Pandemic Planting

I try to avoid planting during the summer.  Even with careful watering, plants get stressed by the heat and the drying winds that blow most afternoons.  Some time ago, I amended my rule against summer planting to allow planting of succulents but I've still broken it routinely.  This year, confined to home most of the time, I've thrown the rule out entirely.  Puttering in my garden, even as temperatures rise, is my greatest source of stress relief.

I've paid a few visits to my local garden center since it reopened, the most recent this past Monday.  I went in search of fertilizer and a flat of 'Elfin' thyme to fill in bare spots between my flagstone steps.  The garden center wasn't as well-stocked as it's previously been due to delivery delays and I couldn't get the flat of thyme but of course I didn't go home with just fertilizer.  When I caught sight of several nice Alstroemeria in one-gallon pots, I couldn't help myself, even through I had no great place to put them.  So I bought a couple of new pots too!

This is the front entry with the addition of the new pots, some recently purchased and others scavenged from elsewhere in my garden

Alstroemeria 'Inca Vienna', accented with plugs of Muehlenbeckia axillaris, went into a new pot on the left

While Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance' went into the new pot of the right

On Wednesday, my mail order from Mountain Crest Gardens arrived, containing five succulents.

It was beautifully packaged and almost all the packing material was recyclable.  It also included a nice instruction guide.

Three of the plants I ordered were 'Red Wing' Mangaves.  One of the new plugs is shown on the upper left.  The plant on the upper right is one I've had for more than a year, included to show the deep red color it develops.  I planted the three new plugs as a cluster to fill the empty spot left in the front garden succulent bed when I removed a large self-seeded sweet pea bush.  The Mangaves' red color should complement the bromeliad behind them.

I also bought myself another Mangave 'Bad Hair Day'.  I think this plant is better suited to a pot than it is planted in the ground.

The fifth succulent included in the Mountain Crest order was a Haworthiopsis 'Concolor', one of a group of succulents known collectively as zebra plants.  I have three Haworthiopsis fasciata planted in the ground (see photo on the lower left) but, like 'Bad Hair Day', I think these plants are better displayed in pots.

Then yesterday the first of two orders I'd placed with Annie's Annuals & Perennials arrived.

It arrived just after noon, neatly packed as always

Although our temperature was already in the low 80s, I went ahead and planted the 'African Blue' Basil (upper left) and the Helianthus anuus 'Delta Sunflower' (upper right) yesterday.  Both were positioned in my cutting garden.  Even though I cringed doing it, I cut back the sunflower's main stem to encourage branching,  The Rudbeckia 'Sahara' (lower right) and Salvia jamensis 'Ignition Purple' along with the Verbascum phoeniceum (lower left) all have spots identified but I'm giving them time to adjust to our warm temperature before planting.

My second Annie's order is due late next week!  Meanwhile, I can probably depend on the local critters to provide a source of distraction too.

These photos are poor as they were taken through glass from inside the house Wednesday night.  This is a mama raccoon and her baby in our back fountain.  Why all the raccoons insist on rummaging through the shells in the top tier of the fountain I'll never understand but it's clear they pick up the habit from their parents.

Mama was fierce!  She wouldn't leave until her baby safely extricated itself from the fountain, which took awhile.

I hope you enjoy a low-stress weekend.


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