Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Wednesday Vignette: Weekend Views

I spent Saturday trawling nurseries in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties with a friend.  I'll provide a run-down in a later post but, for now, I wanted to share one display garden I photographed at Ventura Cactus & Succulents.

Bougainvillea covers a chain-link fence, providing a pretty backdrop for a wide variety of succulents and a few barrel cactus

Left is one of the prettiest Kalanchoe luciae I've ever seen.  At right is an interesting crested something-or-other.


At risk that you may be a little tired of my sunrise and sunset views, I couldn't resist sharing this sunset scene from Sunday night.

Unlike most sunsets that set clouds afire, this one took advantage of moisture in the surrounding area to lay a filmy pink blanket over the mountains to the northeast


These photos are my contributions to the Wednesday Vignette meme hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum.  Visit Anna for more.


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

20 comments:

  1. Nice sunset and that is a stupendous planting. Really, really beautiful. Looks like there is a little guy still in a pot in the grouping?

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    1. It's funny but I didn't process the barrel cactus in the pot until I looked at my photo, Tim. I'm seeing a surprising number of barrel cactus for sale in small pots here all of a sudden - for reasonable prices too. However, I expect they take a really, really long time to gain size.

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  2. Tired of your views? Never! We have no views. Nobody in Davis does. The highest points in town are the freeway overpasses!

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    1. Given a choice, I'd have preferred a view of open ocean but we were admittedly lucky to get this one of the harbor. There's always something going on and the sunrises and sunsets are far better than anything I ever captured from our former house, buried in a congested neighborhood.

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  3. That looks like an interesting garden. Some day I need to try Bougainvillea again. I've now killed two of them. Love the pink sunset!

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    1. My husband hates Bougainvillea but here, where you can give it adequate space to do its own thing, it really is a nice plant. It's one of the options to fill the mostly dead area on the upper portion of our back slope.

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  4. Yay! I am so glad to see you made a visit to Ventura Cactus & Succulents. What did you buy? (or am I jumping ahead?)

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    1. I picked up 5 plants, all unlabeled, at Ventura Cactus & Succulents. Maybe I'll have to do a post titled "Name That Plant"!

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  5. Great planting that shows 'just' succulents can make a tremendous statement. I never tire of sunsets and sunrises - they are one of the joys of life.

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    1. The marine layer often disguises the sunrises and sunsets here so I get excited every time the sky turns pink.

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  6. I love your glorious sunsets. A lovely planting of succulents. I am getting to like them more and more.

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    1. Ah, that's what succulents do - slowly weasel their way into your heart.

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  7. Looking forward to seeing what you brought home, Kris! I love that Kalanchoe. I must get my nerve up to try some. I've lost just about every non-spiny succulent I've planted, but I'm told some kalanchoes do well here... And no, not tired of your sunsets -- they're wonderful!

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    1. I suspect Kalanchoe luciae will need protection from the cold in winter in your area, Amy, but it's worth a try. Even in my garden it's never looked as robust as that plant at the nursery.

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  8. Maybe you can terrace your back slope with rocks and plants like that display garden, draped in bougainvillea. :) Love the kalanchoe and barrel cacti.

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    1. Bougainvillea is used a lot in our area, Eliza - we have the perfect climate for it. The only thing that's prevented me from planting it here is that my husband HATES it. This springs from the fact that it grew along the driveway of our former house and scratched his precious electric car (which he converted from a gas-powered car). He removed several of the shrubs at great risk to his person. (The thorns are nasty!)

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    2. Is there a compact cultivar? Maybe that would be a compromise. :)

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    3. The only compact form I've seen is very small. It doesn't produce the same effect.

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  9. Who could ever get tired of your gorgeous sunrise and sunset views? Oh to be able to grow those cacti and succulents in the ground...sigh.

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    1. The cacti and succulents were very happy at that nursery, Peter. Mine don't generally look nearly as good, although I'm lucky that they can remain where they are year-round.

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