Wide Shots and Wednesday Vignette - February 2016

I'm late getting my monthly wide shots together.  I could blame complications from the wind and rain earlier this week but the truth is I've just been pressed for time.  However, taking photos on Monday, the day after it rained and the winds scrubbed the skies of our omnipresent brown haze, reaped benefits in the form of clear views of the harbor and mountains.  As the haze has already returned, I'm including photos of Monday's long-distance views from my backyard as my "Wednesday Vignette," the weekly meme hosted by Anna of Flutter & Hum.

Crystal clear view of Angel's Gate, the entrance to the Los Angeles harbor

View of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the harbor, and Long Beach beyond

View of the snow-capped mountain to the east

Now for my monthly wide shots of the garden, an exercise initiated by Heather of Xericstyle, I'll start in the backyard.

There's still lots of bare dirt here, the down side of starting with small plants

View of the backyard, looking north

View of the same area, looking south

Promising signs in the backyard include, from the left: Alstroemeria reemerging; foliage growth on the Amaryllis belladona, graciously provided by Tammy of Casa Mariposa, providing the promise of summer flowers; and Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', which has more than doubled in size in less than a year

The south side garden is up next.  I moved the Acanthus mollis and Arthropodium cirratum from this area, giving the plants a new home the shadier area along the garage.  I back-filled with more succulents and ornamental grass but the area will look sparse for awhile.  After fighting constant battles with the raccoons for possession of the area alongside the patio, I traded out the smaller succulents I had there for Hemerocallis moved from the back border in the hope that those plants will be harder for the furry monsters to toss about.

The area looks sparse now but, as I add more succulents and as the ones I've already planted grow larger, this will change

The same area, photographed looking east toward the harbor

One day, all my Agave 'Blue Glow' should look as good as the one on the left.  The middle photo shows a few of the smaller Agave 'Blue Glow', one of 3 Aloe dorotheae, and Echium 'Star of Madeira'.  Three pups of Agave americana mediopicta, received from Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden, have been planted here, currently surrounded by prickly Magnolia cones to provide a modicum of protection from the nasty raccoons. 

Not much has changed at the front of the house, except in the area alongside the garage, which was the subject of a progress report late last month.

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', Gazania 'White Flame' and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' are providing most of the floral color at the front of the house

The wind and rain took a toll on the Bauhinia x blakeana (Hong Kong orchid tree) but it should come back with more blooms

My favorite view this month

Three views of the former lawn area next to the garage, which I covered in an earlier progress report.  Planting here is currently my primary focus.

The succulent bed along the street underwent a few changes but, for the most part, it's been allowed to cope on its own.  However, the area behind that bed, now exposed to view as the Auranticarpa shrubs that formerly served as a screen die off, has received some attention.  I'm still in search of solutions to screen this area from the street.  I don't want to pull out the succulents, which would be necessary if I was to plant more of the Xylosma that makes up the rest of the hedge material along the street, and I don't want to block the path behind the succulent bed,  so finding the right screen poses a real challenge.

The succulents love the rain they've received, little as it was!

Clockwise from the left: Agave impressa surrounded by noID Dudleya and Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'; more Agave 'Blue Glow', shown here with Chondropetalum tectorum, a rush; Agave desmettiana surrounded by Aeoniums and other succulents; the foliage of Hippeastrum I'm attempting to naturalize here; and one of 2 Agave 'Blue Flame'

These photos show something of the area behind the succulent bed.  Since 2 of the dying Ceanothus on the slope above the stacked stone wall were removed, I've planted a Garrya elliptica, 2 Salvia 'Celestial Blue', Festuca californica, and lots of Aeonium cuttings.

There's nothing much new in the vegetable or dry gardens.

Chicken wire has kept the raccoons out of the raised planter in the foreground but my flower seeds have been slow to sprout.  Plugs of Schizanthus pinnatus (aka poor man's orchid) have been planted in the second planter and a few more herbs have been added to the third.

The rains have refreshed the dry garden a bit, as exemplified by all the flowers produced by the rosemary (lower left) but the Grevillea lavandulacea 'Penola', which usually are in full bloom in January, are only now budding out

While I haven't done much with the back slope either, there are signs that the area is starting to come alive, even with the meager winter rain we've received thus far.

View of the slope from the top of the stairway on the left and from the bottom looking up on the right

The highlights of this area include, clockwise from upper left: 3 Agave attentuata, started from 4-inch pots last year; the bare mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) looming over the area from the backyard area above; Calla lilies emerging from dormancy; Centranthus, a virtual weed here, growing everywhere; more flowering rosemary, originally planted from plugs; and a mass of lemons on the ever-bearing tree

That's it for my wide views.  Hopefully, we'll get some more rain before El Niño fizzles out.  The 10-day forecast shows no chance of rain whatsoever but our temperatures are expected to soar into the low 80sF (27C) by the weekend so spring will be in the air while we still yearn for winter's rains.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party