November Favorites

The whole garden looks better and brighter since last week's rain so it was easier than last month to get excited about a few plants for the monthly favorite plants round-up hosted by Loree of danger garden.

Throughout the garden, the Aeoniums have lost their shriveled summer look and regained their luster.

In summer, Aeonium arboreum curls into balls as if to protect itself.  Even the plants in partial shade look like shrunken vestiges of themselves.  As the average temperature drops, they relax.  All these photos were taken from the stacked stone bed along the front slope.  In the photo on the far left, the Aeoniums mingle with Festuca californica, a native grass.  In the middle photo, they're inter-planted with Agave desmettiana pups.  In the photo on the right, they're embellished by the blooms of Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard' and a variety of other succulents.

The Barleria obtusa featured in my Bloom Day post is at the height of its floral glory.

The plant is literally blanketed in lavender blue blooms.  Even the small cuttings of the plant I took less than 2 months ago are blooming.  It's almost scary.  The plant self-seeds readily and, while it takes a year or 2 to bulk up, I'm beginning to wonder if this might be another plant intent on world domination. 

My beautiful Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' is also blooming, not that it doesn't look good out of bloom as well.

When I planted Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' in late March 2015, it was barely a foot tall.  It's never been babied or given extra water but, in addition to reaching 5 feet in height in 20 months, it always looks good, in and out of flower.  The photo on the left, taken this week, shows it in flower.  The middle photo provides a close-up of the coral-pink bottle brush blooms.  The photo on the right, taken this past February, shows the flushed color of its new leaves.

Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy' has exploded with tiny blooms since I cut it back by half a month ago.

This Gomphrena is perennial in our climate but it clearly likes some areas of my garden better than others.  It's thrived in the front border, where it gets full sun and regular irrigation.  It's difficult to get a good photo of the entire plant as it has a wispy aspect and the foliage tends to blend in with the plants around it.  The flowers are plentiful but very tiny.  They make nice airy additions to floral arrangements, although the stems can be very difficult to untangle.

All my large-flowered Grevilleas are looking good but 'Peaches & Cream' has flourished since we took out a hedge that blocked its sun exposure on the west side.

Like 'Superb' and 'Ned Kelly', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' produces flowers all year; however, when a nearby hedge partially blocked its sun exposure, its normal bloom production was a few flowers at a time.  More sun significantly increased its bloom production.

Last but not least, Heteromeles arbutifolia, commonly known as toyon, is at its annual pinnacle, covered in berries.

This drought-tolerant tree-sized shrub sits atop a ridge that dips down to our neighbor's driveway.  Its small white summer flowers are not nearly as splashy as the red berries that appear in fall.  One of the plant's common names is California Holly and it's said that the plant indirectly gave Hollywood its name.  In 2012, it was designated the official native plant of the City of Los Angeles.

For other favorite plant picks this month, visit Loree at danger garden.


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