A close friend visited last Saturday and, in addition to having lunch on my back patio, we took a spin around the neighborhood. I brought my camera of course. Even given the mild winter conditions of coastal Southern California, garden landscapes are muted but I picked some of the most colorful displays to share with you.
 |
| We initially headed up the main road outside my neighborhood but backed off when we encountered tree trimming activity blocking our way. I took this overhead shot of my neighborhood from that elevation. You can just make out my house (with the hedge lining the street) in the middle of this shot across the street from the house with the colorful trees. |
 |
| The candelabra aloes (Aloe arborescens) offered the only color at the entrance to the neighborhood |
 |
| This home with the steep slope featured Bougainvillea with bright red bracts and red tree-like Cordylines |
 |
| This stretch along the neighborhood road wasn't particularly colorful but I thought it looked pretty good |
Two neighborhood gardens in particular stood out. The first belongs to the neighbors who live directly across the street from me. Their trees have finally developed the striking color people in the northeastern part of the country associate with fall.
 |
| They have Ginkgos and some kind of noID maples. I have no idea what the tree with the very red foliage on the left is. |
 |
| More maples |
The other garden of note belongs to neighbors several doors down the block from us.
 |
| This street-side succulent bed, backed up by colorful Bougainvillea, is stunning right now |
 |
| At this time of year, I always kick myself for having failed to add Aloe arborescens to my own street-side succulent bed. This clump includes some with variegated foliage. |
 |
| Closeups of an Agave gypsophila, variegated foliage of Aloe arborescens, and possibly the largest rosette of Aeonium arboreum I've ever seen |
 |
| This is a wider shot of the bed. I couldn't capture the entire area, however. |
 |
| This is a more recently planted section (partially hidden in the wider shot above by a bloomed-out Leonotis leonurus) |
 |
| I'm awed by this stand of burgundy Aeonium every time I see it |
 |
| On the other side of the house, beyond the driveway, there's another wonderful succulent bed atop a stacked-stone wall |
Most of the holiday displays in the neighborhood were low-key.
 |
| A simple ribbon affixed to a lamppost, echoing the color of the berries |
 |
| A holiday-themed sitting area outside a garage |
 |
| This was the biggest outdoor holiday display, an indication that more families with kids have joined the neighborhood in recent years |
Next year I think I should decorate the exterior of my lath (shade) house.
 |
| Wouldn't Santa look good hanging from the back of my lath house? |
I've been busy with a bit of last-minute planting and garden cleanup for the past several days. We've got a slight chance of rain tonight but there's a 99% chance on Thursday. The current forecast shows the possibility we'll get an inch or more, with the prospect of intermittent showers continuing through Saturday. Many people may not appreciate a wet Christmas but I'm honestly looking forward to it.
All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Thanks for the tour of your 'hood. It's lovely. Wish I could grow half of what grows where you live.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm being reasonable, I thank the stars that I'm able to grow so much and garden on year-round basis. However, I'm often unreasonable and covet plants like peonies, tulips, plants that need a lot of water, and many, many more things that for some reason fail to find coastal SoCal's climate appealing.
DeleteThe neighbor's street-side succulent bed is gorgeous. A fireworks display of plants. Is it too late to add Aloe arborescens to your beds?
ReplyDeleteIt looks odd to see Christmas decoration and blue sky in the same pictures :-D
Aloe arborescens eventually forms a very large - and seemingly ever-expanding - clump. Most of my succulent beds are fairly densely planted or too shady to give that Aloe the space it needs but I may add it to my street-side strip the next time an Agave blooms out. I might also try it on my east-facing back slope as I think that area will eventually become almost totally succulents. I received a small noID variegated Aloe cutting several years ago that I'm beginning to think is arborescens that possibly just wants more sun to thrive...
DeleteHow wonderful to see bright skies and so much colour on a dismal December day. Oh yes, you definitely need some of those aloes. I saw them growing in Madeira and coveted them.
ReplyDeleteOur skies are getting grayer by the moment as the rain (hopefully) moves closer, Liz, but we're lucky not to have long stretches of sun-less days. The candelabra aloe is striking when in bloom, although somewhat boring when it's not (at least relative to other succulents). However, one with variegated foliage might be a game-changer for me.
DeleteThat succulent garden a couple doors down from you always knocks my socks off when I drive down your street -- and yes, the lath house could handle some holiday bling next year! ;) -- Happy holidays, Kris!
ReplyDeleteThe neighbors did some hard work on that succulent bed during the height of the pandemic and it's looking particularly good now, Denise. I'm not sure how my husband would feel seeing Santa hanging from the lath house he built but maybe the Grinch would be acceptable ;)
DeleteA cool wet day here so Kris so what a welcome fix of colour from your neighbourhood. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get that possibility of much needed rain. I wonder what height that inflatable Santa and the Christmas tree are 😂 Your lath house doesn't need any ornaments - it's beautiful to look at.
ReplyDeleteThe inflatable Christmas decorations are REALLY large, aren't they?! I think some of them are lighted at night too. I haven't walked up there after dark to verify that but something BIG is glowing in that vicinity ;)
DeleteIt looks very colorful to me! Thanks for sharing. Currently we are warm (for us in December). So...no colorful plants and flowers and no snow to brighten things up. I'm not really complaining, except that everything is brown (with dashes of evergreen here and there: yay). Happy holidays to you!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some snow to cover up the brown, Beth! Happy holidays to you too!
DeleteHope tomorrow brings your promised rain!
ReplyDeleteThe forecast seems to have pushed the rain out until Thursday night into Friday morning now. I understand that a few storms are coming together, which makes predicting their arrival more difficult. The only certainty seems to be that there will be rain at some point ;)
DeleteYour neighborhood is beautiful. It looks so warm there!
ReplyDeleteI expect it's a lot warmer than your part of the country, Phillip, but we consider anything below 60F to be "cold."
DeleteIt may be the 3rd week of December, but there's still plenty to see! I still think of bougainvilleas as exotic--I know they're dirt common for you, but up here in Northern California, they're far more challenging to grow.
ReplyDeleteWe inherited one Bougainvillea with the garden here, which is in a spot too shaded to "bloom" but the neighbors all around us have lots of them. I'd like to try it on the upper section of my back slope; however, it would it have to compete with ivy and my husband would probably object. He battled to remove it at our former house as it grew so fast it was always stretching into the driveway to scratch his precious car ;)
DeleteHow fun to see your house from up above! And yes - your lath house would lend itself well to some holiday cheer. If I were you, I would put one of those fabulous Aloes in front of it - you wouldn't even have to worry about decorating! Merry Christmas, Kris!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, Anna ;) I did plant an Aloe 'Moonglow' in the area in front of the lath house several weeks ago. Although it's already produced a small bloom spike, I don't expect it'll make quite the splash that the candelabra species does.
DeleteVery pretty Kris!!! What a delight for the eyes. If you think that is muted, you should visit the northeast where everything is brown, brown, more brown, and occasional shades of tan and gray. It is only pretty here when everything is white. Oh, I forgot, the Christmas decorations and lights are beautiful until they are all turned off for the winter.
ReplyDeleteWhat would us northerners do in the winter without the color that the southerners share with us? Merry Christmas Kris.
Thanks Cindy and merry Christmas to you! More and more of the winter-flowering Aloes seem to be appearing in gardens in my neighborhood every year. Someday, like Bougainvillea, I expect every garden here will have at least one ;)
DeleteBeautiful neighborhood tour, Kris! The panoramic taken from above shows it was a ideal CA day with those epic blue skies. The bougainvillea slope garden is particularly colorful and your neighbor with the maples could be in New England with the fall color and green grass. (I forget that CA does have a 'green' season.) An inch of rain sounds like a nice Christmas present! :)
ReplyDeleteThere are still a lot of people with lawns here, Eliza. I'm just not one of them. Many of my neighbors water those lawns to keep them green year-round but, with more water restrictions looming in our future, that may change. Water bills have already increased dramatically!
DeleteThat 1st photo has such an amazing view! I so miss looking at gardens while chatting with friends. We have a lot of lights/decorated houses in our area - some have so many lights they are reminiscent of 'Christmas Vacation', lol. Fingers crossed for your "wet" Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt's been good and wet today, Margaret! We haven't received as much rain in my location as was projected but it hasn't stopped so I'm still hoping more is on the way.
DeleteSome beauty in your neighborhood besides your garden. There are several massive clumps of A. arborescens in flower here, too, not cared for and not irrigated. Our 6" of rain last year didn't seem to slow them down.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rain! Appears we could get a goodly amount. No better Christmas present possible!
At one point we were projected to get 1.67 inches of rain today, the precision of that number creating expectations on my part. The rain's been slow and steady all day but we haven't gotten anywhere near that amount yet - right now I'm showing 0.64/inch today - but I remain hopeful! It definitely picked up this evening :)
DeletePeccato per le poche precipitazioni, altrimenti il tuo paese sarebbe un paradiso in terra. Sarai stufa di sentirmelo dire ma il fatto che puoi usare alberi comuni anche qui abbinati a piante grasse come aloe è incredibile e di stupendo effetto! Non mi stanco mai di guardare le tue immagini :)
ReplyDeleteTi auguro un buon momento di feste e un ottimo Natale :)
Thank you for the holiday wishes, Gabriel! May you enjoy a wonderful Christmas as well! We did get some heavier rain last night, for which I'm grateful.
DeleteI look forward to seeing what you do with the back of your lath house next year! As for a wet Christmas I would love to only be expecting rain. We're heading into a very cold period with snow and then extremely cold temperatures. As you know, I am not a fan and concerned about the garden.
ReplyDeleteI almost sent you a link to the last report weatherwest dot com published on the latest weather wrinkles, including the impacts on the PNW, but I guessed that you were probably already well aware of the possibilities of an arctic blast. We're having a lull in the rain this afternoon but there's more in the forecast for Saturday night followed by a Sunday break before the rain returns again. I couldn't ask for more.
Delete