A trip around the neighborhood

I haven't walked my neighborhood in quite a while so, late one afternoon last week, I decided to take a stroll to see what changes all the rain we had this winter might have brought.  The short answer is there wasn't much new to see even as spring takes hold here but I'll share some of the highlights.

A simple landscape featuring Arbutus 'Marina'.  This property also has some beautiful specimens of Salvia clevelandii but none are in bloom as yet.

Across the street, in what I think is the nicest garden in the neighborhood, the giant Leucospermum is in full bloom

This Magnolia was blooming street-side on the same property, with a carpet of Alstroemeria below

Back on the other side of the street, the huge vacant lot is still vacant.  I noticed a rusted shovel I'd never seen before near the entrance to the property.  It's overgrown with weeds at the moment but you can see the harbor in the distance.  I've never wandered much of the lot, which appears to be well over an acre, but based on the vehicle ruts showing in the muddy soil, others have.  I was told that the house on this lot burned down many years ago.  Apparently the owner of the property has never received an offer he's found acceptable.

I was impressed by how well someone has trimmed these giant Phormiums, although it looks as though they might be advised to divide them as well

This sprawling Spanish style house hasn't previously been this visible from the street, however, I expect the foliage shielding it was cleared away to install the power pole you see behind the funky stone bench.  New power poles are being put in throughout the area.

This nice succulent bed is down the street a ways.  Everything looked great except that some of the Agave attenuata seem to have suffered from too much rain.  A couple of my small foxtail agaves show similar discoloration but my larger specimens appear fine thus far.

A nice clump of Aloe brevifolia outside another house

As we approach the entrance to our neighborhood, you can see how some of the local hillside has eroded from the rain.  At least 3 dead trees have been removed along this section of the road.  The "no dumping" sign was recently installed because that has become a new problem.

Ice plant (probably Delosperma), Aeoniums and Aloes are blooming in this area at the neighborhood's entrance point

Heading back in the direction of our house, I found this Echium handiense in full bloom

as well as another nice collection of succulents

Did you notice the vine creeping into the blooming Crassula multicava in the previous photo collage?  I found a similar vine growing at the edge of our property, which a couple of bloggers identified as wild cucumber (Marah sp.).  Now that I know what it is, I noticed it all over the neighborhood.  It IS aggressive!

Our neighborhood is one very big circle consisting of nearly 60 homes, built at different times in different styles beginning in the 1950s when the area, formerly a rock quarry, was sold for development.  Even in the 6 years we've been here, we've seen considerable turnover in ownership, which is generally followed by extensive renovations.  One home up the street has been undergoing renovation for over 2 years now.  The construction fence came down just over a week ago but I'm not sure the house, considerably larger than it used to be, is ready for habitation yet.  Another house I've previously mentioned has been up for sale since October.  It dropped out of escrow in December but was back in escrow in February and it looks as though things are moving ahead at due speed this time.

I'm not sad to see this neighbor go but I'm apprehensive about whether this house too will be undergoing renovation.  New landscaping would be nice but I can do without the noise of an extensive home renovation - it's just 3 doors down from us.

All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party