For a variety of reasons, time has gotten away from me this week. However, as I didn't want to let two of my favorite memes go unacknowledged, I thought I'd address both in a single post using photos taken on a sunny morning earlier this week.
Foliage Follow-up, hosted by Pam at
Digging, serves to highlight the value of foliage in the garden. The rain we've received over the past several weeks scrubbed everything in the garden clean, allowing plants to glow in the sunlight. I thought I'd share just a few examples.
 |
| Agave 'Blue Glow' with Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' |
 |
| Phormium 'Maori Queen' fronted by Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' |
 |
| Phormium 'Tom Thumb' |
 |
| Yucca desmettiana 'Blue Boy' with Graptosedum 'Darley Sunshine' |
 |
| The succulent bed I planted back in early September using a collection of mostly cuttings and plug plants, including Aeoniums (A. arboreum, A. 'Sunburst', and A. haworthii 'Kiwi'), Crassula lycopodiodes and Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnerieri |
For more foliage stand-outs,
visit Pam at Digging.
Wednesday Vignette, hosted by Anna at
Flutter & Hum, focuses on the images that grabbed participants' interest this week. Mine is a photo capture of a cloudless sulphur butterfly (
Phoebis sennae). These butterflies gravitate to the large
Senna bicapsularis in my dry garden, which serves as a host plant for both the butterflies and their larva. The butterflies flitted through my garden in large numbers throughout the fall months but, although I spent considerable time stalking them, I couldn't get a single decent photo - they never sat still for a second. However, as I was taking the photo of the succulent bed shown above, one landed on a nearby rock and stayed there for several minutes, allowing me to get several half-way decent shots.
 |
| Maybe it thought it blended right in. If I hadn't seen it land, I might have missed it. |
For more Wednesday Vignettes,
visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Great butterfly picture!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane! I was obviously thrilled to finally catch one of the flighty creatures.
DeleteOh my - that butterfly looks like it landed on a big slab of meat! I feel a sting of envy looking at your beautiful foliage. You would laugh if you saw my garden right now. Nary a leaf - mostly naked sticks poking out of snow. Might have to post a belated FF, just for the laugh of it. Bah-ha-ha-ha!!
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, the rock yard called those rocks "golden boulders" but there is a lot of red in some of them. I hope your long-awaited thaw comes soon, Anna!
DeleteHi Kris, you show quite some stunning foliage combinations today! I love the agave 'Blue Glow', but unfortunately because of my dogs agaves are out for me. The risk that the dogs get seriously injured by them when playing in the garden is simply too high as long as they are so young and boisterous.
ReplyDeleteAnother plant that caught my eye is the Yucca desmettiana 'Blue Boy', now that is a fascinating beauty! I have never seen it before.
Hopefully we are getting more rain this week. At least the weather forecast says so.
Warm regards,
Christina
If you like the sculptural qualities of agaves, Christina, you might try some of those with soft leaves, like Agave attenuata (aka foxtail agave) or A. bracteosa (aka squid agave). I expect they and the dogs could survive one another.
DeleteYou are correct about the plants shining. Such a contrast to my own garden in the UK. "Blue Glow" is special. Nice to hear of lots of butterflies. They grace a garden.
ReplyDeleteWe've been short on butterflies the past couple of years (a drought effect perhaps?) but there was a noticeable up-tick in the number of these sulphur butterflies this year. I hope that signifies that the garden has become more hospitable, Ian.
DeleteThank you for the walk through your lovely glowing garden! After a week of snow and ice, it fed my soul. Thanks! And cool shot of the butterfly.
ReplyDeleteI hope the nasty cold you've been experiencing up north calls it quit soon and sets you moving toward a warm and welcoming spring.
DeleteGreat combos, all of them. Does your 'Blue Boy' stay purple year round? I had one in the ground but it was only purple in the winter, turning to a sickly green in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI have 5 'Blue Boy' and, although VERY slow growing, they've stayed on the silvery purple side thus far; however, I'd say that the purple color is deeper in winter.
DeleteI love the way the "Sticks on Fire" Euphorbia brightens the sombre beauty of Agave "Blue Glow" - a wonderful combo! And it looks like your succulent bed is filling in fast :) Great job getting a good shot of the Sulphur Butterfly too. Something, perhaps the low contrast, throws my focus off every time...!
ReplyDeleteI finally decided that I'd placed too many blue-toned plants around that 'Blue Glow' agave - adding a cutting of Euphorbia added I nice contrast.
DeleteGood mash up! Your succulent bed of bits and pieces looks particularly good, and 'Blue Boy' is a beauty.
ReplyDelete'Blue Boy' and his brother plants are still small but I think they'll be impressive when they grow up.
DeleteYour 'Blue Boy' yucca looks so much happier than mine, nice and full. I love the way the phormiums catch the light. So glad you guys are getting rain at last! Pam/Digging: penick.net
ReplyDeleteI think this may be the first time I've featured 'Blue Boy' in a blog post but he was looking really fine following all our rainstorms.
DeleteYour foliage is just as spectacular as your flowers, Kris. I'm interested that you're able to grow Phormium; I've tried here but it was never happy; neither in winter nor summer. The butterfly is similar to some that were hanging around here even into late autumn and early winter although they have of course all disappeared now.
ReplyDeleteI've had mixed results with Phormiums, Christina. Thus far, all those in the front garden have done well, while those in the back and dry gardens not so much. I can't explain why that is either.
DeleteLook at all that fantastic foliage! And not just the plants you focused on. I see lots of beautiful, happy plants in the background, too.
ReplyDeleteI love the butterfly photo. Hopefully it's a sign of the native plants and animals making a surge in growth and life with the rain you're finally getting.
Most, if not all, of the plants in my garden appear to be doing better after our extended rounds of rain, Evan, even the succulents. I hope the animals and insects also benefit in the long run. The lizards are noticeably absent but then I understand they hibernate in winter.
DeleteWhat great plant combos. That first image is a stunner.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda! 'Blue Glow' is one of my favorite agaves.
DeleteThe agave and euphorbia are gorgeous and your whole garden looks so refreshed from the rain!
ReplyDeleteWe've already dramatically exceeded last year's rain total, Eliza (even if it's not much by the standards of many areas). It's been wonderful!
DeleteI know you said your 'Blue Glow' wasn't very big but it sure looks nice-sized in that photo! Excellent capture with the butterfly too...
ReplyDeleteThat's my biggest 'Blue Glow' but it's only about 2 feet in diameter and about a foot and a half high. At that, it's still about double the size of most of my others.
DeleteLove all of your foliage and that Blue Glow is, well, just spectacular! The Phormiums aren't bad either! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim! I've been surprised at how well the Phormiums in the front garden are holding up, at least relative to some I've planted elsewhere.
Delete