February's Foliage Standouts

Tired of burying my head and hands in the weeds, I took some time to appreciate the foliage in my garden before the flowers take over with their early spring blast, which is already gearing up, encouraged by weeks of warmer than usual temperatures.

I'll start with a few succulent vignettes before focusing on individual stars that deserve closeups.

This grouping in my north-side garden includes Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue', A. 'Kichijokan' (in the small pot), A. parryi var. patonii, A. pygmaea 'Dragon Toes', and A. victoriae-reginae

Also in the north-side garden is this combination of Agaves and Mangaves, most notably Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze' and Mangave 'Lavender Lady'.  The smaller Mangaves include 'Purple People Eater' and 'Catch a Wave'.

This mix in the succulent bed in front of our garage includes Agave attenuata, A. 'Blue Glow', Phormium 'Rainbow Sunrise', and very red Aeoniums, which may be 'Velour'

On to the closeups!  I'm proceeding alphabetically for lack of a better plan.

Acanthus mollis goes entirely underground in the summer months here, which wasn't the case in my former, very shady garden just 15 miles to the north.  It's always a welcome sign when the 3 plants I have materialize once more following our winter rainy season.  Two of the plants are in the front garden and the third is in my south-side garden, half-buried under a large Vitex trifolia.

This mix of various Aeoniums is a personal favorite, with the red color of some of the Aeoniums playing off the red bark of Arbutus 'Marina' and Phormium 'Amazing Red'.  That Phormium was planted in 2014 but hasn't looked this good in years.

This clump of Aeonium, which I think is comprised of more cuttings of the 'Velour' cultivar, looked near death on the dry back slope during the summer.  It was restored by the rain.

This is Agave angustifolia 'Marginata', which I recently cleaned up after is was covered in leafy debris.  A mimic, Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata', can be seen poking out of its spot inside a nearby stump to the agave's right (commonly used as a toilet by the local raccoons).

This clump of Agave attenuata on the back slope was planted from pups taken from the front garden years ago.  I removed some of the rosettes in the late fall but it's still a dense clump.

The foliage of 5 Drimia maritima (aka sea squill) bulbs emerged on the back slope following our progression of rainstorms.  Choked by ivy and self-seeded alyssum (Lobularia maritima), the sea squill occupies an area along our fuzzy property line with the next door neighbors on our south side.  There's no fence between us but the land does drop off relatively sharply on their side.  Much of the ivy, the Yucca, and the ornamental pear trees are on the neighbors' side. There are self-planted calla lily plants mixed in with the sea squill bulbs too.

I grow Echium candicans 'Star of Madiera' as much for the foliage as for its blue flowers.  I cut this one back hard after it finished blooming last year and was worried that I'd gone too far.

Echium webbii is my second favorite in the genus.  I've had a hard time keeping its size contained in the past.  This plant came from the original Annie's & Annuals as a replacement for a prior specimen.  I haven't previously had success propagating it from cuttings and I've never found it in local garden centers so I hope I can manage containment and/or propagation this round.

The gophers made a mess of the Hesperaloe parviflora in my south-side garden last year.  I recently cleaned it up and cut out most of the Salvia clevelandii that sits next to it so it's looking good (even without flowers).

This 'Red Wing' Mangave is another of my favorite succulent plants.  There are signs of pups underneath its leaves I need to carefully extract.

Melianthus major (aka honeybush) is off and running once again after yet another hard pruning.  Its leaves look like they were cut by pinking shears.

This noID staghorn fern (Platycerium) has been sitting in a pot for a couple of years now.  I've been planning to get it properly mounted or at least set up in a basket but have yet to get to that.  However, even in a pot, it has personality.  I should save it from the rampant bird-planted asparagus ferns at the very least. 

This Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata' (aka mint bush) is happy in this back garden space off the patio.  The 3 I had in pots didn't hold up over the long term.

This Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' may not look like much but I have great hopes for it.  I got it in a 4-inch pot by mail order from Annie's Annuals & Perennials in 2019.  It spent its first 2 years in a pot to bulk up before I planted it here in my street-side succulent bed.  It's bigger but has yet to develop anything like a trunk.

The creep of spring flowers can't be ignored as the foliage of various bulbs and seeds signal that flowers are in the offing.

Clockwise from the upper left: noID Iris germanica at the bottom of the back slope, the only place they're really happy; Iris hollandica 'Pink Panther', one of many Dutch Iris I've planted;  seedlings of Lagurus ovatus (aka bunny tail grass), off to an early start; sweet pea seedlings (Lathyrus annuus), already climbing the support in my cutting garden; lilies (Orienpet Lilium 'Moon Blend' in this case) sprouting in front of and behind the Yucca 'Bright Star'; and one of many calla lily plants (Zantedeschia aethiopica) growing on the back slope

That's a wrap for this week.  All too soon, I'll be flitting around my garden to collect photos of flowers for Bloom Day - between weeding sessions of course.  Weather Underground is projecting a thirty percent chance of light rain late next week, whereas AccuWeather is showing a sixty percent chance.  It wouldn't be all that surprising if that prospect simply evaporates over the next several days but I can't help hoping it comes through - we've been very dry since early January, and February is historically our wettest month.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

A little planting, a lot of weeding

Feeling as though what passes for winter here may be over already, I've started doing some spring planting.  However, whatever time I spend on those activities is eclipsed by the time I've been spending on weeding.  I blame the warm temperatures for the sheer volume of weeds everywhere I look.   It was 84F (29C) yesterday and, with the Santa Ana winds expected to begin blowing again, it could be warmer still today.

All my recent efforts in the garden have been small in scope, mostly focused on filling minor gaps.  The area in front of the Ceanothus in one section of my back border, where I'd previously plunked Aeonium cuttings, was bugging me and, seeing how well sea lavender (Limonium perezii, aka statice) was doing elsewhere, I decided to try it there in place of the larger Aeonium arboreum.

I placed one small Limonium perezii behind my Ginkgo tree 2 years ago and it's now massive, despite no attention whatsoever from me

My local garden center was selling the plants in 6-inch pots last week so I picked up 3 after pulling up 3 clumps of Aeonium arboreum, one of which was already blooming.  I left the Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' cuttings in place, as well as several vincas (Catharanthus 'Blueberry Kisses').  I cut the vinca back almost to the ground - it may or may not spring back.  I also left the Mangave 'Pineapple Express' pups in place to see whether they or the Ceanothus itself would be the first  to cover up the shrub's bare base.

The vinca (Catharanthus 'White Peppermint') I'd planted in an area of the front garden had also largely died back.  As I haven't had great success in growing much there, I decided to try succulents this time.

I recently pulled up several lanky stems of Aeonium 'Velour' elsewere and, as its red color has made it one of my favorites, I popped 3 cuttings in to pick up the reddish color at the base of the Phormium 'Maori Queen' in the background.  I then added 3 'Princess' Echeverias and 3 'Sunburst' Aeoniums, hoping they'll fill out in time.

Last summer, I'd received five Echinopsis divisions from my friend Gerhard (of Succulents & More fame).  I initially kept them in small plastic pots in my lath (shade) house to give them a chance to root properly.  Rather than plant them out in the garden, where they would be still small enough to be stepped on, I decided to put them into larger pots.

The Echinopsis' temporary home

I'd had much better luck growing this Echinopsis oxygona in a pot than I've had with any planted directly in the ground

These 3 pots hold Echinopsis 'Daydream', E. 'Salmon Queen', and E. 'Sleeping Beauty'

The 2 pots on the left hold Echinopsis 'El Capitan' and E. 'Tondelayo'

I'd ordered ten more plants from Grow Organic, the company that purchased the rights to the mail order business formerly operated as Annie's Annuals & Perennials.  FedEx, which handled the delivery, didn't treat them gently and I hustled to get the smaller plants in the ground.

This is a bed I'd painstakingly cleared of (most) weeds the week before.  A gopher had tunneled through the area so, the space, formerly dominated by masses of Freesia bulbs and daylilies, had been significantly battered, leaving lots of empty space.  I planted Annie's Anagallis monellii (3) and Layla platyglossa (2) here but they're tiny.

These 5 plants, 1 Tagetes lemonii, 1 Penstemon, and 3 Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', waited longer to find homes, although the Tagetes found its place yesterday afternoon.

I'm still debating where to put the three Verbascum phoeniceum 'Violetta', partly out of caution because I killed one I tried years ago.  I spent quite a bit of time walking through corners of my garden studying my options yesterday (weeding as I went).  While checking out the options in my back border, which still has lots of empty space since my fall cleanup of the garden, I discovered some things I set aside months ago and completely forgotten about.

I'd dropped 3 Amaryllis belladonna bulbs I'd dug up in an isolated corner.  I discovered that 2 have already sprouted foliage.  They're still sitting there...

Meanwhile, my garden's floral output continues to explode in response to our warm conditions.

The 'Spider Hybrid' Leucospermum may not have beat 'Sunrise' with its first blooms but it's already more prolific

While TV forecasters are talking up the tiny possibility of rain late this week, I'm not laying any odds on the prospect.  However, the chance of a little rain next week seems to be getting more promising, although I'm trying to keep my expectations in check for now.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Fire and Ice

While I can't claim we're in the middle of a true heatwave, it's been unseasonably toasty here of late with temperatures running in the low 80sF (27-28C).  Humidity levels remain low and my plants are begging for infusions of extra water despite the fact that the automated irrigation system currently kicks in twice a week.  The morning marine layer is projected to make appearances on and off this week, which should lower the temperatures and raise the humidity but I won't count on that until I see it happen.  February is traditionally the wettest month of our all-too-short rainy season in Los Angeles County but the ten-day forecast doesn't hold any real chance of rain at this point.  However, the warmth is bringing on fresh flowers in my garden on a steady basis.

As a nod to the warmer conditions, I selected a few blooms of the fiery Leucospermum 'Sunrise' to guide the choices for my first arrangement.

I threw in a few stems of white Marguerite daisies (Argyranthemum frutescens) at the last minute to help balance all the red-orange colors but I don't think it really did the trick.  I also can't explain why the 2 stems of Alstroemeria suddenly collapsed the way they did.

Back view: more yellow Marguerite daisies might have helped

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', Argyranthemum frutescens 'Beauty Yellow', A. f. 'Mount Everest', Antirrhinum majus, Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane', and Leucospermum 'Sunrise'

ICE (the acronym for the US Immigations & Customs Enforcement agency) has been on my mind and as a friend and I joined an ICE Out protest on Saturday, I felt compelled to add that reference to my post's title when I cut two of the first Scilla peruviana (aka Portuguese squill) to bloom this year and added more blue tones to complement them.

I probably should've held off on cutting the Scilla peruviana until the stems were taller but I couldn't resist.  These are the first blooms from new bulbs I planted in November.  My larger clump (which I still haven't divided) hasn't developed buds yet but I've little doubt they're on their way.

Back view: I can't account for the lavender Anemone blooms.  They're distinct from the 'Azzurro' variety I used last week but they're definitely not either of the 2 other bulb varieties ('Rarity' and 'Rosa Chiaro') I ordered this fall.  My best guess is that they're 'Mona Lisa', included in my order by mistake.

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Anemone coronaria 'Lord Lieutenant', noID Anemone (maybe 'Mona Lisa'), noID Ceanothus, and Scilla peruviana 

Last week's Hippeastrum 'Amadeus Candy' held up well, with the last two buds opening as the week came to an end.  I couldn't bring myself to toss them out so they were plunked in a small vase for the kitchen island.

The other 2 bulbs of 'Amadeus Candy' are already in full bloom.  I guess I couldn't count on their pacing their bloom schedules more widely.

For more IAVOM creations, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Tripping down a local trail

When we first moved to the Palos Verdes Peninsula fifteen years ago, I took almost daily walks through the surrounding area to get acquainted with it.  As I got more involved with renovating our garden, those long walks fell to the side, although I routinely walk my immediate neighborhood as general exercise.  Earlier this week I decided to make a trek along a nearby trail I probably haven't walked in at least ten years, despite the fact that the upper trailhead is literally just feet from the entrance to our neighborhood.  The loop is approximately two miles long and rated as a "moderate challenge," although my husband reminded me that it was steep in some spots.

The upper entrance doesn't have a trailmarker and doesn't look particularly auspicious

Agave attenuata and Pelargoniums spill down a steep slope to the side of the trail near the entrance.  The homeowners on the other (left) side of the trail have planted a large number of what look like Agave americana alongside their driveway, possibly in the interest of keeping trail visitors off their property.

The trail is maintained by the city.  I remembered it as choked by weeds and dense growth in spots when I traveled it years ago.  However, last year following the fires that plagued Los Angeles County, there'd been a concerted effort to clear area trails to ensure that they'd be passable in an emergency.

The first turn in the path directly aligns it with homes in my neighborhood.  Years ago when I walked this trail, some homes weren't fenced off but that's changed over time.

The home in the background here gained a new owner who almost immediately fenced off the property to prevent access from the trail

This house, directly below the first one, changed hands several years ago and the new owners also constructed a fence

This home, nearer to ours, still isn't fenced.  That lawn is faux turf.

In general, the trail path leads downwards in elevation, although here and there the path is flat and even inclined in sections.  I did slip in some steep spots with loose, dry soil early into my trek.  I didn't fall but I did slow my pace.  A brief description of the trail I found online indicates that there's a change of 469 feet in elevation from the trail's top to its bottom.

Most everything is still very green since the last rain in early January but I have to wonder if the city will be back to cut all that grass when it turns brown

Some portions of the trail were a bit claustrophobic 

This home, at least partially fenced, belongs to our next door neighbor on our north side.  All that green is comprised of Nasturtiums not yet in flower.  Her garden and the garden of our neighbor on the other (south) side of us both stretch along the back of our own garden, insulating us from direct contact with the trail.  

Some large drainage pipes lined sides of the path

As I walked on, I discovered debris and what looks like an AC unit deposited outside fences 

The property behind this fence is one I can see across the canyon from my back garden.  The platform visible just above the fence on the left sits at the top of the property I featured in a mid-September 2025 post on a hardscaping project I watched unfold (i.e., spied on).  As the trail veers to the right beyond this point, I couldn't see anything more of the garden.  However, based on what I can see from my backyard, there isn't evidence of new plants around the homeowners' expanded deck or raised walkway.

At this point on the trail, I lost any real sense of where I was.  There were a lot of tall trees and shrubs, as well as steep slopes on both sides of the path in places, especially to the right of where I stood here.

From a plant perspective, it wasn't the most interesting walk but it offered the occasional surprise and a quite a few native and adapted species.

I think this is an Asclepias physocarpa (aka hairy balls milkweed), mingled with what may be one of our native lemonade berry shrubs (Rhus integrifolia)

This is one of the many native tree-size toyon shrubs (Heteromeles arbutifolia) lining the trail

Some Yuccas I think, both dead and alive.  There was a fair amount of dead debris scattered along the trail.

Yellow daisies of some species I can't identify

One of many Opuntias

The trail's upper reaches were mostly shady but I slowly moved into sunnier stretches. 

This photo is a little fuzzy but I wanted to point our the steep cliff area in the middle of the shot

A giant but very dead Opuntia

Tree-size Euphorbia towering over shrubs lining the trail from a nearby garden as I ventured nearer to homes again

A back garden fenced in from the trail

There were a few homes that had stairways extending to the trail.  This one included a "no trespassing" sign.

This stairway looked almost too inviting

The entire area is dotted with trees and shrubs, including what looked like California pepper trees (Schinus molle). They grow like weeds here.

There were lots of gigantic Bougainvillea in the sunnier areas

A final garden that appeared semi-open to the trail

And a mammoth vine, possibly Vigna caracalla (aka corkscrew or snail vine), spilling over a stout tree or large shrub, possibly a Ligustrum by the look of its flowers

The end in sight!  Or at least my stopping off point to head back home.

The only trailmarker I saw on my entire hike

As this point intersected with a neighborhood I was loosely familiar with and which I knew would eventually drop me out on the main road back to my home, I exited the trail here.

This neighborhood has a lot of interesting homes, many with a Spanish flair.  The road is twisty and a little steep in places but I managed to navigate it reasonably well based on the walks I'd taken there years ago.

 

View from the main road looking down on the neighborhood adjacent to mine with harbor city areas in the distance

All things considered, despite my lousy right knee, it was a pleasant walk.  I didn't see a soul until I left the trail and, other than some distant sounds of garden tools in use, it was very quiet.  I may visit the sunny, grassy area of Friendship Park, just barely visible in the upper right of last photo sometime in February.  I haven't been there in years either.

Have a nice, hopefully news-neutral, weekend.

All material © 2012-2026 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party