out over the luxuriant aloe forest. “Things just sort of grew out of it.” Like the leg- endary phoenix that rose from the ashes of a fire even more beautiful than before, the tiny scorched aloe transformed into a lush jungle of life. And deep within this succulent forest lies a fallen gi- ant, a charred eucalyptus tree, engulfed by a tangle of tentacle-like branches, a wondrous, whimsical wonderland of aloes. u Aloes in Wonderland is open by appointment only, weekdays or weekends. Call Jeff Chemnick at (805) 965-0895 or email jeff@aloesinwonderland.com www.aloesinwonderland.com 62 Montecito Magazine Fall 2018–Winter 2019 An assortment of plants—agaves, bromeliads and aloes—growing happily together in the garden. The conspicuous plant in flower is Aloe rubrovioacea (Arabian Aloe), a fat-leafed creeping aloe that blooms in late fall.

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