Wide Shots - Early Spring 2020

I started taking wide shots of my garden in September 2013, initially posting them monthly.  As my garden matured, I transitioned to a quarterly schedule in 2016 but last year, during our remodel, I skipped some of these.  I'd planned to put myself back on a quarterly schedule this year but Spring fever had me snapping photos here and there over the past week until I ended up with  what I thought provided a nice round-up to post today.

This is the photo that got me started:

This is the garden on the northeast side of the house, my original "dry garden."  I took it last Sunday as the last storm front moved through our area.  We got no measurable rain but the pavement got damp.  The bright red color on the right is provided by Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite'.

I didn't take pictures of the entire garden but I covered a good portion of it so lets continue rounding the house in a clockwise fashion.

This is the view from our back door looking out at the harbor yesterday morning, after I'd cut down a mass of Artemisia californica just inside the hedge

This is the view from the narrow dirt path between that hedge and the wide border in front of it, looking back at the house.  I pulled out the woody Santolina from the area in the middle of the shot, filling in with annual seedlings as a stopgap pending inspiration.

A shot of the same area from a different angle, looking south

This is the garden on the south side, looking east toward the harbor.  The shrubs on the left (Agonis flexuosa 'Nana'), cut back hard in January, are slowly recovering.

I recently pulled out several succulents in the area just outside the lower left frame of this photo.  I'd like to replace them with something softer along the path leading to the lath (shade) house, possibly more Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty'.

This is the main level of the front garden looking south toward the path leading to the lath house.  I need to prune the Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' on the left but I'm trying to pace myself as the ganglion cyst in my right wrist is still acting up.

I finished cutting back the last of my Pennisetum this week, including the one that obscured the Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' and Leucospermum 'Spider' on this moderate front garden slope

View looking at the front door from the far side of the driveway.  The Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) is still blooming!  The pink Breath of Heaven (Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold') on the right is a mass of pale pink flowers.

I took advantage of my husband's absence to take a photo of the area on the north end of the house, where his truck is parked much of the time.  I cut back the Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' to the left of the chimney last weekend.  It had grown well above the roof line.

I'll close with this shot taken from the north end of the house looking across the front garden on the east side of the driveway

The garden's looking pretty good at the moment despite the fact that we've received only 6.6 inches of rain this season (i.e. since October 1st).  We warmed up dramatically this week, although we didn't hit a record temperature for February yesterday as some forecasters had suggested we could.  We have another very, very slim chance of rain on Sunday.  I'm not holding my breath but I am praying for another March miracle.

Enjoy your weekend!


All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party