The Domino Effect

Last week I published photos showing the removal of a large Grevillea in the dry garden area on the northeast side of our property.  At that time, I commented on the domino theory and how one change can precipitate another.  Well, further changes were made this week.  The sad little non-blooming cherry tree came out and so did one of my two guava trees.  The latter change made the biggest difference in the area.

Here's a before shot showing the guava tree in question, which largely obscured the Leptospermums behind it

and here's the area after the guava tree, which we inherited with the garden, was removed

The flower and leaf-less cherry tree can be seen here, to the right of a persimmon tree that's in the process of leafing out

and here's a shot of the same area after the cherry tree was removed

I made the changes (with my husband's able assistance) despite the fact that I haven't yet decided what will go into the empty spaces.  I don't plan to put anything large into the space formerly occupied by the guava tree.  I want to give the 2 Leptospermums in that area a chance to fill out and I expect I'll just add ground cover plants beneath them, or possibly fill in with more Centranthus ruber, which is a virtual weed here.  Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' is one of my favorite plants and it deserves an opportunity to shine.

The 2 shrubs need shaping but I'll handle that after the current bloom cycle.  They have a long bloom period, heaviest in spring with a light repeat bloom during the fall.

While I'm talking about favorite plants, I thought I'd join Chloris at The Blooming Garden and share my top 10 favorite bloomers for the month of April.  As I've got a flower fixation and as April is possibly the most floriferous month here, restricting myself to 9 other favorites wasn't easy but here we go:

Echium webbii is my current favorite in the back garden.  It's a bee magnet.  I don't think I'd be exaggerating to say that there are at least a hundred bees swarming about the plant during the sunniest part of the day.  It's bloom cycle is well ahead of variegated Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' this year.

Most of my Freesias are done blooming but this batch of blue Freesia in the back garden is still going strong.  In this case, I bought the plants in bud to replace the pink, red and orange Freesia that came up in place of the blue blooms I expected from the bulbs I planted last fall.  I'm much happier with the blue blooms here and, given my luck (or lack of it) with packaged bulbs, I may have to make it a practice to buy such bulbs in bloom in the future to ensure I get what I want.

I've bemoaned the failure of my bearded Iris to bloom over the past few years so I was delighted when this noID Iris germanica on the neglected back slope produced 3 tall bloom stalks this year, despite our truly pathetic winter rains. 

I look out at this Hunnemannia fumariifolia (aka Mexican tulip poppy) from my home office window and smile every time I see it

I featured Leucospermum 'Goldie' (top row) in my Bloom Day post.  Planted late last year, it represents my first real success with the genus; however, 2 other Leucospermums, 'Spider Hybrid' (lower left) and 'Brandi' (lower right, planted in March 2016) are also blooming and still another plant has buds.  I'm thrilled to think I may have finally overcome my problem with this genus.

While all my Alstroemeria are blooming, 'Indian Summer' is the most striking of them all.  In addition to the attractive flowers, its dark foliage is also attractive, especially when backlit.

These are the same photos I used for my Bloom Day post but I cut the Lotus berthelotii 'Amazon Sunset' here back dramatically a week ago so it doesn't look quite this good at the moment.  However, past experience suggests that it'll come roaring back.  It's a very vigorous plant and makes a great ground cover.  Its only fault is that it'll swamp anything in its path if allowed free rein.

Gazania blooms year-round here but it's at its flashiest in the spring.  The 2 top photos feature 'White Flame'.  The photo on the lower left is 'Strawberry Shortcake' and the bloom on the lower right is a noID self-seeded form.

Coleonema album (aka breath of heaven) adds white froth to the garden at this time of year

One plant that didn't make the cut this month is Festuca californica, a native California grass that's currently blooming.

It's hard to capture its beauty unless it's backlit

The grass adds an airy feeling to the garden and, rather than plant a tree in the area formerly occupied by the Grevillea and the cherry tree, I'm considering adding a mass planting of this grass and perhaps another large agave in that area rather than a tree.  My husband has made it clear that he really wants a tree to screen his view of the newly renovated house up the hill from us and I don't want to place two trees in such close proximity.

Enjoy your weekend and do check in with Chloris at The Blooming Garden to see what blooms gained her approval and that of other participating gardeners this month.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party