Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Clean up, front garden

Last week I discovered that one of the large Auranticarpa rhombifolium shrubs growing in a bed facing the street was dead and that the shrub next to it appeared to be failing as well.   They were impossible to ignore.

The dead shrub was visible to anyone that drove or walked by but it was also readily visible from within the garden


I mentioned the shrubs to my husband and, voila, days later both shrubs were gone.

He even dug out the stumps for me


Of course, that left the area behind the border more open to view than I'd like.  When we took out three other dying Auranticarpa shrubs four years ago, we planted Xylosma congestum shrubs to extend the intact hedge fronting the rest of the street.  Those shrubs have grown at a very slow rate.  Rather than buy more Xylosma, I thought I'd try planting something else in that empty spot.  I decided that this was my chance to try growing Tithonia diversifolia, aka Mexican sunflower or marigold tree.

This is a photo I took last year of a mature sunflower tree growing in the South Coast Botanic Garden

I've never seen the plant in local garden centers so I'd ordered seeds last year but had never gotten around to sowing them.  I dug those out and sowed them as recommended earlier this week.  Estimates of the time required for the seeds to germinate vary greatly.


The Mexican sunflower tree might work to fill the empty spot, and it might not.  For now, I'll just wait to see if I can get the seeds to germinate.

While my husband did the heavy lifting in removing the two Auranticarpa, I tackled the somewhat easier task of cutting back Echium candicans 'Star of Madiera'.  It was just starting to bloom in mid-April when I published my monthly Bloom Day post.

These are the photos I included in my April Bloom Day post


We got our first serious heatwave in late April, followed less than two weeks later by a second one in early May.  I never even got around to posting a photo of the Echium in full bloom.  Last weekend, it was looking too awful to ignore.

This is the shrub as viewed from the front door

And this is the side facing the street


So I got to work, tip pruning all the dead flower spikes.

I left just a few intact flower spikes for the hummingbirds to fight over

It may not be readily apparent but the shrub is growing along a moderate slope.  Clipping all the dead flowers without tumbling down and breaking my crown took a bit of effort!


I've been surprised by just how much my husband and I've been able to find to do in the garden while we're staying at home.  I'm sure I'll run out of projects at some point but, for now, I'm still plugging away.  I hope you've been able to find diversions in your garden as well.


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

22 comments:

  1. Aren't husbands great? The silver lining with this stay at home is how many projects are being completed. My husband has been moving yards of free wood chips to mulch my veg garden paths (all 1/3 acre of them). Gotta love it when things get done.

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    1. It's funny you mention free wood chips, Elaine. I've been eyeing the piles left by city crews along the local roads here after taking down dead or misplaced trees and other foliage. We picked up some of that years ago and now I'm thinking the backyard slope could use some more. I need to pace my requests, though...

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  2. Sono rimasto senza parole nel vedere il sunflower, è una qualche sorta di varietà perenne?

    È sempre una tristezza vedere le piante morire ma è un buon pretesto per metterne a dimora di nuove :)

    Ti auguro una buona serata.

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    1. Yes, the sunflower tree is perennial, Gabriel, at least in our climate. The local botanic garden cuts theirs down to about 2 feet tall during late winter and it springs up to 10 or more feet tall by mid-summer.

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  3. Oh yes, I have been doing a few little projects too. Dug out some turf yesterday to make room for some annual seeds to be planted.
    Your trim job made that shrub look great. Good for your hubby to be so helpful. Thank goodness you could find something to keep him busy. ;)

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    1. My husband has some projects of his own on his list, Lisa, but they require buying wood, etc. so working on my garden needs is easier to tackle under current circumstances.

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  4. Oh yes, and I meant to say TITHONIA TREE???? Never heard of such a thing but it sure is pretty. I hope your seeds take.

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    1. I'd never seen a tree-like sunflower shrub either before I caught sight of the one at our local botanic garden. If it grows there, about 5 miles from our home, I figure it should grow here, provided I can get the seeds to germinate.

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  5. Kudos to your husband - he is a digging machine! Wow, well done, hubbs! Never a dull moment outside in our garden, but I would be much farther along if the men in my family had even the slightest interest in helping out with the heavier stuff. No luck yet, but possibly in the future. My youngest took a liking to the hammock I rigged up a couple of weeks ago. He has started asking questions about what things are, names of plants, etc. Baby steps...

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    1. I can't say that my husband has much interest in the garden, Anna, but he's a "get it done" kind of guy and willing to help on all order of things. I count myself very lucky.

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  6. Both big improvements. With the failed/failing shrubs gone, that area looks particularly good with all the tidy plants as contrast to the vertical lines of the shade house.

    Seems like I will never run out of garden projects. No complaints--is fun! :)

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    1. The garden is a true sanity saver during a time like this!

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  7. Your hubby is awesome! And he dug the stumps, too? doubly so!
    I remember that Tithonia - it was massive. How long before it gets to that height from seed?
    You did a great job teetering on the slope to prune the Echium. It is so satisfying to make progress in the garden!

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    1. I had problems getting specifics on growing this Tithonia from seed, Eliza, with one source speaking of seed germination within a couple of weeks and another saying it could take a couple of months. However, once the plant is established, it appears to grow quickly. SCBG cuts its mature plant down dramatically in late winter and it's regained its full height by mid-summer.

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  8. I can't even imagine running out of projects to do in my garden, but then it's just me doing all the work and I also work full time. But what a lovely thought Kris to get everything done and be able to sit back and just enjoy.
    Good luck with your seeds. I tried some thalictrum seeds this spring. They were expensive and they only sent 5 teeny tiny seeds. None of them came up, so I broke down and bought a $20 plant, hoping it will eventually throw some seeds around. I hope you have better luck than I did. Some seeds are just very finicky.

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    1. I'm really not sure how easy this particular Tithonia will be to grow from seed either, Cindy, but my fingers are crossed. As I've never seen the plant for sale, even at the botanic garden that features it, I'll have to come up with a Plan B for planting the area along the street if the seeds don't flourish.

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  9. Making lemonade of the Corona-Lemon is possibly easier for anyone with a garden. The 'stay-at-home' orders and physical distancing bearable if you can spend time doing the thing you love. I, for one, wish you had a photo of the Echium in full bloom. Maybe there will be one tomorrow (May's bloom day). And, by the way, your front garden after the extraction looks wonderful.

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    1. Although I wander my own garden carrying a camera all too frequently these days, I somehow missed the opportunity to photograph that Echium before the flowers were incinerated. My excuse is that when the 2 heatwaves followed on the heels of April's Bloom Day, I hid from the heat inside a good bit of the time. The only decent photo I can offer is the one I posted on Bloom Day in May 2019! I'm hoping the Echium webii I planted in the back garden several months ago will bloom this year but it's clearly not ready to do so yet.

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  10. Run out of garden projects? That's impossible!

    Also, you amaze and inspire with your attempt to germinate seeds to grow a tree to hide a view. I'd be thinking "what can I buy in a 5-gal container that will grow fast..."

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    1. Well, I've wanted to try growing that sunflower tree for some time (as evidenced by the fact that I purchased the seeds online last year) but I never knew where I could put it as it does get BIG! The demise of the 2 shrubs seemed to present the perfect opportunity to give it a try...

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  11. Sunflower tree looks and sounds wonderful!

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    1. There's no sign that the seeds have germinated yet but my fingers remains crossed in the hope at least a few do!

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