Even when many of my plants are looking tired, as is the case now as summer makes its final stand, I find that I can rely on two things to hold my garden together: trees and succulents.
Trees are a little like walls inside a house - they don't always stand out and make a statement on their own but they provide the backdrop that gives the garden its ambiance. The trees that have the most presence in my garden are
Schinus molle (aka California Pepper Tree) Agonis flexuosa (aka peppermint tree) and
Arbutus 'Marina.' Our property has 7 of the former and 5 of the latter. Both species are evergreen.
The graceful weeping foliage of the
Schinus Agonis frames our view of the harbor off the back yard and provides us some cover from the street in the front yard.
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Setting sun shining through the California Pepper peppermint tree branches at the front of the house |
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| View of the house through the trees from the slice of lawn bordering the street |
The
Arbutus provides shade but also offers interesting bark, flowers attractive to hummingbirds, and strawberry-like fruit that feeds the birds.
We also have a large evergreen Magnolia in the middle of the front lawn.
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| View of Magnolia from side yard |
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| View up through the center of the Magnolia |
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| Close-up of Magnolia leaves |
The
Magnolia sheds leaves continuously during the summer months when it blooms but clean-up is far easier than in the case of the Mimosa (
Albizia julibrissin) in the back. I've commented on my love-hate relationship with the
Mimosa before. I'm still pulling out the seedlings deposited last year and the tree is preparing to shed a new crop.
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| This year's crop of Mimosa seedpods |
There are seedpods on the 2 Western Redbuds (
Cercus occidentalis) in the front yard that serve as understory trees too. However, these pods add interest to the front landscape, picking up the reddish tones of the
Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' and the bark of the
Arbutus, without producing a slew of mini-trees.
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| Ripened seedpods on Cercis occidentalis |
I have a lot of succulent containers scattered about the garden. I wrote one of my earliest posts about them (which you can read
here). These are a few of my current favorites:
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| Aloe 'Delta Delights', Crassula 'Ivory Pagoda', Dykia 'Burgundy Ice', Echeveria 'Violet Queen', Rhipsalis salicorniodes, Sedevaria 'Fred Ives', and Senecio radicans glauca |
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| No list of contents on hand |
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| Agave 'Blue Glow' (please excuse the scattering of Mimosa litter) |
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| A succulent planter created by my mother-in-law |
These are my contributions to this month's Foliage Follow-up, hosted by Pam of
Digging. You can view Pam's foliage picks and find links to other gardeners' foliage highlights
here.
Five Arbutus 'Marina' trees! Wow! I love their sinuous trunks and limbs, and that mahogany peely bark. I wanted to plant one when I redid my front bed last year, but couldn't find one big enough at a nearby nursery. Your Magnolia is a lovely shape too.
ReplyDeleteI had an Arbutus unedo at our last place but I like 'Marina' better, which is a good thing given that the house came with 5 of them!
DeleteYou certainly scored in the tree department, and with those numbers your lot must be huge!
ReplyDeleteThe lot is just over 1/2 an acre - huge by general SoCal standards along the coast and 4-5X the size of my last garden. I used to say I wanted 2 acres but, given the difficulty and expense of maintaining 1/2 an acre, I'm glad we didn't move inland trying to find a larger lot.
DeleteLove the Arbutus...they always catch my attention, no matter where I go :-)
ReplyDeleteThey're used heavily here because they're drought tolerant - and good looking too!
DeleteFabulous trees! Love those leaves of the pepper tree, and the peeling bark of the arbutus is strangely beautiful. I've always wanted a magnolia tree, but the thought of cleaning up its leaves has always prevented me from getting one. Still, what wonderful blooms it has...
ReplyDeleteThe bees love the Magnolia flowers too. Still, given the litter, I'm glad I have just one!
DeleteI like the Mexican beach pebbles in that succulent container. And that Arbutus trunks are simply stunning.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law routinely used the Mexican beach pebbles in her potted plants. Since I inherited her pebble supply when we cleaned out her garage, you may see them make an appearance in my own pots. If nothing else, they should keep the squirrels out!
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