Fall Planting Frenzy - Part 1

The title of this post suggests that my fall planting frenzy has just begun.  In actuality, it began much earlier.  You could say that it kicked off before the official start of fall when I began planting the area surrounding the new pathway on one side of our house in early September (as described here).  It continued as I began to fill in the expanse of open area on the same side of the house, where we'd removed a large section of lawn (as described here).  I've been haunting nearby nurseries and garden centers ever since looking for the plants on my list for the side yard, as well as plants to fill in vacancies in my backyard border.  To complicate matters, last week, in a fit of disillusionment with the back border, I began tearing out plants there.  It started with this:

3 lavender plants grew together to form a troublesome mass in the middle of the border

I put in 3 lavender plants (Lavandula x heterophylla) in the spring of 2012.  In the fall of that year, I placed a mint bush (Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata') behind them, mainly because space was available.  The lavender plants subsequently grew together to form a single mass, which I saw out the window every time I sat on the couch in the living room.  The mass obscured the pretty mint bush, which began to bug me until, this past week, I tore the lavender out, leaving a big hole.

Space after removal of the lavender mass

This area bi-sects the backyard border, separating the warm-toned plants on the right from cooler-toned plants on the left.  While I haven't come to terms with the perfect planting scheme for that area, I did pick items to fill in the space for now.  Some of these came by mail order and others were picked up at a nursery this weekend.  I'll post on that reconfiguration in the near future.

While I was staring at the backyard border trying to decide what it needed, I reached the conclusion that the left side also needed substantial work.  I've been looking for burgundy foliage plants for that area since my 2 failed attempts to grow a purple-leafed Loropetalum there.  I recently added one Phormium 'Dark Delight' and decided, what the heck, I'd add 2 more.  These went in this weekend, along with some bulbs, 3 society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and a new thyme honey myrtle (Melaleuca thymifolia).  The new arrangement required me to dig up and reposition several of the surrounding plants as well.

Left side of border after the addition of 2 more Phormium and some rearranging

Melaleuca thymifolia

I can't say that I'm thrilled with this section of the border yet.  It still looks a bit hodge-podge to me; however, my hope is that its appearance will improve as the plants fill out and grow to their anticipated heights.

Work on the side yard continues as well.  Some of last week's purchases, including the Agave 'Blue Glow,' have been added there, along with Helichrysum italicum, and Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow,' which was moved from a nearby area.

With the exception of the Arbutus, Phlomis, Acanthus, and 2 of the Arthropodium cirratum, everything in this area was recently planted

I still need to add a path through the middle of this space to the backyard beyond but the other side of the area, adjacent to a small patio, is coming together.  I added some Iceland poppy seedlings (Papaver nudicaule) this weekend just because I love them.

All the plants in this area were introduced in late September or October

View of side yard bed from patio area

Fall is unequivocally the best time to plant in my area of Southern California.  It's still warm enough to give roots time to establish but, more importantly, we have a reasonable chance of getting rain.  We got our first rain since March on October 9th.  Although that yielded less than a quarter of an inch of rainwater, another rain event is forecast for today and tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to it.  The view this morning is auspiciously cloudy.